Dinner
I cooked for myself today, a rather extraordinary since I never cook. Actually, I had a bunch of leftover vegetables from last week that were starting to wilt, and if I didn't do something with them today, they'd be destined to compost in my fridge until I remembered they were there. Oh, and as an appetizer, I noticed that the roots on onions and leeks closely resemble a bunch of maggots peering out of the end of the vegetables. Yum.

Cooking time 3hrs

1 onion
1 large sorrento pepper
1 tomato
1 package enoki mushrooms
2 leeks
3 cloves of garlic
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 dried bay leaves
1 lb of stewing beef
1/4 bottle of white wine
1/4 bottle of pomegranate juice
soy sauce
small bunch of fresh cilantro
black pepper
white pepper
salt
water

1. Chop up onion, garlic, leeks and sautee in a pot with olive oil until tender
2. Marinate the beef in soy sauce and black pepper.
3. Chop up tomato, and cilantro, and make a lengthwise cut along the pepper. Add all three to pot, along with thyme, cilantro, bay leaves, a sprinkling of white pepper, 1/4 bottle of white wine and fill the pot halfway with water. Bring to a boil and let cook for an hour, or until water level has dropped to about the same level as the vegetables.
4. Stir in the beef and marinade, pomegranate juice, and mushrooms. Add a bit of water to ensure that the contents don't dry out. Cook for an additional 2 hours on low heat. Stir occasionally and add water if it appears to be too dry for a stew.
5. Add salt to taste a few minutes before serving.

It was actually pretty good. You might not want to add the pepper if you don't like spicy foods, but it adds a wonderful kick.