People Stew

My intention was to use the stew beef that My Beloved bought for Cora to make her a fancypants dinner to help her forget her sore ear. Heaven knows, an invalid's appetite needs tempting with some unusual treats and she has been milking us for sympathy ever since she got home from the vet.

But, oops!, when I told the vet my idea, he frowned. Not a good idea to feed dogs, especially recuperating dogs, people food. Nixed it. Phooey. Shoulda kept my mouth shut.

So, I made People Stew instead, a version of Beef Bourguignon substituting shallots for the pearl onions, adding lots of red wine, and simmering it in the crock pot after browning. It was okay, not great, although the goozle at the bottom of the crock pot was once again stellar. I didn't cook it long enough and I forgot the bay leaf. Onions would have been better than shallots in this case. But, it was edible and we edided it.

Cora had no complaints when I slipped her one little cube of meat - she wolfed it right down. Shhh, don't tell the vet!

Stoup

Too chunky to be soup and too juicy to be stew, this is what I made from the lamb scraps left over from "Frenching" a rack of lamb.

After gleaning all the good meat from the scraps, I browned the lamb in a pot 'til it was well caramelized, then added chopped green garlic, mild Maui onion and fresh thyme from the garden, cooking until the garlic and onion were soft. Added a cup of homemade chicken stock and stewed it for a little while, then dropped in the Full Belly Farm cranberry beans that I had soaked overnight and boiled for about half an hour. During the last five minutes I added about a cup of frozen peas and pearl onions, simmering just until the peas were done but still brightly green. A final seasoning with salt and pepper before ladling it into stoup bowls.