Birthright Stew
For those of you who have been following my recipes for a few years – this one should be familiar. I like to call it “Birthright Stew” – I will tell you why soon…
This recipe is a glorious combination of a few pounds of deliciously over-sized chuck roast stew meat chunks, tomatoes of some sort (whether sauce, paste or crushed), a good red wine and a host of fresh, flavorful veggies and herbs. Put it all in a pot, cover it with a lid and place it in an oven for 5 hours on 250°. It is the perfect meal on a chilly, drizzly & overcast day!!
Well, today is sunny, warm and windy – but I just had to make it! It is one of my all-time favorites. Very simple & you get the bonus of a mouth-watering aroma filling up every crevasse of your home as this stew simmers away, unattended.
I named this stew “Birthright Stew” in an effort to bring the Biblical story of two rivaling bothers alive. I have always wondered, how hungry must Esau have been to do such a foolish thing as sell his birthright for a bowl of red stew. And for that matter, how great of a cook must Jacob have been — he was paid an entire birthright for ONE bowl of this red stew.
what’s in a name?
What great conversations we have with the kiddos while smelling and eating…Birthright Stew. Patience, kindness, honesty – generosity, trickery, jealousy & lack of trust in God. All big topics — and every single one has been discussed while eating this red stew. If you want to know the whole story, read Genesis 25:19-34. But here is the central idea:
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
Tonight’s dinner conversation centered around which brother was at fault. When asked the question of which brother was at fault – Kade and Brody answered at the exact same time, but one shouted “Esau!!” and the other shouted “Jacob!!”. Well, that pretty much sums it up. I told them – they indeed were both right… “But how??” they asked. They wanted to understand, all the while Gracie was yelling, “Read momma! Keep reading the story!”
I encourage you to have these same wonderful conversations, over a bowl of “Birthright Stew” and some interesting chapters of Genesis. Now, if only I had a recipe for manna!
- 2-3 lbs beef chuck roast stew meat, (about 2" in size)
- 1 bunch of parsley (I had some of Italian and curly- so I used both), chopped
- 10-12 springs of fresh thyme, left on the stem and tied with baker's twine
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4-5 celery stalks, chopped
- 4-5 medium carrots, chopped (don't peel the carrots - just rinse clean)
- 10 crimini mushrooms, wiped clean and quartered (stems are edible so leave them on)
- 1 leek, thinly sliced and rinsed
- 10-12 small potatoes
- 10 oz red wine
- 16 oz beef broth
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 2 T flour
- 1 1/2 t applewood smoked sea salt
- 2 t dry ranch seasoning
- 1/2 t seasoned salt
- 1 t fresh ground black pepper
- Preheat oven to 250°. In a large dutch oven, add herbs, veggies & meat. Pour wine, broth & crushed tomatoes over the meet and veggies. Add seasonings & flour and stir to combine. Cover with lid and place in oven for unto 5* hours on 250°.
- Remove from the oven...stir around to find the tied up thyme (discard) and serve - serves 8-10 people.
- *Don't have 5 hours? That's okay, crank the oven up to 350° and reduce cooking time to 2.5 hours.
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Just a couple of pictures showing how to clean a leek. You wouldn’t believe the amount of sand at the bottom of the bowl after I cleaned the leek!! Make sure not to skip the cleaning step…or you may wind up with sand stew.. and “ain’t nobody got time for that!”.