A visit to Grandma's

So it's Saturday morning and I'm on my way to see my grandmother who happens to be a stroke victim. She is one of the women in my family that instilled in me the joy of cooking. Gram's hasn't been able to cook since her stroke, though she attempts to anyway, dragging her home health-aide to the stove with her. This visit was particularly difficult for my gram's and me, and by the end of the visit I was emotionally drained.

So to my stove I go to forget, and I'm in the mood for Beef Soup or in my grandmother's tongue, "Sopa de Reys".  Sopa de Reyes is an awesome beef soup that usually has a choice of different Afro-Caribbean tubers in it like Yucca (cassava), Yame (African white yams), Batata (boniato), and the universal staple of every soup, Potatoes and Carrots. 
Off I go to the market to gather ingredients for soup. I'm always changing what goes in this soup the only mandate being it have beef. This time around I picked up some pork chunks and a box of orzo. I chose to use yucca, sweet southern yams, potatoes, and carrots...mmmm, what a soup I was gonna have.
Unfortunately I don't cook for just myself (I have a whole family with me, Parent's, siblings, and even a nephew) so what should have been Sopa de Reys, turned into Sweet Potato Mixed Meat Stew, haha.  Because my step-dad took one look at the yucca, and said "There you go again Stacy. Adding $%!& to the food again" Obviously, my dad doesn't like yucca, so me,  not in the mood to argue, because frankly this is my therapy session, tossed the yucca back into the freezer, the orzo flew back into the cupboard, and said "Okay, stewed meat it is".

RECIPE: SWEET POTATO-MIXED MEAT STEW

1/2 lb. Beef chunks for stew

1/2 lb. Pork chunks for stew

2 cups of diced carrots

1 medium Southern Yam, cut into chunks

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 dried bay leaf

1/2 tsp of dried oregano or 1 tsp. of fresh

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup of tomato paste

1 tbsp of a creole seasoning salt, I use  *Goya's Adobo

1 heaping tsp of sofrito (can be purchased or made fresh)

6 cups of water

1 can of corn

salt and pepper to taste

1. Over medium-high flame heat up 1/4 cup of a neutral cooking oil, we use corn oil in my house, in a 5-6 quart pot or dutch oven. Season the meat with the seasoning salt and a little pepper to taste, and start browning in small batches, should be like two batches.
2. Remove the meat from the pot and throw in the bay leaf, oregano, onions and garlic, lower the flame to medium-low and allow to sweat (that means until they become see-through and shiny)
3. Return the meat to the pot including any liquid that has pooled on the bottom of the bowl. Add water to pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat cover and lower flame to medium. Let cook for 30 min or until meat is almost fork tender.
4. Place tomato paste in a heat-proof cup, bowl, or liquid measuring cup.  Add some of the cooking liquid to the paste and stir to make a sauce, add sauce to pot. Yes, Yes, I know why didn't I use tomato sauce. Frankly, paste has more flavor.
5. Add carrots and yams to pot, raise heat to med-high and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Uncover pot and lower flame, continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes, stew should be thick.
6. Stir in corn and serve over  rice.