Beef Stew

      The world continues to turn and you still have to have supper.  I had thawed a pound of stew beef.  There were a couple of parsnips in the refrigerator and a red onion and small, multi-colored potatoes in the cabinet.  Beef stew is pretty quick to make.

      I wanted a thick broth.  There are lots of ways to accomplish that (a little cornstarch stirred into cold water, added to the simmering broth and brought to a boil is a quick classic) but I wanted to try something.  I have a container of "Italian Panko," really just seasoned breadcrumbs with a fancy title.  I crumbled about a cup of them into a bowl with a little flour and cornmeal, salt and pepper, and snipped the stew beef into small pieces, across the grain.  With hot olive oil in my Always pan (this will be important later), I dredged them through the breadcrumb mixture a little at a time, adding the breaded meat to the pan as I went.

      Each batch was turned and pushed away from the center of the pan before the next was added.  By the time it was all in, there was a pretty fair coating of breadcrumbs on the bottom of the pan, very dark in a few places.  I deglazed those with a little balsamic vinegar (acidic liquids will take out the "burned" taste) and water and turned down the heat.

      Parsnips next, peeled, cut into small pieces and added to the center of the pan.  The onion got the same treatment -- I took my time, so the parsnips would cook longer.  Eventually, the diced onion went in, and I let it cook uncovered while I got out and washed three medium-small potatoes, then covered the pan while I cut them up,

      Once the potatoes were ready, the onion was getting translucent.  I added a cup and a half of water and deglazed again.  Not everything on the bottom was coming off, but the broth was a lovely dark brown.  I added some parsley and mixed seasoning (sage and some others), and as it got to bubbling, had a taste.

      Okay, but a bit bland.  I added a packet of powdered beef bone broth, stirred it up and had another taste.  That had done it! (Our corner grocer carries this brand, the version in a box holding several packets, each good for one cup of sipping broth.  It has a long shelf life and works well for cooking.)  It came to a low boil and I added the potatoes and covered it, setting a twenty-minute timer.

      That left me time to tidy up and wash a load of dishes.  It took twenty-five minutes before I was done, and the stew was ready by then, potatoes and parsnips soft, onions cooked down, and the beef remarkably tender, especially for the short cooking time, about an hour.

      Tam and I had dinner while watching an episode of Black Mirror.  I chickened out of the last half -- a complicated plot involving multiple murders, which I had sussed out* and was finding the drama being acted out just a little too much to take.  So I went to freeze the leftover stew and clean up the kitchen.

      Once I had poured the stew into a freezer bag, there was a pretty thick coating of cooked-down, gluey breadcrumb stuff sticking to the bottom of the pan.  I wiped out as much as I could with a paper towel, added a little hot water and wondered if I'd done in my fancy pan.

      I'd dished the stew out with a large, soft silicone spoon.  I poured off the water that hadn't been absorbed and tried scraping at the stuff with the edge of the turned-over spoon.  Success!  It peeled up cleanly in long strips.  I got nearly all of it up, with just a little scrubbing with dish soap and the little loofa provided with the pan* to get the last few spots before washing and drying.  So the breadcrumb thing works, but be prepared to use some elbow grease afterward, especially if you use a pan that isn't non-stick.
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* One thing about writing fiction is that you start to recognize where plots are going -- this character will kill again, that one will be a victim, this casually-introduced thing will be critical later, and so on.  I figured out early on that this episode, "Crocodile," was along the lines of a Greek tragedy and after the second inevitable murder, I found it too intense to watch.

* This wouldn't have occurred to me but it's a clever idea.  The non-PTFE nonstick lining is harder than Teflon but still too soft for a Scotch-Brite pad.  A loofa is just right.