In Which the Pirate Eats Well.

We will often buy large packages of meat when they go on sale, and freeze them in portion sizes for later consumption. Then we go on “clean out the freezer” kicks when we don’t feel like shopping or if there aren’t any good sales going on. Earlier this week, Pirate-Husband took out two pounds of stew beef to defrost. Well, we’re in the middle of a heat wave over here, so the idea of our regular thick and hearty beef, bean and barley stew was a little less than appealing. I suggested beef bourguignon, since we’d brought home a few bottles of wine from the event last weekend, and that was the impetus for us to finally get around to purchasing an enameled dutch oven. It’s a six quart Lodge, it is beautifully gradiated shades of red, and its inaugural run caused us to say things like “this food is magically delicious” and “why the heck didn’t we buy a dutch oven a long time ago?”

Since the oven was occupied, our thought of roasting sliced potatoes wasn’t going to work. Instead, we nuked wedges of red potatoes until they were fork-tender and finished them in the cast iron pan with herbs. They came out perfectly brown and crispy on the edges. I was sad when I ran out of room for more food; it was so good that I just wanted to keep eating! Fortunately the leftovers came with me to work, and I’m sure the scent emanating from the kitchen when I reheated my lunch was enough to make anyone in the office jealous.