Stewing, gingerly

A couple of people asked me for my recipe for the ginger stew. I never measure anymore, so the quantities may be off, but here’s the rough idea:

For two gallons of soup:

4 lbs of stew beef (I use chuck roast)
2 tbsp lard or other oil
2-3 large onions, cut in 1″ dice (about)
3 large “fingers” of ginger
1 big honkin’ can of tomato sauce
1/2 green cabbage, cut in pieces about 1.5″ on a side
2 cups carrots, diced to 1″
2 cups potatoes, diced to 1″ (I don’t use potatoes but they are part of my mom’s recipe)

Cut the beef in 1 to 1.5 inch cubes (or bigger or smaller depending how big you like the chunks in your stew) and brown in the lard in a 2-gallon pot. Use small batches and remove each browned batch to a bowl when it’s done; if you dump in all four pounds it won’t brown properly.

Brown onions in pot when the beef is done, then put beef back in pot and add water to cover. Slice the ginger as finely as is practical and add to pot. (You can use more or less ginger depending on how spicy you want it.) Add tomato sauce. The soup should be a nice reddish color at this point.

Simmer until beef is close to done, then add cabbage, carrots, and potatoes and stew for another 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add salt to taste. Serve. (You will have to pick out the ginger as you eat it, but it is well worth it!)

Meanwhile, in the realm of tasty distractions, these arrived on my doorstep yesterday:

I ordered these from Ripe to You, a farm in California that specializes in exotic citrus. A day later, presto! I have citrons. I’m going to candy the peel, of course, for use in fruitcake (and possibly in chocolates!).

Meanwhile, in book-land, I’m almost out of blog posts. If I don’t want to find myself scribbling frantically on Saturday morning, I’d better get to writing. So off to write some more!