Stir things up with some winter stew

Wmeal. Stay warm! ith the close of the holiday season and the FoOG oI wLnWHr sHWWLnJ Ln, PosW oI us wLOO finG ourselves home more, regrouping from some of the chaos. On nights when the weather keeps us in, it’s nice to sit down to a cozy, warming stew.

Of course the beauty of stew, beside its delicious taste, falls in the fact you can make it ahead of time. Not only does this lighten your load, but also the taste becomes richer with age. Most stews can be stored covered in the refrigerator for up to three days. A great idea might be to make it in the morning, double the recipe, cover it until the evening, then serve it for dinner and freeze the leftovers for another day.

All kidding aside, stews are so easy to double or triple. One WKLnJ Wo NHHS Ln PLnG Ls WKDW sWHws WKLFNHnHG wLWK flour Go noW maintain their consistency after freezing, so you may want to sHSDrDWH WKH DPounW you wLsK Wo IrHHzH EHIorH DGGLnJ WKH flour mixture, then complete that step when reheating the frozen stew.

The vegetables you need for the stew may be fresh or frozen. If you choose fresh, but lack time, try hitting the salad bar at the grocery store. It may be more expensive than chopping your own, but sometimes we choose time over money. Another useful idea for the vegetables is to remove one kind of the cooked vegetables toward the end, puree or place it in the food processor and WKHn rHWurn LW Wo WKH souS Wo WKLFNHn LW. CDuOLflowHr worNs wHOO. LDsW wHHN, , PDGH D sWHw DnG usHG FDuOLflowHr, finHOy FKoSSHG in the food processor, in the place of half the ground meat and it came out beautifully. Got away with that one and cut the calories of the recipe.

The heartiness of stew makes it a perfect main course with a loaf of bread to go along. Most stews have vegetables and meat or fisK, so you PDy or PDy noW FKoosH Wo sHrvH D sDODG.

, KoSH you finG WKH IoOOowLnJ rHFLSHs KHOSIuO DnG IDLrOy HDsy. Don’t forget to double or triple for freezing and future use. With all that work, make the stew work for you by providing a future

Stir in Burgundy and cover. Let simmer for one to two hours. Five minutes before serving, return the onions and mushrooms to the stew.