Thread: Bachelor stews...ahh fall !

I've been trying to get more creative with my budget with less,so I've been making all these nice little bachelor stews lately.Tonight I browned up a nice heap of pork stew meat and simmered it in a cast iron dutch oven on the stove with a little water n chicken stock ,blackeyed peas,some leftover frozen carrots and a small bag of pearl onions and some of my own cajun seasoning,a couple of bay leaves and finished off with smoked sausage.Good eats maaan ! Thank god for frozen veg... sometimes it's such a help. So what kind of soup or stew concoctions do you come up with when foraging for more for less ? I love chili as you all know by now,but I'm talking bout after the chili ? It's fall after all ,so bring out the flannel, sweaters , and cast iron to ring it all in .....ALL STEWS ARE WELCOME HERE IN THIS HOUSE.....

With winter well on its way Stews are just the ticket
I find that if you are on a budget a pressure cooker is the way to go. You buy the cheapest cuts of beef and make them as tender as fillet steak in minutes.
For a Single person I would recommend a stew I have to cook for the guys in the Paratroop regiment called Airbourne stew so no suprises there. It's one pot cooking so less washing up and it has all you need in it.

Its a simple stew with meat and lots of veg and potatos.
Take what ever meat you have beef, lamb chicken it does not matter brown it up with some onions and garlic throw in some root veg, carrots, swede, turnips, potatos what ever you have, add some tomato puree and a few mixed herbs cover with water bring to the boil and then simmer till the veg and meat are tender. Once the meat and roots are cooked throw in any green veg you want and once they are cooked thicken with an instant gravy mix. No salt is added to the stew because there will be enough from the gravy mix but you can add black pepper to taste.

This is not fine dining food its ment to be cooked quick, eaten quick, cleaned up quick so the paras can move on fast because that is what they do.

If you are looking for something a bit more up market google daube of beef. Long slow cooking where the meat falls of the bone.

With the winter already here in Western Norway the stew I’m going to make today is going to be hot.


Chilies, potatoes diced, tomatoes, onions, corn, smoked sausage, bacon and some meat. Maybe some pasta and beans.

Originally Posted by Otto

With the winter already here in Western Norway the stew I’m going to make today is going to be hot.


Chilies, potatoes diced, tomatoes, onions, corn, smoked sausage, bacon and some meat. Maybe some pasta and beans.

Smoked sausage in a stew now your talking!!

indeed !!

Darn you Evin ! Now I want some hot pies and lardy cake !! See what you have done ?!!

I economized by making monster batches of most things & freezing several meals worth. I cook only once/week. After several weeks of storing away the extra meals, you have different meals available every day, coming from the freezer w/ no added cooking.

Soups & stews are perfect for the cooler weather.

Also this may be done w/ meat/roasts/poultry. Don't buy/cook a small package - again - the same work for small batch as large. Buy family packs of everything. Locally, boneless pork sirloin goes on sale for $1.48/lb. Family packs of 3 med sized roasts. I'll either steak out the roasts, or spiral slice along the long axis so it lays out flat, fill w/ favorite flavors (such as sun dried tomatoes & capers or sauteed onions w/ green apples). Roll up & hold together w/ toothpicks during roasting or slow cooking. Freeze 2 roasts, eat the 3rd or thin slice for sandwiches that week. Now you have 2 roasts already cooked for other weeks.

When I was single I would take a crock pot and put in a couple cheap porkchops $4.30, a bag of beans $0.90, an onion, carrots, a couple pickled jalapenos (Old El Paso)...Cook on low overnght. come home and mow down...Should last 'bout a 5 days if you add some water every couple days. Salt and pepper to taste.

Smoked polish sausage, onions, potatoes, apples, 16 oz chicken stock, 12 oz beer (I like a dark beer). Boil potatoes in their own pot, then drain. In a new pan, cook the onions until translucent, brown the sausage in the same pan (Retain all pan juices). Make a roux by adding some flour (estimate the amount of liquid you have in the pan and use the same or slightly less amount of flour). Cook the rough until it is the desired color (darker=a more nutty flavor, lighter will be less flavor) now slowly pour in a little beer and scrape around with a wood spoon or rubber spatula until the stuff stuck on the pan is now in the liquid. I use the same pot I boiled my potatoes in to combine all my ingredients. I dump in my onions, sliced up potatoes, sliced up apples, sausage, chicken stock, the rest of the beer, & finally the roux. Season to your liking (at this point you can really change the character of the dish. You can make it savory, spicy, sweet, complex, simple, etc. I like some Bay leaf, salt, pepper, a dab of tabasco sometimes) Bring the whole mixture to a boil (the thickening power of the roux is not realized until you bring it to a boil) hold at a boil for 1 minute, then reduce heat to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes. The stew should thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon, if it gets too thick you can always add more stock &/or beer. . Sometimes I'll not use the chicken stock and just let it simmer in the beer in a crock pot until it reduces down to a nice syrupy sauce. Great for a fall or winter day.

Enjoy!

Originally Posted by Nightblade

I've been trying to get more creative with my budget with less,so I've been making all these nice little bachelor stews lately.Tonight I browned up a nice heap of pork stew meat and simmered it in a cast iron dutch oven on the stove with a little water n chicken stock ,blackeyed peas,some leftover frozen carrots and a small bag of pearl onions and some of my own cajun seasoning,a couple of bay leaves and finished off with smoked sausage.Good eats maaan ! Thank god for frozen veg... sometimes it's such a help. So what kind of soup or stew concoctions do you come up with when foraging for more for less ? I love chili as you all know by now,but I'm talking bout after the chili ? It's fall after all ,so bring out the flannel, sweaters , and cast iron to ring it all in .....ALL STEWS ARE WELCOME HERE IN THIS HOUSE.....

Holy crap that sounds good. I will have to dig into the archive. How are you set for gumbos?