Beef Stew -or- Things to Feed a Cranky Girl

Do you ever have those days where you just know that the next day is going to be a little rough? You feel a cold coming on, you know you have to do something you've been dreading, the anniversary of something is coming up, etc. I had one of those days, and I decided that the best way to combat it was with comfort food, namely: a thick beef stew.

Truth be told, I've never made a proper beef stew before. Weird, right? I tend to make soups and the like with ground turkey, but that just cannot match the richness of quality stew meat. I say "quality" because you really don't want the stringy, tough, fat-covered "stew meat" at the store, it's worth it to upgrade to a slightly better cut. To aid me in this journey, I turned to Pioneer Woman, not only does she know her kitchen, she also makes generally awesome points. She has a really basic beef stew that looked like an excellent place to start. I happened to have some shredded carrot and a few other things lying around the house, and instead of noodles I was in the mood for rice cooked in, jambalaya style, so I had to thin the base out a little. It was delicious and, yes, it did make my less-than-ideal day slightly brighter.

In other news: It is impossible to take a pretty picture of a hearty stew. Impossible! I swear that the many many things that I will post over the next couple of months that happen to be stew-like are so much tastier than they look. Sigh.

Anyway.

Creamy Corn Chowder

I understand that the food-related zeitgeist these days can be boiled down to “bacon makes everything better.” Now, I’m pretty sure there’s a line, and I’m even more sure that said line is definitely on the near side of bacon vodka (sorry, Jacob), but there is one thing that bacon consistently improves: chowder.

Much as with cheese, I grew up in a bacon-free household. Oh sure, we had turkey bacon, but unless I was at my grandparents’ house inhaling 2-4 ethereal BLTs at a time, I never had the real thing. I had the lowest cholesterol on earth… or at least I would have if I didn’t drink milk by the gallon… but I never learned how to properly cook using bacon. This all changed when I started taking cooking classes: bacon happens.

One of the classes focused on stocks/soups/stews/pretty much anything that is primarily composed of broth. Before this class, I thought that putting bacon in chowders was a uniquely southern habit, and maybe it is, but the class was in Boston and they still did it, so I ‘m going to assume that it’s fairly widely accepted these days. That day, we made a fennel corn chowder that, if I loved fennel, would have been perfect. As I do not really favor licorice-y flavors, however, I then went home and messed around with the recipe to correct the potato-corn balance (there was way too much potato) and substitute a big pile of sweet onion for the fennel. Delicious!

I’ve made it for a bunch of people and it rarely has leftovers. In fact, it may be my most commonly requested recipe. I’m going to be nice, even, and give you both the “good” way and the shortcuts. So, here it is and, in case I have somehow been unclear, do not omit the bacon!

On rainy days and split pea soup

When I was a little girl, my mother found this weird powdered vegetable soup at Sam's Club and brought it home for my sister and I to be able to make as a snack. I was completely obsessed with this soup. It was thick and smooth (It was powdered after all, chunks would have been creepy) and was exactly what I wanted on rainy days. My sister did not share this passion, but that was fine, more for me! One day it stopped appearing at the house and I've never seen it since. My tiny heart broke.

Years later, I still revel in the idea of a thick green soup on overcast days.

This morning was one of those where, though you get out of bed at a perfectly reasonable hour, it's debatable whether you ever actually wake up. The apartment was dark thanks to a few drizzling cumulus beasts and I absolutely had to have soup. Of course, I didn't have what I needed in the apartment. Again. Blast! Off to the store I trudged to pick up some split peas and diced ham... and while I was there a few other tasty treats, but that's neither here nor there.

And now I have a delicious, non-powdered, split pea soup to get me through my sleepwalking day.

Oh? You want to know how to make it? Ok then.