As winter drags on, it is becoming more and more difficult to find the wonderful bounty of fresh produce associated with warmer months. The cold weather brings thoughts of comfort food – mac and cheese, chicken pot pie, and beef stew – not fresh strawberries and salads of spring greens. See Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes Recipe.

Tsebhe Sga (Ethiopian Beef Stew) is a delicious melange of beef, onions, ginger, and garlic, with spiced butter and a fiery seasoned sauce.

A famous Filipino dish, Kalderetang Baka also known as Beef Kaldereta, its a beef stew. You can substitute goat meat for beef.

What can be said about stew? I remember as a little girl that familiar smell of being in my Grandma's kitchen. I remember the fascination of watching her prepare a meal that did not require much preparation, but it had many different variations of flavor. I could not seem to get enough of it before you could hear the serving spoon clanging on the..

The easiest to cook.. and healthy too.

A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in water or other water-based liquid, typically by simmering, and that are then served without being drained.Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables (potatoes, beans, etc.), fruits (such as peppers and tomatoes), meat, poultry, sausages and seafood. While water can be used as the stew-cooking liquid, wine, stock, and beer are also common. Seasoning and flavourings may also be added.. Stews are typically cooked at a relatively low temperature (simmered, not boiled), to allow flavors to marry.The distinctions between stew, soup, and casserole are fine ones. The ingredients of a stew may be cut into larger pieces than a those of a soup and retain more of their individual flavours; a stew may have thicker liquid than a soup, and more liquid than a casserole; a stew is more likely to be eaten as a main course than as a starter, unlike soup; and a stew can be cooked on either the stove top (or range) or in the oven, while casseroles are almost always cooked in the oven, and soups are almost always cooked on the stovetop. There are exceptions; for example, an oyster stew is thin bodied, more like a soup. The choice of name is largely a matter of custom; it is possible for the same dish to be described as soup, stew, or casserole.Stewing is suitable for the least tender cuts of meat that become tender and juicy with the slow moist heat method. This makes it popular in low-cost cooking. Cuts having a certain amount of marbling and gelatinous connective tissue give moist, juicy stews, while lean meat may easily become dry.Stews may be thickened by reduction, but are more often thickened with flour, either by coating pieces of meat with flour before searing, or by using a roux or beurre manié, a dough consisting of equal parts of butter and flour. Other thickeners like cornstarch or arrowroot may also be used.