Witch's Stew
Why I Love This Recipe
My parents are from farming families in the Netherlands. Growing up we ate a lot of "meat and potatoes" type of comfort food. Every Halloween my mother would prepare what she called "Witch's Stew" which consists of two traditional Dutch recipes, Hachee and Stamppot. She probably called it that to make us want to eat it, with the result being that we all love it and try to have it every year at this time of year. The following recipes are from "Let's Go Dutch" by Johanna (van der Zeijst) Bates
Ingredients You'll Need
Hollandse Hachee:
1/3 C. butter
1/3 C. flour
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 1/2 C. beef stock
2 bay leaves
6 whole cloves
2 minced garlic cloves OR 2 tsp. prepared garlic
1 Tbsp. finely minced parsley
1 lb. beef, cubed and slice, all fat removed
1 1/2 Tbsp. vinegar
2 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch, diluted in a little water
1 Tbsp Worcester sauce
freshly ground pepper
Directions
Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan and add the flour.
Add the onions and brown SLOWLY over medium heat. Add the beef stock slowly, stirring continuously. Add the bay leaves, cloves, garlic and parsley. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to a 5-6 qt Dutch oven, add the beef and vinegar and simmer for another hour. At the end of the hour, add the diluted cornstarch to thicken the gravy.
Finish by stirring in the Worcestershire sauce and pepper.
Try to remove the cloves.
