11/16/19
(Above: Beef and noodle stew in its completed form. Incredible flavor.)
Active Summary: This morning began with a frigid ride around the beef pasture, after which, I returned to Jacobhouse where I commenced with morning of writing and cooking. The cooking portion consisted of my preparing a stew from all of my available vegetables (and a small trip up to Oldhouse for a couple onions), some stew beef, and a hefty share of beef bone broth. Writing time followed and lasted for a little over an hour, and after that, I brought the prepared stew to Oldhouse* before venturing down to the farmer’s market.
The vegetation at the farmer’s market was superb today, and I procured quite a lot of it to bring back to Oldhouse. This was followed by my preparing noodles for the stew before putting away that vegetation. Lunch followed (more in Commentary).
(7:43 PM Update): This afternoon, I endured frigid conditions while tending to cattle, checking the beef pasture, and filling up some Moo-Magic bags for the stand by the road. Following these activities, I returned to the warm, delicious-smelling Jacobhouse where I participated in some Master Blend bookkeeping and stowed the broth away in my freezer. Alas, the beefy smell is already departing.
TIL: Today was my first time utilizing a Dutch Oven to make stew. It was during this process that I learned I could brown the beef and the vegetables in the very same pot that the stew was going to end up simmering in. By doing this, I created a thin layer of caramelized crust on the bottom of the pot (called ‘fond‘ which is equal to ‘base’ in French). That flavorful fond was subsequently released into the stew as I poured in the bone-stock.
It was also my first time utilizing Durum wheat to make noodles. I used only Durum today and found the noodles to be a tad stiff even after they had been boiled. Next time, I will do as the package advises and use a blend of 50% Durum and 50% Bread Flour. This will combine the rigidity of Durum with the flexibility of ordinary flour to form what could very well be a perfect-textured noodle.
Commentary: The morning hours proved simultaneously productive and relaxing. I got to write, visit the farmer’s market, and above all, cook a delicious stew based in some homemade bone-and-heart stock. While I was cooking this stew, I could not help but notice the avian visitors outside (due to their various warblings and ‘cheeps’). Over the course of my stew-crafting, I witnessed: cardinals, wrens, sparrows, ibis, and even a couple of bluebirds that seemed quite interested in the cubbyhole located beneath the stair’s left railing.
Final Note: This afternoon, as a result of some bovine shenaniganry, I have received a short-term task to accomplish: removing an old post from the entrance to the old feed barn and replacing it with a new post and accompanying gate. So, that is what I plan on tending to tomorrow morning… if time and cows allow (it will be Sunday morning, and Wag – our other farm helper – will be taking the day off. So, this truly does depend on how the bovines treat Padre and I.)
*Madre drove over the bumpy driveway / road as I held the heavy stew.