Cast Iron Dutch Oven

Our cast iron dutch oven finally arrived on Monday! Not in time for us to make bread (unfortunately) but in time to make stew! Real stew, not stew that was accidentally created. (In retrospect, that rice "stew" was more like risotto).

We have named our dutch oven Jebediah and his lid is Goodwife Liddy. It's all very pilgim-esque--because he looks like he's from that era. He's a beautiful boy.

Seasoning:

Although our cast iron is pre-seasoned already (that is, cured) the consensus on Amazon reviews and the internet is that another round of seasoning would be best. Since it was my first time seasoning cast iron, I was understandably nervous. Anyway, I made a few errors that, should you wish to season your own cast iron for the time, you would like to avoid.

1. I used vegetable oil. A little TOO much vegetable oil. What this created was a slight stickiness that is only slightly annoying, but you know--ew.

2. I turned the cast iron pot and the lid upside down in the oven and used a baking tray to catch the burning grease drippings at the suggestion of the instruction manual. Well. I should have lined that baking tray because burning grease? Is impossible to remove. Literally. I seasoned Jeb on Monday and that baking tray is still undergoing experimental rehabilitation--and the prognosis is not so good.

Stew:

We kind of winged it and had to rush it so it is unlikely that you will need to follow what we did to a T to get a good stew.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 1 hour

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried Black Beans
1/2 cup dried Pinto Beans
5 or 6 baby bella mushrooms
1 small box of frozen mixed vegetables
1 large tomato
1 handful of chopped baby spinach
1 pound of beef stew cuts (defrosted!)
1 1/2 cup of chicken stock
2 1/2 cups of water

1/4 cup of flour
Dash of garlic salt
Dash of cayenne
Dash of Italian Seasoning
Dash of Oregano
Dash of ungrounded black pepper

Olive Oil

Prep:

1. Cut the tomatoes. Cut the mushroms. Easy!
2. Take out the frozen veggies and let sit on the kitchen counter top. Easy!
3. Soak the beans until their skin is weird and wrinkly! Easy.
4. Mix the flour and garlic salt, italian seasoning, and cayenne in a bowl.
5. Using a paper towel, pat dry the defrosted beef.
6. Drop the beef in the bowl and mix around, making sure that each cut is nicely coated in the flour.

(This coating will seal the flavors into the beef!--and you can use the flour later to thicken the stew)

Cooking:

1. Put your pot onto the stove and heat it.

2. Add some olive oil into the pot after it has become hot enough. Add enough to brown your beef.

3. Put the beef pieces in. Using a wooden spoon, ensure that the beef pieces are evenly browned. Mix it up! Mix mix mix. If your meat is nice and dry, they'll brown quite beautifully!

4. After the beef has browned sufficiently, add in the chicken broth and the water. Add a dash of black pepper.

5. Add the beans (drain the soaking water first!)

6. Bring to a rollicking boil. Then lower the heat so that the stew is at a slow simmer, and cover the pot for half an hour.

7. Add the vegetables! Give it a good stir. Bring back to a boil. Simmer and cover for another 20 mins. It's at the point where you can add more flour to thicken your stew if you think it's too watery.

8. Turn the fire off and serve!

--

You will be amazed at how tender the beef has become! Onions and garlic would have been a great addition but we were completely and totally out. Oh well. Potatoes too.