Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Pot Roasts, Stews, and Heating Up the Kitchen


Spring and Fall seasons are perfect for making long-simmering meals such as pot roasts and stews.  Cool mornings and chilly evenings lend themselves to a warm kitchen with the aroma of s delicious lunch or dinner in the oven.  It is so much fun to try new recipes and to improvise!

My favorite method for any style of pot roast, whether it be lamb, pork, beef, or even a whole chicken, is to use a dutch oven or heavy, covered roasting pan.  After browning the meat quickly on all sides, I place it in the roaster, preferably on a small rack.  So that the roast cooks in a moist heat, I add stock, broth, water, or a combination of liquids, often including wine or beer, depending on the flavors I want to impart.  I usually add a few quartered onions, carrots, potatoes and celery stalks for flavoring the stock.  I realize they will disintegrate long before the meat is tender, but what good flavor those roasted vegetables add to the stock!   About 45 minutes before the meat is tender, I add more root vegetables so they can be enjoyed with the roast.

My Spring pot roasts usually include lots of root vegetables and dried herbs and spices.  Making pot roasts in the late summer or fall usually means I have garden vegetables and fresh herbs on hand.  I love to add parsnips to a beef pot roast along with whole new potatoes and onions, studded with cloves, and fresh garlic and parsley.  Garden tomatoes, zucchini squash, and green beans are a wonderful addition to stews.

When garden vegetables are abundant, I love to make a dish called "cous-cous" using lamb shoulder.  Lots of stock (or even plain water) goes into the pot, which I place on a stove burner rather than to roast in the oven.  Fresh tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, carrots, a few cayenne peppers, onions, garlic, green beans, garbanzo beans (chick peas) zucchini and potatoes all simmer together.  Besides salt and pepper, a unique blend of spices including cumin, cilantro, cardamom, coriander, bay leaf, and turmeric gives this dish its middle-eastern style and flavor.  Some prefer a sweeter version to which you add currants or raisins, a handful of pine nuts, and a little bit of cinnamon.   Fresh cilantro is added when the meat and vegetables have simmered at least an hour and a spoonful or two of tomato paste to thicken the sauce.  This North-African style of lamb stew is traditionally served over a semolina grain known as cous-cous which is readily available at most grocers.  This stew would also taste good with basmati rice in place of the traditional cous cous (coarsely ground semolina wheat).

When making a pot roast of stewed chicken, I like to use lots of carrots and celery, and usually add summer squash just before serving.  Paprika and turmeric add nice flavor and color to the chicken and the stock. My grandmother added a few spoonsful of sour cream to the stock before serving with mashed potatoes.   I like to roast separately a casserole of red, yellow, and green peppers and little red potatoes to serve with the roasted or stewed chicken.  Sweet potatoes and peas go well with a roast chicken and look so pretty!

Anytime you have a delicious pot roast, there will be lots of gravy.  If you do not manage to eat all that delicious sauce, you can use it to make leftovers the next day.  Simply shred the meat, add it to the gravy, make some wide noodles, and sauté some fresh onions and garlic to add to the mixture.  A tossed salad would be great to have while waiting for those noodles to get tender.  Another option would be to use the leftover meaty-sauce over a heaping plate of mashed potatoes, over a large baked potato, or over steamed rice with a side of steamed broccoli or green beans.

Vegetable stews such as ratatouille are good to make when garden vegetables and herbs are abundant.  This can be layered into a deep casserole in the oven or made in a pot on the stovetop.  It also has lots of sauce, which is nice served over brown rice.  Sliced tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, garlic, and onions are the stars of this dish and lots of basil for flavor and color.  Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top gives it additional flavor.  Feta is nice too.  This dish is a feast for the eyes as well as the palate!

I have a long, shallow roasting pan that is specially made for roasting one or more large, whole fish in the oven.  Flavors of dill, parsley, peppercorns, sliced lemons, and green onions are my favorite additions to the pot.  A broth of water mixed with a little bit of dry white wine works well with most roast fish.  Red potatoes, pearl onions, and asparagus make a nice presentation for serving.  I would not have even thought about owning my own fish roasting pan had it not been for that memorable dinner with my friend Ivars and his parents at his Latvian grandmother's house in Columbus, Ohio, in 1975.  I will never forget that gathering around the table with the several large, whole roast fish with flavorful broth and sliced lemon, plenty of  buttered potatoes, crusty rolls,  and a cool and crisp green salad with tomatoes.

Although yesterday was quite warm for early April, with temperatures in the 70's, today it snowed and tonight will fall into the twenties.  I know that when I get off work tonight, I'll be preheating the oven as I prepare some vegetables for roasting.   While I'm working on preparing dinner, I'll be thinking about what to make for Easter!