I woke this morning to the sound of sheets of rain spilling off the roof. On the drive in to the office KQED said "Fierce Storm, High Winds". California is running into another year of near drought conditions, so the rain is greatly appreciated.
Yesterday was a day that was infused with rain. I woke up from sleep to the sound of rain and lingered in bed listening to what I consider to be one of the finest natural symphonies. I simply love the sound of falling rain. It is both primal and soothing.
I spent a lazy morning, followed by a lazy afternoon, which in turn flowed into a lazy evening, all of it with that constant symphony. I spent the day in conversations (online and in person), reading (I started "Fool" by Christopher Moore and I spent some time reading "Good Poems for Hard Times", edited by Garrison Keiler). I watched a movie ("The History of Violence" with Viggo Mortenson and Maria Bello). I spent some time playing my guitar - mostly just fun, sitting there trying to play in a matching tempo with the rain.
I cooked a Tuscan lamb and white bean stew (the stew made an appearance in one of the two poems I also wrote yesterday). I ran to the grocery store to get the necessary components of the stew and stopped at Kragen's auto parts store to get one of those extensible hanging rods for the car - you know, the ones that fasten between the two hooks and allow you to hang items on coat hangers there - I have been meaning to get one for a while, mainly for use when traveling and when going back and forth to the Laundromat.
I swung through Tuesday Morning looking for a new Dutch oven - they had some nice ones but they were way overpriced - unusual for Tuesday Morning. I stopped at DD's Discounters to continue the hunt for a new Dutch oven and found the exact same model for a fraction of the cost - which led me to suspect they were simply mispriced at Tuesday Morning.
I got home and I spent about an hour prepping the stew. The first part of the prepping was preparing three garlic bulbs (diced), a medium sweet yellow onion (chopped) a medium green pepper (chopped), two tomatoes (chopped) one tomato (pulped) and about two tablespoons of rosemary (diced fine). All told, it takes about an hour to prepare the menu and then an hour and a half to cook it.
With the constant accompaniment of the rain, the Indigo Girls (Retrospective) on the stereo, I was able to wholly immerse myself in the art of cooking, losing myself totally in the moment. I am one of those cooks who liked to prep everything first and then cook - it allows me to focus on the cooking part of it and reduces the incidents of error that happen if I cook and prep at the same time. So, let me go into detail on that Tuscan lamb stew.
Ingredients:
1 lb. Lamb (I used a lamb shoulder, cut in about two inch cubes)*
3 15 Ounce cans of White Pinto Beans
1 Green Bell Pepper (chopped in about one inch squares)
1 Sweet Yellow Onion (chopped in about 1/2 inch squares)
2 Fresh Tomatoes (chopped in 1 inch squares)
1 Fresh Tomato (Pulped)
3 Garlic Cloves (diced fine)
2 Tablespoons of Rosemary (diced fine)
1/4 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tablespoon of Coarse Black Pepper
4 Cups of water (or broth of some sort for a more distinct flavor - I use water).
*You might look at one pound of lamb and think that is not enough, but, really, it is plenty for a stew. You could add more if you want - or substitute virtually anything for the lamb - chicken, sausage, beef, or Tofu. You can also make it a Tuscan bean soup by just skipping the meat. Overall, I like this recipe, so I have used all different kinds of meats in it over the years, including no meat at all.
Step One:
Chop the green pepper, onion, garlic, basil, and tomato.
Pulp the other tomato (I usually just quarter it, put it in a bowl, and use a potato masher).
Cube the lamb and trim the fat.
Step Two:
Heat a Dutch oven (or a stew pot) to medium high.
Pour in the 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil.
Add the lamb and brown it until brown on all sides (about five minutes, turning to brown evenly).
Then, add the pepper, onions, and garlic.
Cover, leave at medium high, and cook for an additional five minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
Step Three:
Drain the white pinto beans then add them to the Dutch oven.
Add the chopped and pulped tomatoes.
Add the Rosemary.
Stir it all around to get it mixed in well.
Add four cups of water (or broth).
Turn the heat to high and bring it to a boil, let it boil for about five minutes.
Then, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer (just bubbling lightly along) for an hour.
Step Four:
About five minutes before you are ready to serve, add the tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar and the black pepper, stirring both into the stew. You can simmer it for as long as you need to coordinate the meal itself, but do not add the vinegar and pepper until you are ready to serve it or eat it. Don't worry, nothing bad will happen if you add it too soon - the Balsamic taste will just gradually fade and become very subtle - it is best when it has just that bit of vinegary tang to it, which is why five minutes before serving is about the right time.
Step Five:
Serve it with fresh dinner rolls or fresh bread. If you dip the bread in the stew, it is great. I like to use a sweeter bread (sweet dinner rolls) because the taste combination with the stew and the vinegar and the sweet bread is awesome. If you drink alcohol, serve it with a hearty red wine.
Subtle Changes:
There are a few things you can do to change it up. Sometimes, I will use a can of white beans, a can of red beans, and a can of other beans (Lima, Navy, etc.).
You can also use a can of chopped tomatoes (15 ounces) in place of fresh tomatoes. I have a bizarre tomato fetish - I like fresh tomatoes - but only if they are very fresh. Otherwise I just find them too mushy. I suspect it is purely psychological.
If you are a vegetarian, use a vegetable broth instead of water, otherwise it is not quite flavorful enough. If you like Tofu get a pound of Tofu and cube it. Once the stew is done (but before adding the vinegar and black pepper), brown the Tofu in a skillet with olive oil, drain it and then add it to the finished stew, just before adding the balsamic vinegar and black pepper.
If you like garlic - instead of dicing the garlic, just clean it down to the individual bulbs and put them in whole. This will give you big garlicky chunks.
One of the things I like about this particularly recipe is that it stores well for leftovers. Just refrigerate the leftovers, then bring them out and put them in a pot. Bring them to a boil and at the point where they hit the boil, add another dash of balsamic vinegar and turn the heat off and stir it around.
So, that was your in-depth incursion into my moment of Zen cooking amid yesterday's rain storm. Just writing about it has made me crave the leftovers I am going to have for dinner tonight! It is still raining today and we are expecting rain throughout the week, so it is a perfect time for the comfort of a good bowl of stew.
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