Stews

Hey, I've been really into cooking stews with leftovers lately. Don't knock it till you've tried it; it's a blast! The first one was really delicious, partially thanks to Danijela's Mum who cooked the lamb. The second I'm just waiting to eat now, so I'll have to let you know. I've tasted it quickly, and I just don't want to judge it until it's in my bowl.

Well, I thought I'd share these two wonders with you, so take a look.

Here is the recipe for a stew I made today. It's called, What's left over in the fridge after making a stew with most of what's left in the fridge.

First, in order of their appearance in my memory, the ingredients:

1/2 small tin month-old tomato paste
15 medium-sized collard leaves sliced
4 old grape tomatoes sliced
1 tsp Italian herb blend of unknown provenance (packet two)
1 tsp paprika
2 cups organic wheat macaroni
1 medium eggplant
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium Slovenian sausage
4 pieces artichoke hearts in oil sliced
sun-dried tomatoes in oil
romano cheese
1 cup frozen peas
1 tsp freshly ground pink rock salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
2+ cups direct-from-tap water
1 small brown onion finely chopped
3 small cloves garlic pulverized
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes

And their order of appearance in the large iron pan:

Oil, onion, garlic, tomato paste, water, eggplant, herbs, hot pepper, collards, water, sausage, paprika, artichoke, grape tomatoes, pepper, salt, peas, water, three-quarters-cooked macaroni, water. Cook until pasta is ready. Sprinkle cheese after dishing into pasta bowls. Place sun-dried tomatoes at side of bowl.

Here is what I remember from a stew I made a few days ago. It's called Leftover lamb stew

Ingredients, in order blah blah blah:

300 g chunk leftover roasted lamb (courtesy of Mara Pruginic)
3 cups tap water
10+ medium large leaves collards (with most of stems)
1/2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp Italian herb mix of unknown provenance
2 small bay leaves crushed
540 mL tin chick peas rinsed
2 medium brown onions
2 very vine-ripened tomatoes
1/2 Slovenian sausage
freshly ground salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cube organic chicken stock
6 good stems once-fresh parsley
Corn meal as much as you like!
1/2 tsp sage

Same pot, different day. Oil, onion, cumin, tomatoes, sausage, collards, lamb, herbs, sage, salt and pepper, bay leaves, parsley, chick peas, stock. Cook until done. Serve with pollenta in bowl.

I hope the one from today is as good as the previous one. I'll let you know.
Read on..!

Stuff I've read

In an effort to: a) keep my online presence reasonably up to date; b) justify all of my general interest reading; and c) possibly offer something of value to my friends' lives; I present my first collection of random tit-bits from the World Wide Web.

Communications — First, more news that big business is conspiring to keep consumers in the dark about something that in theory could ruin their profits. It's misinformation and omissions, though; sorry, no uncovered conspiracy (yet). Better still, it's from that paragon of meaningful reporting, London's Daily Mail. The painful truth about trainers: Are running shoes a waste of money?

Arts — This tit-bit is just cool. Art for a Dollar

Science — This is the story of an archivist at NASA who almost single-handedly saved the thousands of images taken by the earliest lunar orbiters, basically against the institutional wishes of her employer, and at some significant sacrifice to herself. I find the story almost as extraordinary as the pictures. NASA's early lunar images, in a new light

Environment — This is just obvious, but sometimes it's okay to beat people over the head just a little bit. Bottled Water Carries Hidden Cost to Earth

Arts — I originally had another link to this, but it didn't show all of the images, so I chose the source instead. Aren't you lucky? Yes. International Garden Photographer of the Year Finalists
Read on..!