Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

lobscouse \LAHB-skouss\ ~ noun

DEFINITION: a sailor's dish of stewed or baked meat with vegetables and hardtack

EXAMPLES: Tucked away in a box in the attic were old recipes from Grandpa's father, including one for lobscouse.

"Mam knows that I don’t like lobscouse. All those bits of grey meat and white bone and potato and carrot in watery stock with globules of grease floating on top. It reminds me of washing-up water and I can’t eat any of it." -- From Mari Strachan's 2009 novel, The Earth Hums in B Flat

FYI: This is a classic North Walian stew/broth that used to be made in every farmhouse. It's basically a mix of vegetables, marrow bones and meat (which used to be salt beef) but these days tends to be stewing beef.

Ingredients:

1.2kg stewing beef
2 marrow bones
6 potatoes, peeled and chopped into large pieces
1/2 swede, peeled and cut into pieces (a swede is a rutabaga)
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, sliced into generous pieces
3 leeks, sliced
salt and black pepper, to taste

Method:

Add the meat and bones to a large pan of water and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes then add the vegetables (except the potatoes) and boil for about 40 minutes, or until the meat is tender.

Add the potatoes and boil again for half an hour, until the potatoes are tender. Season to taste and continue cooking for 5 minutes more. The lobscouse can now be served but it's much better if you leave it over night, re-heat and serve the following day.

When ready to serve spoon the apricots onto a plate and place the chicken on top. Serve with plain rice.

This recipe and others can be found at Nemeton, Home of Ancient Recipes, the English version is at the bottom of the page.

~THE REBATE~

Today's rebate is for everyone that brings a lunch to work or school. Just collect 20 codes from participating LEAN CUISINE® entrées (excluding Lean Cuisine Market Creations) and enter the codes on the LEAN CUISINE® web site. When you get up to the 20 codes you can take your pick of one of four designs of lunch bags. The last date to enter codes or request a bag is March 31, 2011.

Have a great day everyone!

C.Q.