Can Cooker Stew

I have a particular pot called a Can Cooker. I’m NOT paid to advertise this thing, but I’ve had one and used it for a long time. I have the smaller Junior version simply because I’m not trying to feed an entire wagon train. The concept is of a primitive type of a pressure cooker made from the top half of an old milk can from the farm. I won’t go into details because like I said — this is NOT an advertisement for the company.

I start off with fresh chunks of really lean buffalo or bison meat if that’s what you want to call it.

I sautéed this in real butter in a pan until just brown on the outside.

Next, I add celery on top of the meat down inside the pot, along with a few spices.

Then I layer in carrots.

I’m talking about chunks of carrots big enough to choke a full brown mule. You want your stew to be chewed instead of sipped. We ain’t making gruel for peasants here. We’re making a simple meal for MEN !

Of course you want to include big chunks of onions and a bit of minced garlic. With enough garlic and onions you can kill a vampire standing 50 feet away just by blowing your breath at it.

Here’s the secret ingredient….. Mtn Dew citrus soda. I’m not talking about the diet kind, but the one loaded with sugars. The phosphoric acid in the soda breaks down the meat and veggies and tenderizes the heck out of them. The extra sugar imparts a sweet base to the entire dish. Maybe half a can ought to do the trick. Just think — if this stuff will tenderize a pot full of meat, what’s it doing to your guts inside ? I’ll cook with it sometimes, but I won’t drink the stuff.

The rest of the stew is made up of the wet stuff. Otherwise it ain’t really a stew is it ? I like to pour in what I guesstimate are about two cups of beef broth. That, along with the soda makes up the stew itself. You can add as much or as little as you want, in order for this to be as dry or as wet as you like it. But too dry / not enough broth ? What are you going to sop up with your biscuits ?

Last but not least — the spices I use in my stews. You can add what you want or leave out what you want. Some folks don’t like cilantro, but I can graze on it like a cow. I don’t mention spices specifically because everybody has their own opinions on what they like or dislike. as for salt — I add a pinch of pink Himalayan salt on top of the bowl individually and stir it in.

Wait ! What about potatoes ? Sure ! You can add them in, no problem. As for me ? I prefer a grain base to this dish, because it seems to fill your stomach longer than the heavy starches from potatoes. I’ll cook wild rice, quinoa, and barley in some of the beef broth, and pour in a just a smidge of beer. I like to drink beer or scotch while I’m cooking, and invariably some of that gets “spilled” into the cooking. Hey…. It adds flavor. A pat of butter gets added to the pan I’m cooking the grains in.

Now you tell me — is this not a dinner fit for a king ? It’ll stick to your ribs for a while, and the flavor will make you want to fist fight your old granny. It’s got a little bit of everything in it and when properly chased down with a mug of Guinness and sopped up with a chunk of rye bread, it will carry you through some cold Maine winter weather.