Beef Cabbage, Parsnip and Mushroom Stew

In a four gallon kettle on low heat, place stew beef and butter in and start to brown. Next, begin to peel the entire bulb of garlic. As soon as the garlic is peeled, chop and/or slice and add to browning beef. Continue to brown slowly, avoiding scorching the butter. Stir occasionally and cook for one hour. In a large heat proof bowl, shift flour. Drain beef into flour, and return to heat. Mix flour and drippings well to remove all lumps. Add water in small amounts, blending well to keep out the lumps. If you run out of room in the bowl before using up all the water, put flour mixture back into pot with meat, and continue to add remainder of water. Flour mixture should be thinner than wallpaper paste, almost milky. Keep pot on low heat and stir every now and then, about five to six times an hour.

While pot is coming up to a simmer, add in the rosemary, parsley, thyme, sage and the bay leaves. Next clean and peel the parsnips, chop into wafers, it helps to think about coins. Watch the fingers if you've never cut parsnip chips before. The pot ought to have come to a simmer by now, so add chips to pot and cook an hour. Take the head of cabbage and peel off the outer leaves and wash. Cut in half. Cut out core, slice the cabbage up into really coarse coleslaw. Pieces the size of half dollars are a good average, with plenty of larger pieces, but nothing so large as to not fit on your soup spoon.

Drop the cabbage in and cook another hour. Now wash and slice up the mushrooms and add to stew. Cook another hour. The stew should now be done. The beef should be falling apart, the center of the parsnips tender, the cabbage disappearing and the mushrooms not yet tough. If this is to be served in bread bowls, add some more flour and thicken into a gravy, or cook longer until it begins to get thick enough so as not to make the bread bowl terribly soggy.

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