When Scott and I were out in Oregon back in October, we ate dinner at a little restaurant called the Irish Table. During the daytime, it’s a quiet coffee shop and roaster but at night it transforms into a very cozy dining spot. The night we were there, Scott ordered their beef stew and I’ve been thinking about it ever since (I stole many tastes during our meal).
This Saturday afternoon, I cooked up a Dark Days appropriate batch of stew. The beef and the bit of bacon grease I used as lubricant were from Meadow Run Farms, the vegetables (carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, mushrooms, garlic) were all from the Rittenhouse Square Farmers’ Market and the tomato sauce was some I canned last summer (I cooked it down a bit in a small pot to get something akin to tomato paste). I also had half a bottle of red wine from our Berks County Wine Tour excursion to use as part of the cooking medium. The only non-local item was the bit of ap flour I used to dust the beef before browning.
The stew spent four hours in the oven on Saturday afternoon. When it came out, the meat had become incredibly tender and the vegetables were creamy but not quite falling apart. The only thing that could have made our meal more perfect would have been a dusting of snow.
Oh my gosh! I love the Irish Table!! We ate there on opening night last summer. We live in Phoenix, but spend half the summer in Cannon Beach. Their vegetarian shepherd’s pie is to die for. I can’t wait to go back.
Maybe I need some stew.
Looks wonderful! I love that you were able to keep it all local.
Hi Marisa! Just wanted to let you know (again) how pretty your blog is. The photography is so great. Keep up the awesome work! Jessie
I love that you kept everything local, and the picture of the stew is literally making my mouth water. Well, I know what I’m making for dinner tonight!
Yum! This looks like such a hearty winter meal. I love stews, but I’ll definitely follow your example and get my ingredients from Rittenhouse’s market next time.
That stew looks marvelous. I can even see that it is fork-tender from the picture. It is dishes like that which make me pine for winter!
This looks delicious – when’s dinner? 😉
That just looks so good I really have no choice but to make some. Yum!
One of my favorite winter dinners! Just made some last night!