Saturday, October 20, 2018

Savory Stew paired with Lirac is Luscious #SoupSaturdaySwappers #Winophiles

Tender chunks of beef and pork slow cooked with root vegetables and peas in a savory tomato base.


Our Soup Saturday Swappers are sharing their favorites stews today.  I paired mine with a wonderful French wine......


This month my friend, Colleen of Faith, Hope, Love, and & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice.   I love Colleen.....I just wish she had a shorter tag line LOL.  Once you get to know her though you will understand.  Colleen can get a little long winded at times, going off on tangents and telling great stories.  I love starting my day reading her blog because I always smile, sometimes giggle and often full out belly laugh.  

Colleen asked us all to make a Comforting Fall Stew for today's event.  She asks "What is the rich, creamy stew you turn to when you need a little pick me up?"  

I have shared a ton of stews with you over the years.  I have shared Irish Stew, Chicken Stew, Pork Stew, Seafood Stew, Pumpkin Stew, Vegetable Stew, Ham Stew, French Stew and Hungarian Stew.

But my very favorite stew.  The one I have been making for the last 46 years since I moved out of my parents home.  The go to recipe that I make several times a year is this Savory Beef and Pork Stew made in the crockpot.


This recipe was one of the first that I shared when I started blogging over 5 years ago.  I was new to blogging and I didn't share my adaptation of the recipe but only a link to the original.  My recipe is very different from the original but I was brand new to blogging and unsure of myself.  I didn't realize that once I adapted a recipe, it became mine and that I could share my version without stepping on any toes or infringing on any legal rights.  I do always try to give credit to the recipe that inspired mine.  That is just being polite.


My recipe barely resembles the original recipe that I found in the first cookbook I ever owned, Better Homes and Garden, received as a Wedding Gift in 1974.   I always use my crock pot for this recipe but it can be made in a dutch oven on the stove top or in braised in the oven.

Here are the other stew recipes being shared by our Soup Saturday Swappers today.




Should you be interested in joining us on the third Saturday of each month please leave a comment below that includes a link to your blog so that I can send you an invitation.



As luck would have it, today is also the day that we post with the French Winophiles. This month Jeff of  Food Wine Click has invited us to explore the Southern Rhone region, specifically Lirac.  You can see his information post here.  

Jeff arranged with Nicole from Teuwen Communications to provide some of the bloggers with samples of Lirac in return for our honest, true opinion of this wine in our blog posts this month.  I was the lucky recipient of bottles from four different wineries. 


Today I am sharing my thoughts on the 2014 Chateau de Montfaucon "Baron Louis" Lirac that I paired with this stew.  As always, all thoughts, writings and opinions are completely my own.

Chateau de Montfaucon traditionally had sold fruit to the local wine cooperative but in 1995 they began to bottle under their own label.  The estate is comprised of more that 112 acres of vines and their approach to wine making is to preserve the purity and complexity of the terroir (environment) in which it is grown.

I learned all of this from reading a tech sheet sent along with the wines.  I also learned that the wine is a blend of five varietals that are all hand harvested.  This wine is aged in oak barrels for a year and then bottle aged for an additional 8 months before being released for sale to the public.



Here is what I learned on my own.  The wine pours a deep, rich red.  I immediately got the feeling of a fall walk in the woods when I swirled and sniffed.  I started feeling very good about choosing this bottle to pair with a Comforting Fall Stew.

I took a sip.  It was smooth and dry.  Frank and I shared a smile, clinked our glasses and sipped again.  We dug into the stew and found that, as expected, the wine enhanced the sweetness of the carrots and peas.  This savory, comforting stew was made even better with the pairing of a nice wine.



I'm anxious to see what the others paired with and thought of the wines they are sharing today.  Lets go take a look.  I also want to invite you to join us today at 11 am ET for twitter chat following #Lirac #rhonevalleyvineyards, #liracwines and #winophiles.

Here's a list of great Lirac wine suggestions from our Winophiles

Here is my recipe for this wonderful stew. I recommend that you seek out a bottle of Lirac to pour with it.  



#stew, #beef, #pork, #slowcooker, #crockpot,
Entrees, Soup, Stew, Slow Cooker, Crock Pot,
American
Yield: 8 servingsPin it

Savory Beef and Pork Stew

Tender chunks of beef and pork slow cooked with root vegetables and peas in a savory tomato base.

ingredients:

1 lb. beef stew meat
1 lb. pork stew meat
1 T.  olive oil
1 onion, cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 carrots, cut into chunks
2 stalks celery, cut into chunks
1 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/2 dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
3 c. vegetable juice
2 T. beef bouillon granules
1 pkg. frozen peas

instructions:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over med high heat.  Season the stew meat with salt and pepper.  Add to the skillet, in batches, and cook turning occasionally until browned all over.

Remove the meat from the skillet to the crock of a slow cooker.  Return the skillet to the heat and pour in the vegetable juice.  Sprinkle with the bouillon and bring to a boil, scraping up an y browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Stir in the basil, oregano and thyme.

Put the carrots, celery, onion and garlic in the slow cooker on top of the stew meat.  Pour the vegetable juice over all.  Place the frozen peas on top.  Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hrs.

NOTES:

Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens.
Created using The Recipes Generator

22 comments:

  1. Okay, so I still don't own a crockpot, but I will definitely be trying a version of this done in my Dutch oven. It looks delicious. And, as luck would have it, I still have some Lirac wine. Cheers!

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  2. I have not tried a mixture of pork and beef, and I imagine it is delicious!

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  3. How very cool that this is the first time you shared this! P.S. My first cookbook when I got married (the first time) was Cook My Darling Daughter by Mildred Knopf from my mom. I still have it.

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    1. I still have mine too Karen. My daughter bought me a new one but it didn't have all the same recipes so I kept them both.

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  4. I love stew and braising season, you're treated to smells all afternoon before a delish dinner!

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  5. This is the perfect fall pairing! I can taste it. Well done Wendy!

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  6. Yes, yes, I know my blog name is a little bit long. Funny, no one has mentioned it in quite some time. When I first started blogging, other bloggers mentioned it all the time. I guess everyone has gotten a bit used to it...and my rambling!!! Love this stew...totally a bowl of yumminess I would adore!!!

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  7. It is stew season! Thank you for the recipe and the options! Now to find some more wines from Lirac to pair with!

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  8. I can almost smell the delicious stew from your description! And the wine pairing sounds perfect.. santé!

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  9. This stew looks so delicious and heart warming.

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  10. Mmmmm. The stew gives me warm fuzzy feelings! I'm certain the wine made a great match.

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  11. Nice fall fair! I like the idea of two kinds of meat. Great pairing! Yum!

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  12. I can see where that meaty stew would go well with that Lirac!

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