If you have not yet cooked on your woodstove, I suggest not going skiing, leaving it unattended, the first time you give it a try. Once you get a sense of how your wood stove will do, go skiing! You’ll return to a warm, earthy smelling home and a hot pot of stew for your cold tired bones.
You will need; 1 lb stew beef, 6 potatoes, 3 carrots/parsnips, 1 small celeriac, 1 large onion, a rutabaga, 2 cloves of garlic (or more) 1 C flour, a bit of olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper and the better part of a bottle of red wine, you will have had a glass while you are prepping. I’ve tried all different wines; Merlot, Burgundy, Chianti….I use what I have on hand. And of course, you need a cast iron dutch oven with a lid.
Cut all veggies into 1” cubes, light your woodstove. Heat a dutch oven on your stove first, with a bit of olive oil. In a bowl, add salt and pepper to the flour and roll the stew meat around until covered. Add to hot pot. I like to cook the beef until it is really brown, turning toward black and quickly. Once it is all cooked, remove from heat, add a bit of the wine to mostly cover the meat. Add all the veggies and herbs, the remainder of the wine and if needed add some water to cover the stew. Place on hot woodstove with lid. Woodstove should be in the 450 range, but every stove is different. I have a small 100 year old Reginald…. You want the stew to lightly boil occasionally but to be just below boiling most of the day. I start this around noon on Sundays and by 6 or so we’re eating stew with a loaf of rosemary bread for dipping the wine broth. A last note, if I end up with some of the broth/gravy leftover, I save it and add it to my next batch.