Dump Stew

Winter Warmer: Publish a recipe for one (or more) of your winter favourites. Be it a mulled wine, a cocktail, a simmering potpourri, or a stew. Let us experience your favourite tastes of the season.

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Well, this story isn't going to be fancy. I think I should warn you of that. But it's part of the seasonal challenge, so I type on. I wish I could say I had a mulled wine or special cocktail or a recipe to even spice up the place with; some special scented aroma, but that's just not me. I'm pretty plain and simple.

When the first "cold spell" hits the South in United States, most of us reach for a big pot to make chili or homemade stew or a soup of some kind. Some of us, like me, reach for my handy/dandy crockpot.

Every Southerner is happy about getting that initial cold spell. Until it's really cold. And then we want our summer to begin. We complain a lot about the weather, but it's kind of our tradition.

At my house, my recipe starts early in the morning. I take out a meat of some sorts (beef stew meat, deer (venison) stew meat, or hamburger...either beef or deer. (Just be sure that the meat is LEAN or you will need to drain any excess fat before adding other vegetables.)

I dump it in the crock pot and add enough water to cover it. At this time, I season the meat with salt and lots of black pepper.

I also slice up an onion in stew sized chunks and add that to the meat pot. (I sometimes use a package of onion mix if I don't have an onion.)

I put the crock pot setting on high and go about my business.

I check on the meat occasionally to see if it's thawed out. But when I start smelling the aroma from the crockpot, I know it's time to make sure the water doesn't all evaporate. It usually takes a couple of hours for the aroma to start.

At this time, I also start adding (or should I say, DUMPING,) other ingredients to the mix. I'm talking about canned foods with all their juices, too. Tomatoes, tomato sauce, potatoes, corn, green beans, and carrots.

I let that cook on high for about another hour.

Then I go back and put it on medium setting and start making my cornbread. And you guessed it, it's from a mix...jiffy cornbread.

By the time the cornbread is done and buttered, the dump stew is ready for the bowl. It is well loved in my household and seems to be very therapeutic on a cold winter day.

So, there it is...plain and simple. But Good. Warms the bellies and the hearts. And pretty much, good for you, too!

Because I'm trying to make the proper number of words to fit into Feast, I will include a list of ingredients again:

-Meat (at least twelve ounces)

-Onion (large or one pack of dried mix)

-Tomatoes (large can of canned of diced or stew-sized)

-Tomato sauce (large can)

-Salt to taste, Black Pepper-lots, pinch or two of brown sugar if tomatoes too zesty)

-Potatoes (couple of regular sized cans of whole potatoes)

-Corn (one regular sized can of whole kernelled)

-Green Beans (one regular sized can ---not the French-style, though)

-Carrots (regular sized can--sliced)

-Takes about 4 hours total

**You can add or take away any ingredient you wish. The trick is that it's simple to cook.

(I even like to mix my finished soup and my cornbread together, but that's just me. You could eat your soup with crackers, too!)