hearth-Craft

The freezer tragedy

It was a dull day.  I opened the freezer downstairs in search of inspiration.  As the cool freezer air washed over me, it raised goosebumps across my skin. I had to squint just a little to see past the momentary mist and into the depths of the big freezer and there it was…the awful tragedy in frosted over horrific despair: freezer burned beef.

There’s not much you can do with beef that is so freezer burned that it has turned that light, tough color of dried strips.  There was nothing for it but for me to take it out, defrost it at room temp in cool water and do my best to salvage it rather than let it languish in the frigid eternity of freezer existence.

I made stew. Sort of.

You start with the basics: onions, carrots, potatoes, garlic.  Chop them however you like (I like to mince my garlic fine and chop the rest a little larger than bite sized). Saute them in a hot pan with olive oil, seasoning them with sea salt and pepper.  Add the meat, now cut into pieces the same size as the veggies so they’ll cook uniformly, seasoning that too.  Saute for a few minutes more. Then add water and simmer until the meat gets tender. Depending on how much you’re cooking that could be 10 minutes, could be an hour.

And then I add the magic.

Curry is basically stew…but with curry powder or curry paste. Today - I decided to make Japanese style curry and so to the stew I added my seasonings.  There’s Japanese curry burbling away on the stove right now and it smells so good. And honestly, once the meat is tender and because curry is so distinctive and strong (but Japanese curry is mild and not all that spicy, just warm and comforting) - my guys will never know the meat was freezer burned at all.

Whew.