Stew Mailcopiesto: never

I like them roasted with other vegetables: Preheat the oven to c. 200C. Peel and quarter the sweet potatoes (or cut them into 1-2" chunks). Cut the same amount of slightly more of the flesh of a squash or pumpkin into similar chunks. Peel and quarter an onion or two. Do some ordinary potatoes if you've got them, but not many because they lack flavour by comparison. Put everything in a bowl, drizzle over a little olive oil and mix by hand (try not break the onions up) until everything has some oil on it. Spread on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt and spices. I use achiote powder, a mexican spice, but a very little mild chili powder, cumin and cinnamon might work. Or garam masala. Roast until bits go brown, mix around, roast until more bits go brown. About 45 minutes? an hour? You can raise or lower the heat to speed-slow cooking time. Nice with ham, chili and other stuff.

I usually leave stew to simmer for several hours, but then I tend to use shin.

A variant of this would be to start by cutting 3 or 4 rashers of bacon (start with unsmoked, try smoked later) into slivers. Fry this in the pan, then add a little oil-butter and brown the meat and onions. You could drain the fat off before adding everything else, but I don't bother. Add a bay leaf or 2 to the seasoning.

regards sarah

-- Think of it as evolution in action.