Last week's blustery weather had me stewing. I was motivated to cook something warm and comforting, and making three types of stew did the trick.

Before I tell you about them, let me give you a refresher course on what a stew is.

It's a method of cooking where food is barely covered with liquid and simmered to the desired doneness. A stew's featured ingredient can be meat, poultry, seafood, fish or vegetables. How long a stew cooks depends on what's in it. Cubes of tough meat, logically, will take some time to simmer and tenderize. Pieces of fish will cook much faster.

My beef and root vegetable stew included leek, garlic, parsnip and carrot. Accenting their taste was beef stock, rosemary, bay leaf and tomato paste.

Cooking, straining and concentrating tomatoes produces a paste that is great in stews — just a little bit can add rich flavour and colour. If you don't buy tomato paste very often, seek out a product in a resealable tube. After squeezing out what you need, screw the cap back on and store in the refrigerator until next time.

The meaty part of my stew is cubed beef. To enhance the colour of the meat, I browned it first.

To avoid having your stewing meat steam rather than brown, watch out for these simple mistakes.

Make sure the meat is dry — prepackaged beef cubes can collect small pools of liquid in the package, and that liquid can end up in the cooking vessel, creating steam. So before cooking the beef, pat it dry with paper towel.

Be sure your cooking pot and oil are hot. If you add the meat when both are just warm, the meat won't brown quickly and nicely.

Lastly, you when add the meat to the cooking vessel, do so in batches. It you add too much at once, the cooking vessel will cool down and won't brown the meat. Also, any moisture that seeps out of the meat during cooking will not have room to evaporate, which in turn will cause the meat to steam, rather than sear.

To complement my beef stew, I served it with mashed potatoes flavoured with prepared horseradish. Beef and horseradish are meant to be together; they certainly blend well in this recipe.

My second stew is Moroccan-style turkey stew. The cubes of turkey were browned using the technique above. Giving the stew an intriguing, North African-style taste were ingredients such as cumin, citrus juice, apricots, raisins and olives. I served the stew with couscous, pita bread and some thick yogurt for dolloping on top.

My last stew is cod and asparagus stew for two. This stew takes about 15 minutes to cook. To ensure the fish does not overcook and the asparagus stays a rich green colour, the cubes of fish and blanched pieces of asparagus go into the stew toward the end of the cooking process. I served the stew with steamed rice. If you have some saffron to the rice, it will add rich flavour and appealing colour to your meal.

eakis@timescolonist.com

Eric Akis is the author of the recently published Everyone Can Cook Slow Cooker Meals. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.

RECIPES

Beef and Root Vegetable Stew With Horseradish Mashers

This rich beef stew is tastily accompanied with tangy, horseradish-flavoured mashed potatoes.

Preparation time:

35 minutes

Cooking time: About 90 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 1/4 lbs. beef stew meat, patted dry

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium leek, white and pale green part only, halved lengthwise, washed, patted dry and sliced

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 large carrot, halved lengthwise and sliced

1 large parsnip, halved lengthwise and sliced

2 3/4 cups beef stock or broth

2 Tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 Tbsp melted butter

1/3-1/2 cup buttermilk

1 Tbsp horseradish, or to taste

• chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Place the flour in a bowl large enough to hold the beef. Season the flour with salt and pepper. Add the beef and toss to coat. Shake off excess flour from the beef and set beef on plate. Reserve the leftover flour.

Place the oil in a Dutch oven or ovenproof pot set over medium-high heat. When hot, add the beef, in batches, brown on all sides, and then set on a clean plate.

Lower the heat under the pot to medium. Add the leek and garlic and cook 1 minute. Mix in 2 Tbsp of the reserved flour; discard the rest. Slowly, stirring constantly, mix in the stock or broth. Mix in the tomato paste, rosemary and bay leaf.

Return the beef to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook in the oven for 45 minutes. Stir in the carrot and parsnip, and cook in the oven 30 to 40 minutes more, or until the meat and vegetables are tender.

When stew is about 25 minutes from being done, place the potatoes in a pot, cover with cold water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently until potatoes are very tender, about 18 to 20 minutes. Drain well, and then thoroughly mash the potatoes. Mix in the butter, buttermilk, horseradish and salt to taste. Serve the potatoes with the stew. For a fancy presentation, you could pipe a spiral of the mashed potatoes on to each serving of stew.

Moroccan-style Turkey Stew

Apricots, citrus juice and olives give the turkey in this stew an appealing Moroccan-style flavour. Serve the stew with couscous, warm pita and thick yogurt for dolloping on top.

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 75 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

1 lb. boneless, skinless turkey breast or thigh

* salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1 medium green bell pepper, diced

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 3/4 cups chicken stock or broth

1/2 cup orange juice

2 tsp lemon zest

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp honey

10 dried apricots, thinly sliced

1/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup small black or green olives

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp dried mint or oregano

• pinch cayenne pepper

• chopped fresh parsley to taste

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Place the flour in a bowl large enough to hold the turkey. Season the flour with salt and pepper. Add the turkey to the bowl and toss to coat. Shake off excess flour from the turkey and set on plate. Reserve the leftover flour.

Place the oil in a Dutch oven or ovenproof pot set over medium-high heat. When hot, add the turkey, in batches, brown on all sides and then set on a clean plate. Lower the heat under the pot to medium.

Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic to the pot, and cook 3 minutes. Mix in 1 Tbsp of the reserved flour; discard the rest. Slowly, stirring constantly, mix in the stock or broth. Return the turkey to pot, mix in the remaining ingredients, except parsley, and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook in the oven for 60 minutes, or until the turkey is tender. Taste and, if needed, season the stew with salt and pepper. Sprinkle servings of the stew with chopped parsley.

Cod and Asparagus Stew for Two

Pacific cod and bright green asparagus combine in this stew for two. Once you add the fish to the stew, be gentle when you stir it, otherwise the cubes of fish may break apart.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: About 15 minutes

Makes: 2 servings

2 Tbsp butter

1 small shallot, finely chopped

1 small carrot, halved lengthwise and sliced

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp dried tarragon

1 1/2 cups chicken or fish stock or broth

1/2 lb. Pacific cod fillet, cut in 3/4-inch cubes (see Note)

1/3 lb. asparagus, stems trimmed, spears sliced on the bias and blanched (see Note)

1/4 cup frozen corn kernels

* salt and white pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a medium-sized pot set over medium heat. Add the shallot, carrot and garlic, and cook 4 minutes. Stir in the flour and tarragon until well combined. While stirring, slowly mix in the stock or broth. Bring to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the fish, asparagus and frozen corn, and simmer 5 minutes more, or until the fish is just cooked through. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Note: If you can't find cod, you could use just about any other fish fillet in this recipe — halibut, snapper, haddock or salmon. To blanch asparagus, cook in boiling water 1 minute. Cool in ice-cold water and drain well.