Guest Chef! Charles McE. Cooks

Charles, a physicist by day and avid cook by night (a blogger all the time) needed little persuasion to guest chef at the Spouse House. His MO is all-in-one meals, especially "stu" (aka stew). For this venture, he was determined to step it up a notch with a side dish. We brainstormed ideas and came up with a cabbage salad, as I had a great quantity of crispy savoy cabbage from our Featherstone Farm Winter CSA share.

Charles stirs the stew while I mash the potatoes and parsnips, and toss the salad.

This evening, the stew included black pepper bacon, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, green beans and sundry soup making staples (onions, broth, and the like).
Mashing the parsnips and potatoes gives the stew such a thickness that Alec declared it not stew at all, but a hash.

Cabbage brims our largest bowl; green beans await their fate.

Truly a joint effort, the savoy cabbage salad was studded with dried cranberries, cherries, blueberries from Charles' mom; enlivened with pecans and blue cheese from Charles; and dressed to taste with balsamic vinaigrette mixed by Alec.

 I fail to keep an acorn quash from intruding on the full meal picture.

Garlic baguettes rounded out this hearty winter meal. Thanks again, Charles!