SC - Beef stew

[Mark Schuldenfrei]

You know, like a lot of cooks, I cannot resist stirring the pot, so to
speak.
  
  Put a crock pot on the simmer setting and place into it:
      about 1 lb+ beef - cubed
      2 medium onions chopped as you like

I have found that it is WELL worth the time to brown the cubed meat and
onions prior to placing them in a crock pot.  They cook, but the crock pot
style of cookery doesn't add that beefy crust, or carmelize the onions.
Your mileage has varied.  (:-)

      1/2 c chopped parsley
      2 bouillion cubes (or use beef stock to top off instead of water)

Or, my favorite vice, red wine.

      **1/2 c barley

I have also added, modernly, a small amount of tapioca root as thickener.
It works, and the taste of tapioca actually compliments the meat.  (It's
easier than making a Yorkshire Pudding, too... :-)

Sounds really delightful.

I made, for years, a not particularly period lamb stew, similarly.  Brown
the lamb, carmelize the onions, pollute with lots of garlic.  Add to the pot
lentils, carrots, various spices and a bay leaf, and use half wine half
water to cook.  Serve when the smell drives you insane.  (I cooked this once
in a cube-style work environment, to take to an early potluck after work.
Everyone in the office was so nuts from the smell, they all went out for
lunch, and ate like pigs.  I was begged not to do that again, unless I
served it for lunch.)

Oh, if you over-water it during the cooking process, you can throw a handful
or two of rice in toward the end.  In half an hour, it thickens.

	Tibor
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