Kids Dish

We had a heat wave on the weekend. I made a hearty beef stew.

These things are not connected.

Some time ago, we bought a box of cow from friends who keep organic cattle. Naturally, we used up the good bits (best steak cuts) and then let the rest of it languish in the deep freeze.

Last week, I promised to make a casserole with some of the stewing steak (the meat on the whole is delicious but on the tough side, because their cows are allowed to roam around). My brain, which is obviously not connected to reality, said to itself, Self, it’s a long time since we made one of those delicious casseroles you are well known for.

What my brain did not add to itself was, Self, obviously we haven’t had a casserole for a while because that is winter food, and it is summer. Stewed beef = crazy talk.

But this is Hobart. Unlike the rest of Australia, we enjoy fairly mild weather. Even our hot summers are manageable because, between the mountain and the ocean, we get so man weather changes that we rarely have to cope with the same kind of weather for more than two days in a row. Even at the height of summer, you can expect a casserole-worthy day at some point in a week.

So we thawed the stewing steak in the fridge. Cue the four day heat wave.

We spent the weekend melting on couches, whimpering slightly. When it became evident that the weather wasn’t going anywhere soon, I revised my plans slightly. A stew, cooked in the deep fryer (basically a plug-in electric pot that I use for all soups or dishes for more than ten people) would at least mean not flooding the house with ambient heat from the oven.

So I made a good old fashioned hearty soup with beef, potato, carrot, parsnip and peas, in a french onion stock. At least it meant I didn’t have to think about dinner for a few days!

It lasted three dinners, though I cooked up a pot of pasta spirals to make it go further on the third day.

I miss winter. I want my hearty, three day meals back. But I’m not going to be doing “hearty” again until I’m sure that the summer weather is done and dusted… I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet.