Pirate Stew

We decided to try this stew based on its name alone. My boys are quite into pirates. After reading Tristan's mom's review, I used a very loosely packed 1/4 cup of brown sugar, but otherwise followed the directions. Instead of chopping the veggies (I thought it would never hold up in a stew), I cut them into chunks. My four year old had two helpings of the stew (and this is a kid who would never eat a parsnip or a turnip if he had a choice), as did my husband and myself. My 2 year old said it was too spicy for him. We didn't find this to be too sweet at all...a nice flavor, with a teeny kick to it. We will probably make it again at some point, but I might increase the sweet potatoes and decrease the parsnip/turnip pairing.

This is VERY VERY VERY sweet. The sauce tasted like something you'd put over a dessert, not stew meat. It's a great idea and could possibly be redone to be edible, but not in this incarnation. I did get cute pictures of my son eating it in a pirate hat, but even he only ate one bite. Thank God the ingredients were cheap.

My family said this recipe was a 'keeper'...the best stew they had ever had...and I was amazed that my son ate parsnips and turnips and said they were delicious!

Ahoy matey - wonderful change from tradition beef stew. We tried with pork and was just as good as the beef. Always in demand at our house. We dress like pirates and can only speak in pirate lingo!

Sorry, I didn't like it. Just kind of blah. I did omit the sugar as per other reviewers. My company ate it and complimented me but they maybe they were just being polite. Vegetable Beef Stew by Ruth Rodriguez is way better.

Too sweet.

I was not crazy about this stew. I felt like I wasted food.

Seeing as the recipe didn't specify what type of rum to use, I used Appleton Estate. And as such, I found a spiced rum a little too strong of a taste when you use 3 tbsp worth. In the future, I'd probably cut it to two tbsp of spiced rum or substitute White Rum into the mix. Overall though, it was a nice change of pace.

Family loves this, so delicious and flavorful!!!

I'll make this again. We didn't find it too sweet and it's a nice variation for stew.

I tried this, and while this stew is sweeter than what people are accustomed to, it was delicious -- a traditional stew with a Caribbean twist. My family devoured what was supposed to be three meals worth in a single sitting.

This was great ! Thank you

Enjoyed this stew but made a few "minor" additions. Added 1 tsp. of diced, dried ginger root to the liquid and a sprinkling of ancho chile powder (to add a dash of "sweet" heat) once dished up. Will consider adding the ancho pepper to the recipe while it is cooking for a better infusion of flavouring.

As a pirate, I had to add a little more rum lol. Other than that I stuck with the recipe and I loved it.

I didn't originally intend to make this recipe. I was making a beer braised beef stew, but I didn't have a dark beer. So, I used dark rum instead. I was shocked at how sweet the stew was turning out, so I went looking for other "rum" stews. Found this one and altered mine stew to match. Stew is good, but very sweet with the rum, raisins, brown sugar, and pineapple. I will make again and reduce the brown sugar. Adding some heat to this would probably be ideal, but I'm the only one in the family who can handle the spices. Maybe I'll sneak a small batch just for myself...shhhh...don't tell.

I left out the brown sugar and added 6 cloves of garlic. I also added some nutmeg because any meat dish needs nutmeg lol Awesome stew!

This was great ! Thank you

good