11/3/08

Wonderful Winter

By Keith Fisher

I have a friend at work who loves the stormy weather of winter. He celebrates when it rains, and he’s ecstatic when it snows. He actually hates warm air and sunshine. I have another friend who thinks of sitting by a warm fire with a cup of hot chocolate during stormy days.

We all take comfort in one way or other when winter weather sets in. Just think, we have only thirty-seven more shopping days till Christmas, and don’t forget the fun of shopping on the day after thanksgiving. I can take comfort in putting the lawn mower away, and pulling the snow shovels out. We had rain all day yesterday and I write this as I watch the clouds roll in for another storm. Perhaps we’ll get snow this time.

It was with this in mind that I thought of posting a recipe and calling it Winter Stew. With a wild hair I typed it into Google and guess what. I got 2,310,000 results. I went to the first one and found this great recipe. It originally called for cooking it in a crock-pot, but we cook outdoors, we don’t use crock-pots. I adapted it. Hope you like it.

Remember, no matter what the weather does, we can always learn to play board games with our family this winter. Better yet, teach them to cook in Dutch ovens. Then you can hold your own family cook off next summer.


WINTER KIELBASA STEW

1 lb. turkey kielbasa sliced into angled ½ inch pieces
1 cup celery chopped into ½ inch pieces(add celery leaves as well)
2 ½ cups all purpose potatoes chopped into ½ inch wedges
1 cup carrots chopped
½ cup green zucchini chopped
½ cup yellow squash chopped
½ cup chopped onion
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon tapioca
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoons spicy mustard
1 tablespoon honey mustard
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon sweet basil
1 teaspoon minced onion
2 teaspoon ground pepper

Combine all ingredients into 12-inch Dutch oven and cook with 9 coals on the bottom and 12 on top until simmering. When coals are spent, add fresh ones continue the process for four hours or until done.

Originally submitted by: Tommy Lusignan


Return to the Neighborhood.

1 comment:

Nichole Giles said...

Sounds totally yummy! Okay, so I'm not one of those friends of yours who loves winter. I'm a total summer girl. But living in Utah, I can't exactly avoid the changing of seasons.

There is a small window of time--during the holidays--that I find snow and storms acceptable. That time happens to be now. It helps me get in the mood for shopping and lights, and all things merry. And during this time, I cook a lot of soups and stews.

So thanks for the great recipe!

Nichole