Karelian Stew

from Mandi

Karelian stew (Karjalanpaisti) is a traditional meat stew from Karelia, the eastern part of Finland where Ben's mother is originally from. It is hearty and uses tasty root vegetables found in Scandinavia. I would love to try this in a dutch oven sometime, it seems like perfect camp food.

Serves 4

1-2 lbs of beef, pork or lamb chunks

1 Tbsp butter

1 rutabaga, chopped

3-5 carrots, chopped

4 small onions, chopped roughly

4-5 cups water or beef broth (enough to cover food in the pot)

15 peppercorns

4 bay leaves

salt to taste

6-8 potatoes

Heat the oven to 275 F. Wash and chop all vegetables except potatoes (set them aside). Brown the meat in the butter in a sauce pan and layer meat cubes, onions, and vegetables in a lidded casserole dish. Pour water or beef broth over the meat and cover.

Bake in the oven, stirring occasionally until meat is tender (about 5 hours). While the stew is in the oven, boil the potatoes. Once 5 hours is up, take out the stew, remove bay leaves and peppercorns and serve over boiled potatoes.