jmcquown wrote:

>modom wrote:
>
>
>>On Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:27:03 -0600, OmManiPadmeOmelet
> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>Did not end up adding the spinach.
>>>It did not need it. For stews, I prefere leaving stuff nice and
>>>chunky. The yams tho' kinda broke up on their own, but that's ok:
>>>
>>>http://i1.tinypic.com/mwe0bl.jpg
>>>
>>>Next time, I'll do 2 shanks instead of 1.
>>>
>>>
>>Damn. That looks fantastic.
>>
>>
>>modom
>>
>>
>
>Yep, it looks really good! Just needs a bit more meat to it.
>
>It reminds me of what my dad called "stew" (made with beef, not lamb) - sort
>of a vegetable soup rather than my Scottish grandma's stew which was thick
>and so meaty you couldn't see anything in the broth but meat and potatoes.
>There's the difference. My dad's mom was German, even though she married a
>man of Scottish heritages; my mom's mom and dad were Scottish right off the
>boat around 1920.
>
>I don't know if this makes any sense at all, but Dad's mom made a sort of
>"clear" stew broth with vegetables and meat. My Mom's mom made a thick and
>meaty stew with mostly meat (lamb or beef, either one), potatoes and
>dumplings.
>
>I can see the influence of my German grandmother in her stew with veggies
>including turnips. But I crave the thick gravy dumplings added like my
>Scottish grandmother would have done!
>
>Jill
>
>
>
>
Absolutely! Braise is just the hifalutin Frog term for stew. A good
Scottish stew should include carrots and turnips, though, at the risk
of Scottish grandmothers at 50 paces! Perhaps it depends which part of
Scotland they came from.

(Actually, my maternal grandmother was a rotten cook, but the other, who
died before I was born, was reputedly a good cook and my Mum had to get
up to Dad's expectations quicksmart!)

Christine