Potato-Parsnip Mash & Beef-Chanterelle Stew

Around the New Year I was visiting friends who introduced me to something I hadn't really considered: adding other tubers to mashed potatoes. This works quite nicely, so I had to try my hand at it making this potato-parsnip mash.

To go with that I decided on trying a variation on this beef stew - more specifically a wine based beef-tube chanterelle stew.

Ingredients:
mash:
- 4 parsnips, peeled
- oil
- 10 potatoes, rinsed and quartered
- 1 dL (²/₅ cup) sour cream
- a little milk
- salt and pepper
stew:
- oil
- 1 onion, chopped coarsely
- flour
- 225 g (¹/₂ lb) beef strips
- 1 dL (²/₅ cup) red wine
- 450 g (1 lb) tube chanterelles
- 5 dL (2 cups) beef broth
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 3 dried juniper berries
- fresh rosemary
- salt and pepper

The peeled parsnips were drizzled with oil and baked in the oven at 200 C (400 F) for 1.5 hours.

While the parsnips were baking, I started on the stew: the chopped onion was sautéed in a large pot with a little oil, then removed from the pot. The strips of beef were coated in flour and browned on all sides in the same large pot with a little extra oil, then added the wine - stirred well to ensure no bits of flour left on the walls of the pot. Then the beef broth was added together with the tube chanterelles, crushed garlic, dried juniper berries and fresh rosemary. The pot was brought to a boil (took some time as the chanterelles were frozen), then the onions were added back, the heat was reduced and the stew was simmered for 45 minutes. At the very end it was seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.

While the stew was simmering, quartered potatoes were boiled in unsalted water. When tender the water was poured off and the baked parsnips were added. The tubers were mashed with a ladle, and sour cream and milk were stirred in till a good texture was attained. Seasoned with salt and pepper.

The stew and mash was served with baked green beans (basically a very basic version of this baked green bean salad) and a glass of the red wine...