Stewed! Nourish Your Soul

January is here and that means that the winter months are in full swing. Christmas is over and we all have had our fill of leftovers. Temperatures are dropping and the need for something comforting and hearty is more relevant. Stewed! Nourish Your Soul is a great cookbook to start the year off with. One pot dishes from around the world this cookbook simmers the globe. With stews, paellas, jambalayas, tagines, bouillabaisse and curries. However one pot dishes or cooking rather is not strictly for those living in cold winter climates. Hot climates often offer local cuisine like curries, paella and tagine. 

The chapters are broken down into the America's, the British Isles, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa. The recipes regardless of continent are global and detailed. This cookbook is only 154 pages however it offers 80 culinary delights like The Boston Baked Beans, Persian Chicken Stew with sour cherries and walnuts, Sweet Potato Dahl, Aromatic Thai Chicken Stew, Hungarian Goulash, Lancashire Hotpot, Brazilian Black Bean Stew, Chickpea and Sweet Potato Tagine, Harira, Tonjiru, Swiss Cheese Fondue... I could go on with all the fantastic world recipe charm. The photographs are matte and very inviting. These are fairly straight forward recipes that are simple and economical. Which makes this a wonderful addition to my cookbook collection.   

I would like to share a favourite dish of mine from the cookbook, Succotash. I remember in grade school learning about Canadian and American Natives. Part of our class project was to build a scaled model longhouse and make Succotash and cornbread to eat. 

Succotash

------------------------

Serves 4 

50g butter

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 red pepper, quartered, deseeded and cut into 5mm slices

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

300g peeled butternut squash, diced into 1 1/2cm pieces (try to find top-quality, extra-sweet squash)

200ml vegetable stock

kernel from 3 corn cobs

200g fresh young broad beans (if you can't find fresh, then frozen peas work quite ell, albeit rather smaller), cooked

3 spring onions, finely sliced

3-4 tablespoons soured cream

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a wide pan that has a lid. Add the onion and red pepper and cook gently for 10 minutes until the onion has softened. Then add the garlic and butternut squash. Cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the stock and cover the pan with a lid. Cook gently for about 3 minutes. Now add the corn kernels and cover again, continuing to cook for about 5 minutes until the corn is tender and the squash has cooked through. Stir through the broad beans (or peas) and two-thirds of the spring onions to warm through. Finish by stirring in the soured cream, adding salt and black pepper to taste and sprinkling with the remaining spring onions.

Perfect with crusty bread. 

Notes: I am sure you can use frozen beans, corn, and peas if need be. 

Stay warm! and enjoy your weekend.  - JD