20. Stew

A cold, cold day in autumn found Vervain retreating into the kitchen all day. Jaden had taken on all of the chores that needed to be taken care of out of doors, ushering Vervain back inside when a particularly cold breeze had snuck up beneath the celestial's cloudy tail, and caused them to shiver and sneeze hugely. Jaden could tolerate the cold better, and Vervain preferred to take on the cooking, rather than tending the flock. It didn't take them much convincing. "I really, really don't mind, Vervain, I promise."

Because they were free to cook all day, they thought about what to make for meals, something just a little more special than every other day. This cold spell was supposed to last, carrying on into winter. Something hot and delicious would warm a body right up. Stew, they decided, slowly simmering on the stove all day. Using their own meat, veggies and herbs. 

Starting with the lallabaa meat, chopping it into large chunks, bones and all, seasoning with pepper and salt. Simmering all day would have the meat falling off the bones, and besides, the bones and the fat were full of flavor. The meat went into the bottom of a large, hot, heavy bottomed pot with fat, quickly browning every piece on all sides. Vervain removed the browned meat with tongs, putting it aside on a plate, and added a bit of flour to the pot. Stirring and scraping to keep from forming lumps and cooking the flour, fat and brown juices. A ladleful of rich soup stock that Vervain had made previously was added, stirred around slowly, dissolving the roux. Living on a farm meant always having extra veggies and scraps on hand, and making soup stock ahead of time saved for days like this made everything in the kitchen run more smoothly.

The meat was returned to the pot with a good helping of thick cut veggies. Shredded cabbage, whole cloves of garlic and skin on potatoes. Quartered onions and a generous amount of big pieces of carrot (Jaden's favorite). More stock was added until everything was covered in liquid, the pot was lidded and put on the stove to simmer. Only simmer, not to boil, that would make the veggies fall apart and the meat turn tough. Low and slow, that was key.

Later, after the stew had been simmering for a good long while, Vervain would add in more stock, as needed, making sure too much liquid didn't escape, they wanted the stew thick, but not too thick. Several twigs of dried rosemary were added in as well. Vervain would have preferred to use fresh, but the cold weather had finally finished off the herb garden.

In between checking on the stew, and other indoor chores that needed to be taken care of, (dusting, cleaning and keeping the fire in the fireplace lit) Vervain made a crusty sourdough bread with rosemary, perfect for sopping up the thick stew. They let the dough rise in the warmest part of the kitchen, and only put it in the oven to cook late in the day, so that it would be fresh from the oven warm when it was time to eat.

(WC: 535)