Stews
Stew recipes
Ditalini’s Goulash
This is the Czech version of goulash, as served at the Tábor Restaurant in Portland, Oregon, modified by Ditalini. Traditionally it is served with dumplings, which I’ll include in the recipe, but we serve it with pasta, as shown. The…
Crouton’s (Easier) Beef Bourguignon
When you think beef bourguignon, you think Julia Child. But honestly, preparing the dish her way (which indeed I have done) is more of a lifetime culinary achievement than a practical everyday recipe, so when I found a small chuck roast…
Chili à la David Rainier
This, over the past few years, has become my go-to chili recipe. It’s not the kind of chili that’ll win a Texas-style cookoff, but it’s homey, rich, and satisfying. —Crouton The Cannolis, Ditalini’s sister Gina and her husband Lengua, visited…
Crouton’s Beef & Guinness Stew
We had the richest, beefiest stew at a friend’s home last winter. She told me it was beef & Guinness stew and that I’d find the recipe on line. I pulled a big chuck roast out of the freezer the other…
Caldo de Birria
I discovered this stew at a Mexican restaurant in Tucson. So far I’ve found only one other local restaurant serving it. I’m told it’s street food, highly regarded as a hangover cure. What impressed me was its rich beefiness, reminding me a…
Ditalini’s Oxtail Soup
When I was a kid, living in Germany with my USAF family, one of my favorite dishes was ochsenschwanzsuppe — oxtail soup, a thick and flavorful beefy broth. In later years, married and living in the USA, I’d sometimes pick up a…
Green Chile Beef Stew
I tasted this green chile beef stew at my friend Gusti Come Pollo’s house. It was so good I chained myself to the front porch and refused to leave until she shared the recipe. Yesterday I finally got around to…
Crouton’s Bouillabaisse
The deMenthes always have seafood on Christmas Eve. Since we were visiting our son Baguette and his family in Las Vegas this year, and since our son had announced he was going to make clam chowder on Christmas Day, I…
Crouton’s New Mexico Green Chile Stew
Yesterday someone set up a gas-fired roaster in front of the local Safeway and started roasting fresh Hatch green chiles. They smelled so good I couldn’t resist buying a bag and rushing home to make a pot of New Mexico…
Boeuf Bourguignon à la Julia Child
I finally tackled a long put-off project, the famous boeuf bourguignon (beef stew in red wine with bacon, onions, and mushrooms) from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This is a recipe you’ll need to study and understand…