A glamorous stew

THIS NEWSPAPER isn’t shore
of any Jow-dawn on food, certain-
ly.
Tim regularly dips into the local
fieshpots, reporting taste sensa-
tions; Barbara McReadie diligently
pursues the Best Buys; and the
new ladies, Mss. Gardiner &
Wilson, offer succulent successes.

But look at them. They’re all
young and lively and eat chocolate
cake and shellfish and pastry and
pecans and probably even drink
stuff they can’t see through. You
and [, alas, have refined our in-
take, have tightened our lips and
belts to admit only oat-bran and
stewed apricots and yogurt and
broiled fish and mountains of
vegetables.

Don’t give us your recommen-
dations for fondue-palaces and
three-layered tortes.

I’s not always a lot of fun.

I’ve just put in the best part of
three weeks without a dinner
partner, and feel real sympathy
for those conscientious singles
who seriously try for decent nutri-
tion day in, day out. ‘‘What’ll I
have tonight?”’ It gets to be a
bore,

Luckily I found this really good
recipe on about the fifth day of
solitude, made it and enjoyed it
for most of the next week, just
with an accompaniment of a good
rough loaf of bread.

There’s a bakery near me that
offers a so-called Russian loaf, all
gtainy and coarse and great with
soup or with this tasty Giambotta.

A Giambotta, friends, translates
into a homely vegetable stew. But
in my view using that lovely sticky
Italian name gives it a_ little
glamor.

Say “‘jarnbot-ta,’’ heavy on the
“*bot,”” pour a glass of wine to go
with, and wield the serving scoop
with panache. This is simple and
straightforward and stays within
the rules, but it also gives satisfac-
tion.

I wouldn’t hesitate to share a
bow! of it.

It needs a good big heavy pot,
something that will simmer on top
of the stove. Has to have a lid,
too. To prepare, you simply chop,
cube, dice, grate if you feel like it,
a variety of vegetables, add a
bunch of seasonings and some
water, and Jet it stew.

Like any such dish, it is better
warmed up the next day, and the
mext, and the next — just keep
adding your choice of stuff. Start
with these, into the pot, any

order, no heat yet:

1 red onion, sliced

2 leeks, white part only, well rins-
ed, chopped

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THE VINTAGE YEARS

2 bell peppers, red, green, you
choose and cut in strips

2 plum (ltalian-type) tomaioes,
chopped

1 big old carrot sliced diagonally

6 stalks of celery, in chunks
1 parsnip, peeled and
crosswise

2 small white turnips, peeled and
chunked

1 small acorn squash, peeled,
seeded and chunked

I zucchini, slicec on the diagonal

9 garlic cloves, mashed

1 teaspoon salt

2 bay leaves, whole

Ya teaspoon each of oregano,
thyme, sugar

Y2 teaspoon crushed red hot pep-
pers

cup of rapeseed oil (Canola)

2 tablespoons of white vinegar

4 cup of chopped fresh basil

Oh, so you don’t like parsnip?
Well, you'll never be able to
isolate parsnip flavor in the
finished stew, but if just the name
gives you the pip, use broccoli.

Yesterday 1 added a peeled,
chunked sweet potato that was
kicking around, plus some cubed
peeled eggplant. 1 really don’t
think there’s anything you can’t
add, if you like it.

So you set this great pot of
stuff on to mediurn heat, bring it
to the boil, then turn it down just
higher than ‘‘simmer’’ and give it
time.

No, not that much, but certain-
ly an hour or more. Stir it once in
a while, and get a load of its
fragrance.

When everything is tender and
flavors nicely married, stir in
another half-cup of chopped fresh
basil. So you can’t find that much
fresh basil? Then use dried, or use
Tosemary or more oregano.

You can buy smal? rounds of
foccacia, with herbs, that go well,

sliced

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or any other bread type that you
can sop up with. Next time you
heat it, add a bit of water, or
white wine, and if you have some
other vegetables that you fancy,
best to cook them lightly before
adding.

The other thing that surfaced
while | was thinking about you
was the following, called, cheeki-
ly, Helluva Casserole.

Simple. Brown a pound of ex-
tra-lean ground beef with
I medium chopped onion
I finely chopped green pepper
12 fresh mushrooms, sliced in T’s

Now ccok half a pound of
spaghetti or linguini in lots of
boiling salted water until tender,
drain and combine in a big casse-
tole with the above beef, plus
I can niblet corn
1 cup of grated cheddar cheese
1 can tomato soup
J can of tomatces
a glob of chili or Mexican salsa
a dash of Worcester

Mix it gently on account of the
pasta, then bake at 325F for 45
minutes.

You get through all that, you
can take on lions, especially if
they’re a bit flabby from poor
diet.

Sunday, May 12, 1991 - North Shore News - 17

“Walking Through
To Ninety”

ou] A conference
on the normal

expectations
of aging

7 Speaker: Dr. Robin Bellirving
| Well known Gerontologist

When: May 15, 1991 at 7:30 pm ;
Where: Auditorium - Kiwanis Lynn Manor |
2555 Whitley Court,

North Vancouver - 984-9166

A complimentary service
to the community, provided by:

i Kiwanis Senior
[citizens Homes Ltd.