"Stew" news and stories

A North Carolina town with no real claim to the Brunswick stew tradition is mounting its second annual Brunswick Stew Cook-Off this weekend, an event that's notable in the stew community for its apolitical stance on the popular dish's origins.

"There is a competition between Virginia and Georgia, so we're in the middle of a fight," Megan Masser, events director for the Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce, explains. "I'm staying neutral."

More than 2,000 people sampled stews at last year's festival in Shallotte, says Masser. For audience members and the 22 cook teams – each tasked with preparing at least eight gallons of the thick tomato-based stew – it's the stew's flavor that matters.

"That's the most important thing," Masser says.

Say what you will, nothing works better with a sweet potato than savory spices. Forget that sweet stuff. Taste it with garlic in a soup, make a twice-baked potato with some garlic, hot peppers, smokey paprika, and other spices, or use it as a vessel for stew.

It takes a little time to prep, but it's so delicious and worth it. Simply take a raw, large sweet potato, and hollow out the center to make a bowl. The beauty of a sweet potato is that as much as you roast it, the flesh just gets more and more malleable while the skin stays firm. So, while you want to make a bowl, don't make it too hollow, leave some flesh for eating.

Once prepared, spray with some oil, season, and bake while you prepare the stew to go inside (I made a quick beef stew with leftover ingredients). Basically, cook the heck out of it, and even pop it under the broiler for a little while. When it's out, scoop out a little more flesh if you weren't able to get enough while raw, and then fill with your stew and eat. And this is where some leftover flesh comes in handy -- as you scoop out the stew, scrape the walls to get some great creamy flesh. The skin will stay in tact, and your stew will be all the tastier -- even if you put sweet potato in your stew.

• Chef Michael Smith talks about the struggles of food banks and offers a recipe for beef stew.
• A run-down of Vancouver's 2008 culinary highlights, from celebrity chefs to memorable meals.
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• French chef Anne-Sophie Pic grabs an honorary doctorate from the University of Montreal.
• Rob Mifsud discusses the rising trend of high-price cookbooks from signature chefs.
• And if you're gearing up for another Christmas celebration on the 6th, try these dinner twists.

Had your fill of dyed green eggs and lime Jello? Here's a list of some more sophisticated Irish treats, in honor of Saint Patrick's Day.

1) Beef Stew. Chunks of tender beef, potatoes, a shake of Worcestershire sauce, all hot and bubbling. Is there anything better on a cold damp day?

2) Irish chocolate cake. As dark and moist as the soil of the Emerald Isle, kicked up a notch with a dash of Irish cream liquor.

3) Cream scones. Lightly sweet and crumbly, with a shiny top, these with raspberry jam and clotted cream make me wish America had more of a tea time tradition.

4) Irish cheddar fondue. Sharp Irish Cheddar with a glug of stout; try it with steamed Brussels sprouts or chunks of Irish brown bread for a humble, warming dinner with friends.

5) Bread-and-butter pudding. Chunks of slightly stale bread, lavishly buttered and soaked in custard, become a sublime comfort dessert.

6) Steak and kidney pie. Cooking kidneys is not for the faint-of-heart (hint: soak, soak, soak), but this rich, velvety pie will really stick to your ribs.

7) Irish oatmeal. These steal cut oats beat the pants of the insipid instant variety. Try them with fruit and yogurt.

8) Corned beef and cabbage. The ultimate nostalgia food for Irish-Americans, and a perfect slow-cooking Sunday dinner for the rest of us.

When it gets chilly out, there is nothing more appealing than a hot bowl of soup or a big serving of chili or stew. Soup is comfort food that warms you up instantly and, by and large, is easy to prepare. The Big Book of Soups and Stews: 262 Recipes for Serious Comfort Food starts out with a brief introduction on the basics of soup making, including recipes for stocks and broth, but gets right into the main recipes quite quickly. This is a big plus for some cooks, since in-depth books that focus on teaching technique are always interesting, but not always practical when you want to put something together quickly and just want a good recipe without another lesson.

The soups include meat based dishes and vegetarian ones, hot and cold soups, and there are things that will appeal to everyone in the family - with 262 recipes, if would be hard not to. Some of the recipes are Black Bean Chili, Cream of Artichoke Soup, Italian Meatball Soup and (probably a kid-favorite) Spaghetti Soup.

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