The days are getting darker and a chill is creeping into the air. What better way to ward of the winter blues than with a hearty stew? Packed with veggies, they are a delicious way to achieve your five-a-day. Flavoured with herbs and spices, your kitchen will become an aromatic haven. Even better, they can be frozen and re-heated on those blistery, cold days when you don’t want to venture out of the warmth of your lounge to shop. So swap your stilettos for Ugg boots and cosy up on the couch with one of these steaming stews from Europe. Guaranteed to warm the cockles of your heart….

Boeuf Bourguignon

A French winter staple dish

This traditional French stew, also called beef burgundy, was originally a peasant dish, however over the years it has become a haute cuisine staple.

This recipe is a simplified version taken from Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion. A tried and tested dish, which has been a winner at many dinner parties.

Ingredients

Method

1. In a casserole dish heat the butter and oil and brown the bacon, spring onions and garlic. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. The secret to ensuring the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth beef is to not overcrowd the pan. Brown the meat (seasoned with pepper) in small sections so that each piece is not touching. Once all the meat is browned, return to the pan and add 1tbsp of flour on high heat, quickly stirring it into the meat before adding the red wine and reducing.

3. Add herbs, bacon, spring onions and garlic, along with the stock. Top up the dish with stock and wine, until all the meat is covered in liquid.

4. Cover the dish with baking paper and a tightly fitting lid. Cook for 1 hour on 150°C until the meat is tender. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 30 minutes. (NOTE: During the cooking process, if your stew is losing liquid, top up with stock.)

5. Serve with creamy mashed potato and winter vegetables.

6. Alternatively, spoon the stew into ramekins and cover each with a square of ready-made puff pastry, brush with melted butter and cook until the pastry is golden.

Zarzuela de Mariscos – Spanish Fish Stew

Stew isn't just about meat - this fish recipe is delicious!

This tasty fish stew comes from the Catalan coast of northeast Spain.

Zarzuela means “operetta,” or “variety show,” which describes the mix of different flavours that can be produced by the stew, depending on the types of seafood used.

Ingredients

Fish and shellfish, cleaned and prepared. (Use whatever fresh seafood is available. Any firm, white-fleshed fish, cut into large chunks, is a good base. Other possible additions include calamari, shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams, crab, lobster and crayfish.)

Method

1. Clean and prepare your fish and shellfish. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high flame. Add the onions, peppers and garlic and sauté until onion turns translucent (4-5 minutes). Add the ham or prosciutto and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.

3. Stir in the tomatoes, ground almonds, bay leaf, saffron and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes to marry the flavors and reduce the liquid somewhat.

4. Add the wine and simmer to reduce its volume by about half. Then add the water or stock, lemon juice and parsley. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 more minutes.

5. Add the fish and seafood to the stew. Cover with a lid and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until everything is cooked through. Do not overcook. Adjust seasoning and serve.

There's nothing better than your Mum's food!

Penny’s beef stew with English herb dumplings

This is my mum’s recipe, which was often cooked on a Sunday afternoon using any leftover ingredients in the fridge and pantry. Served with delicious, light and fluffy herb dumplings.

Note: Substitute the meat and beef stock for chickpeas (which have been soaked overnight) and veg stock for a vegetarian stew.

Ingredients

Method

1. In a pan heat the oil and brown the onion and beef. Add the roughly chopped vegetables and mix through.

2. Add the can tomatoes/ketchup, two stock cubes and herbs and fill with water until all the beef and veg are submerged.

3. Simmer on a low heat for 1 hour and then add mushrooms, beans and any other veg like peas or corn.

4. Simmer for another hour until meat is tender.

5. Make the dumplings.

English dumplings

1. Rub the butter into the flour until it is like fine breadcrumbs

2. Whisk the egg and add to the mixture, along with the parsley and mix. 3 Add a dash of milk until it makes dough, which you can roll into golf-ball sized balls.

4. Drop into the stew and simmer for 15 minutes (turning them over half-way through)

Rabbit Stifado – Κουνέλι Στιφάδο

This dish definitely beats Gyros any day...

This traditional Greek stew uses onions and cinnamon to create a sweet and aromatic dish. Traditionally made with rabbit or wild hare, the recipe can also use beef, lamb or chicken. Best served with crusty, fresh bread.

Ingredients

Method

1. In a heavy-based pan, brown the rabbit pieces all over in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside and tip out the oil.

2. In the same pan, cook the onions over a medium heat in the extra virgin olive oil until soft and golden brown, adding the garlic towards the end.

3. Add the cinnamon, bay, cloves, salt and vinegar. After a minute when the vinegar has reduced, add the rabbit, tomatoes, wine and port and a splash of water.

4. Turn to very low heat, cover and cook very on a low heat for about 2 hours or until very soft.

5. Rest the meat and serve garnished with a little chopped parsley.

6. Alternatively, crumble feta over the stop of the stew and bake in the oven until golden for a cheesy crust.

Food from Ancient Rome

Coda alla Vaccinara – Roman Oxtail Stew

For several thousand years, oxen ploughed the fields of Rome. When an animal became too old, it was sent to the slaughterhouse. The men and women who worked in the slaughterhouses were called vaccinari (from the word ‘vacca’ which means cow). They were paid in kind with the unwanted organs, hides and oxtails of the animals. The vaccinari developed a way of turning their fee into a delicacy – hence the creation of the Coda alla Vaccinara.

Ingredients

Method

1. Rinse the oxtail under warm running water and eliminate any fat or gristle with a paring knife and your fingers. Chop it into sections along the vertebrae. Pat them dry with paper towels.

2. Remove the stringy parts of the celery. Finely chop 1 stalk and reserve the rest.

3. Peel and halve the garlic and finely chop along with the carrot and onion.

4. Chop the pancetta into piece; you should have 3/4 cup. Combine the vegetables and pancetta with 1 heaped tablespoon of the parsley.

5. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high. Add the minced vegetable-and-pancetta mixture and sauté, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula until the onion becomes translucent (4 to 5 minutes).

6. Add the oxtail, a generous pinch of salt and several turns of the peppermill. Brown thoroughly, stirring, flipping and scraping for about 15 minutes.

7. Pour in the wine and boil to evaporate it (1 to 2 minutes)

8. Stir in the tomato concentrate. Add the tomatoes and their packing juices, crushing and stirring.

8. Add just enough of the water to completely submerge the oxtail bones.

9. Wrap the cloves in a beggar’s purse of gauze and tie it closed with kitchen string, leaving about one foot of string attached. Lower the purse into the stew and secure the string to a pot handle. Drop in the bay leaf and stir.

10. Lower the heat to minimum and simmer, partially covered, for 2 hours.

11. Slice the remaining 11 celery stalks into sticks the size of an index finger. Add them to the stew and simmer, covered, for 40 minutes.

12. Remove and discard the purse of cloves and the bay leaf. Stir in the remaining 1 heaping tablespoon of parsley. Serve in soup bowls.

Note: Save any leftover oxtail meat and sauce to dress fettuccine or other pasta.

Irish Stew

Yes, of course there are potatoes in here!

Irish stew, also called “ballymaloe” or “stobhach gaelach” in Gaelic, is traditionally made of mutton (less tender sheep over two years of age). Mutton was the dominant ingredient because the Irish economy relied on the wool of sheep, which meant only old animals ended up in the cooking pot, where they needed hours of cooking Over the years, the recipe has evolved and adapted to use lamb, beef and even Guinness for extra flavour. Below is a traditional recipe by Myrtle Allen from Floyd on Britain and Ireland.

Ingredients

Method

1. Cut the excess fat from the chops, cut it up and cook it down in a heavy flameproof casserole dish.

2. Toss the meat in the fat until browned.

3. Cut the onions and carrots into quarters, add to the meat and turn in the fat also.

4. Add the stock and season carefully.

5. Simmer gently for approximately two hours, adding the potatoes halfway through.

6. When the meat is cooked, pour off the cooking liquid, de-grease and re-heat it in another saucepan. Check the seasoning.

7. Swirl in the butter, chives and parsley and pour back over the stew.