Emergency Beef Stew
You will need:
2 friends
3 pairs of cross-country skis
1 groomed golf course (yay Portland!)
1 pressure cooker
6 medium-sized Yukon Gold potatoes
4 large carrots
4+ stalks celery
1 pound frozen beef stew meat from Common Ground Fair
juice from 1 28-oz. can of stewed tomatoes
olive oil (2 Tbsp?)
butter (2 Tbsp?)
white wine (½ cup or so)
1 onion
6+ cloves garlic
sea salt
pepper
thyme
rosemary
Procedure:
- Go skiing with 2 friends on beautifully quiet, groomed trails until dusk.
- Go to Goodwill to buy soft wool sweaters to cut up into things like gloves, balaclavas, and arm warmers.
- Dash home to meet 3rd friend.
- 2 of 3 friends are now very hungry.
- serve apples.
- Run hot water in sink and toss stew meat (in plastic bag) in there to thaw.
- With help of the friend who is the most hungry, slice onion, chop garlic, carrots, celery and potatoes.
- Throw all chopped items except garlic, onion, and beef into pressure cooker.
- Thank goodness the meat is thawed (and already cut up)! Heat some oil and butter in a skillet and sear meat on all sides. Do in a couple of batches. Add beef to cooker.
- Deglaze pan with some white wine. Deglaze eyes of hungry friend with white wine. Now we're cooking!
- Saute onions and garlic until they look cooked enough and you are tired of doing it. Throw them in the cooker.
- Add herbs, salt, pepper. Crush rosemary if you don't want to keep picking it out of your teeth.
- Pour in tomato juice and some more wine.
- Follow cooker instructions (15 minutes for mine). Let the pressure come off slowly (or until you are really hungry and must run the lid under cold water...)
- Serve. Smiles.