Cooking With Gas

I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be able to cook with gas again. My last apartment in Australia introduced me to electric stove cooking, and our first home here in the States also had an electric stove. Plus there was no possibility of getting natural gas either because there wasn't a line in the town we lived in. Boooooring. There's merits to electric stove tops of course -- easy to clean, it doubles as extra counter space when not in use etc -- but gahhhh gimme flames already!! I kept thinking I'm going toss food in my pan and crack the stove top if I didn't set it down gently enough. I'm not as dainty as I look, people.

When we started looking for a new house, one of the things on my list was that we'd have a natural gas line for both cooking and the heating system. Mission accomplished :) I love my stove. My beautiful six-burner stove that I fondle cook on every day. Sure, cleaning can be a bitch, but whatever. It's not something I wasn't already used to before. The cats aren't very keen on the sounds the oven makes though... it keeps making weird sounds the electric stove didn't, so they take it upon themselves to stick their heads under the oven. Can't say I'm happy about that!

And just before we moved in, while I was at the house waiting for a delivery, and there was a strong smell of gas. Freaking out, I called the gas company who told me not to open the windows or talk on my mobile. Umm. I'd already done both!!! How was I supposed to know?!?! Anyway, there'd been a gas leak where the pipe attached to the stove all along (since the last owners had the stove installed) and when the people who came to tile the backsplash moved the stove, it let all the gas out. As frightening as that was, I'm actually glad it happened because it's now fixed so it's safer, and we're not paying for wasted gas.

Anyway, I posted a picture of tonight's dinner of pork stew on Instagram, and a couple people asked for a recipe. As I suspected, I'd already posted it on my blog before, but just for good measure, here it is again.

Pork Stew

1.5 lbs pork, cubed

2-3 onions, roughly chopped

2 tbsp rosemary

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp paprika

1 (6 oz) can of tomato paste

1 cup red wine

1.5 cups chicken stock

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

2-3 cups carrots, cut into large chunks

- Cube the pork and season with salt and pepper. Brown in a large pot in batches on high heat.

- Lower the heat and add the onions to the pot and return the pork to the pot. Cook for a few minutes, allowing the onions to soften.

- Add the wine and allow to cook for a few minutes before adding the herbs and spices, tomato paste and chicken stock.

- Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for approximately 1 hour. You'll need to cook it longer if the pork was cut into larger pieces.

- Approximately 20 minutes into cooking, add the carrots and stir in.

I like to serve this on brown rice because that seems to be the hub's favourite way of eating the stew. Enjoy!