At bowling the other day, we were discussing conservation. I frequently tease


Smuggler’s Cottage
Surely its name
Must give us a clue
Under the shadows
Gone from the blue
Gone are the shnaties
Long past are the kegs
Eased up the Downs
Returned with the dregs
Secretly Now
Cutters were flying
Over the sea
The Revenue men
Trundling over the lea
Avast there you smugglers
Get you gone from the sea.
England is Free.



If you look at London, there are signs of the Romans in some areas,



I haven't even mentioned the stately homes it would take a blog to themselves to write about them and many of them go way, way back. Of course roofs were repaired, damaged areas were fixed, but no conservation as such although the owners always intended them to be passed on to their heirs. Highclere Castle which is being used as the setting for the Downton Abbey series, is a dwelling such as this.
These days, many of these buildings have become World Heritage sites, and are being preserved, but, they have stood the test of time and survived into our modern world. Which is why I tend to be anti conservation in the North Americas because I feel a building which survives on its own is somehow more worthwhile.
As an aside, I fully support conservation and the preservation of natural resources, parks, lakes, rivers and so on and in particular animals or flora and fauna.
I got the following recipe from a magazine which is sent to Matt regularly as a consequence of where he used to work. I actually don’t remember recipes in this magazine before, but as I am “into” slow cooker recipes, I jumped on it. I am not sure Julia Child would approve of this version of Boeuf Bourguignon but although I think I am a good cook, I am certainly no Julia, I haven't got the time or patience for a start. I am cooking this dish for tonight. One thing, the ingredients call for 1 tbs butter. I figure that you add that to the bacon fat once you have finished cooking the bacon itself.
Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon
6 slices bacon

2-3 lbs beef stew meat cut into 1 inch pieces
1 med. carrot, thickly sliced
1 onion sliced
3 Tbs Flour
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed beef broth
1 Tbs tomato paste
2 minced garlic cloves
1/4 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 lb white pearl onions
1 lb mushrooms
1 Tbs butter
1/2 cup red wine (like Burgundy)
salt
pepper
1. Fry bacon until crisp and cut into 1/2 inch pieces and set aside. In the bacon grease, brown the beef. Place beef into crock pot. In the same pan, brown the carrot and onion, add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the flour and condensed beef broth. Mix well and put in crock pot.
2. Add the bacon, tomato paste, minced garlic, thyme leaves, bay leaf, mushrooms, pearl onions and wine to the crock pot.
3. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours (or in 300° oven in a covered pan for 2 hours).
Source: QCC
This recipe calls for pearl onions. I don't know how many know the trick, but an easy way of peeling them is as follows:
1. Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil.
2. Cut off the tip of each onion opposite the root end.
3. Place onions in the pot and boil for two minutes and then drain.
4. Place into a bowl of ice water in order for them to cool and then drain.
5. Squeeze the root end and the onion will pop out
6. Cut off the remaining roots.
Have a great weekend

Hi Jo - thankfully we are conserving quite a lot now and as properties, areas, landmarks are highlighted the public get involved. There are so many properties it must be mind boggling to decide - but we do seem to be able to raise public awareness quite often. My post on Tyntersfield is one such magnificent home - being preserved with National Trust help .. but rescued by the nation.
ReplyDeleteIt's a costly exercise .. I saw some follies recently that had been restored .. they were fun .. cheers to you ... I might do slow cooked pork tonight! Cheers Hilary
But, as I was trying to point out, most of the places survived to the present century without a big effort at conservation. One thing I hadn't considered of course was taxation and how many stately home owners just cannot afford to keep up their homes these days.
DeleteSlow cooked pork is good. Ii hope this Bourguignon is going to be good too.
I learn something new every day. I did not know conservation efforts were not necessarily concerted to preserve these historic landmarks. I do love history of any sort, especially European.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lesson. I read your post twice and enjoyed it immensely.
Oh, and I love Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon. I printed the recipe and will slow cook it in our crock pot sometime this month. A nice break from turkey!
We really enjoyed the Bourguignon this weekend.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you found this post interesting. Remember also, castle owners of the past, for instance, were too busy fighting battles to worry about conservation.
Thanks for the onion hint. I'd not heard of that before.
ReplyDeleteI had heard it but had to Google to find it again as I didn't quite remember it.
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