Recipe for Stew

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21
Try this, she cooked it on her Nigella Express series so it's on the bbc website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/da...ng_87121.shtml

22
I've got Nigella's cook book, I bought it thinking it would be a different take on the bible by Delia Smith...how wrong I was.

I just don't seem to get on well with her recipe's...they are ok, but she never seems to have anything in there I want to cook.

I am now a Rick Stein fan, all the way.

23
Delia rocks and my ultimate chef would be a combination of Rick Stein and Delia.

24
if you want to make the sauce thicker stick some more potatoes in there, as they absorb the water.

Cook it long and sloooow.

25
What about a dash of sherry or maderia in there?

26
props for delia (again)

i also am obsessed with stew, albeit beef stew (not chicken, sorry OP)

I have used a few recipes from the net

and adapted a few to suit my needs, I recommend (in addition to the the tips given in the previous posts ) to use a good stewing pot .( dutch oven or cocotte, in french) to make any stew.

I use this (le creuset is another well known brand) i admit these ones are pricey but if you can afford it (and it will last forever) invest in one. i think it makes all the difference, i have used cheap tough meats and the pot makes it completely tender each time....

if budget really is an issue my advice, get the heaviest enameled iron pot you can find (with a good fitting lid)

27
The Germans have a thing called a Römertopf - you get them here as well - essentially a ceramic stewing pot but we use a metal (non enameled) one.

28
Thanks so much about the suggestion for a cooking pot. I've been using a normal pot, and I guess that makes a big difference (why my stew isnt that good). Will go and buy a pot now before making it again.

29
A brilliant website is allrecipes.com

You can put in the ingredients you want to include and key words and it pops up a whole bunch of recipes with ratings so you can choose the good ones. It's a great resource for wanting to try cooking new things.

30
hi ebony, if you don't want to buy an expensive pot (as you said you cook this stew once a year?) perhaps borrow one from a friend first and try it out.

i saw in manor a few months back a good heavy enameled cast iron one for CHF70...that was a good offer and on sale but try migros and coop also (even aldi??? not sure) or even in the flea market/brockenhauses....?

but after browning your meat and heating a little over the stove, cover & put it in the oven and that will allow an overall slow cooking process.

good luck!

31
You can use a cast iron pot to brown roasts before roasting (seal-in the juices). Mrs. HTD uses it for the roasting process as well - I don't because out pot doesn't have an enamel inside and every time I make gravy out of the juices and put red wine in it - it tastes bloody awful. The basteing process is a pain as well if the roast is in a pot - usually have to take the damm thing out of the oven.

32
I know it is a little unorthodox but sometimes when I have been a bit lazy and not browned the meat in flour, I add a few breadcrumbs to thicken my stew. Pre-packaged ones work well as does a piece of stale bread rubbed through fingers to make fine breadcrumbs. Throw them in, they soak up the sauce and hence thicken it!

33
A couple of interesting chicken stew recipes from Sophie Grigson in last Sunday's Independent. I'm making this one tonight:

Lemon chicken with spinach

This is a fresh and healthy dish, bursting with gorgeous flavours

Serves 8

2 tbsp olive oil

8 fat or 16 small chicken thighs

50g/2oz butter

2 onions peeled and sliced

1 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp each of ground cinnamon, cumin and coriander

1 walnut-sized piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped

3 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

250g/9oz baby new potatoes, cut in half

400g/14oz tin of chickpeas drained

500ml/18fl oz good chicken stock

400g/14oz young spinach, washed

Grated zest of one lemon

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil on a medium to high heat in a large pan with a lid. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Reduce the heat, dump the butter and onions into the pan and sautée for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle in all the spices, the ginger, garlic, some salt and a really good grind of pepper. Stir through and gently fry for five minutes.

Add the potatoes, chickpeas and stock and return the chicken to the pan. Leave to simmer for 45 minutes. Stir in half the spinach and the lemon zest and cook down for five minutes. Add the rest of the spinach and cook for a further 20 minutes. Season to taste and serve with basmati rice and a dollop of plain yoghurt.

34
I like the sound of that one Grantly, maybe tomorrows dinner. Tonight we are having beef pies. We are lucky enough to have a slow cooker, brilliant thing that it is - just throw everything you want to cook into the pot, turn it one and 4.6.8.10 hours later you have a delicious stew/casserole. We did start off using a large le crueset casserole thing, but our oven is so unreliable that it inevitably burned. So, this afternoon I'll fish the meat mixture out of the pot, leave it to cool while I collect our girl from school and then whack it all into some ready made, ready rolled patry and bake. Yum yum, some mashed potatoes and peas and jobs a good one.

What I wouldn't give for a Cookes pie and mash shop here. You can keep your fish and chips, it's pie and mash all the way for me.

35
ovens can vary so much, that is true...slow cookers are getting trendy (comeback?) again , in asia anyways...i will think of getting one when i am back in asia as many kitchens aren't fitted with the ovens we have here in europe...

36
Try this richer option. "The Mother of all Stews!"

Beef & Guinness Stew Recipe

Ingredients

1 Kilo lean stewing beef

3 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons flour

Salt and freshly ground pepper and a pinch of cayenne

2 large onions, coarsely chopped

1 Leek, chopped.

2 cups of potatoes, cut into chunks.

1 large clove garlic, crushed (optional)

2 tablespoons tomato puree, dissolved in 4 tablespoons water

1 pint of Guinness stout beer

2 cups carrots, cut into chunks

Sprig of thyme

Instructions

Toss meat in a bowl with 1 tablespoon oil. Season the flour with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch or two of cayenne. Toss the meat in the mixture.

Heat the remaining oil in a wide frying pan over a high heat. Brown the meat on all sides. Add the onions, crushed garlic and tomato puree to the pan, cover and cook gently for about 5 minutes.

Transfer the contents of the pan to a casserole, and pour some of the Guinness into the frying pan. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the caramelized meat juices on the pan.

Pour onto the meat with the remaining Guinness; add the carrots and the thyme. Stir, taste, and add a little more salt if necessary.

Cover with the lid of the casserole and simmer very gently until the meat is tender -- 2 to 3 hours. The stew may be cooked on top of the stove or in a low oven at 300 degrees F. Taste and correct the seasoning. Scatter with lots of chopped parsley.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

:msnto ngue: : msntongue: :msnton gue:

37
thanks so much for the recipe Ian Nicol.I'm drooling....gosh it sounds yummy...

38
i second that...a beer stew will make my husband think it is a man's stew...

39
Make it the day before. Like with Lasagna

The less you do to a stew, the better.

Keep it really simple. There are countless ways to make a stew, but don't forget the chopped stick of celery and a carrot however you cook.

Pollo alla Graziela:

Four chicken legs

Glass of white wine

Handful of parmesan

Garlic cloves, unpeeled, whole

Parsley

Seasoning

Put it all in a heavy pot with lid, leave for two hours on a low heat. Serve with risotto.

Bon App

Now, an Irish stew...

40
I would also thoroughly recommend getting a pressure cooker, I use mine a lot and swear by it.

A real time (and for that matter, electricity) saver. 'Blimmen' brilliant, and it's almost impossible to overcook most foods.

Here's a favourite of mine, simple and very tasty.

Beef in Beer

Serves 4

800g lean beef cut into generous bite sized cubes (Rump is great but not absolutely necessary, as, if using a pressure cooker, even cheap cuts of meat transform into 'melt in the mouth' tender morsels)

6 (yes six) large onions, sliced into rings

2 cloves of crushed garlic

salt, freshly ground pepper, thyme (or herb of your choice, I also like to use Rosemary and Lovage, if celery isn't around)

3 dl Pilsener Beer (any beer is also fine)

1 bouillon cube (I just use a spoonful of my *Morga* vegetable bouillon)

1 bunch of parsley, chopped

100 g sour cream

Heat fat (I use olive oil about two tablespoons +/-) and sautè meat on all sides. Remove from pot. Sautè onions and return meat into pot. It's at this stage that I chuck in any veg that I feel like (or not, either is fine) Add garlic, season to taste and cover with beer.

Close lid and cook under pressure for 25 mins.

Open lid when the valve has dropped completely. Add parsley, then simmer over medium heat to reduce the sauce somewhat, add the sour cream when ready to serve.

I think reducing is probably the best way to solving your 'sauciness' here. It concentrates the flavours and leaves you with less slop on your plate.

Good luck with all your recipes

Ros

The same recipe can of course be used in the conventional way, just takes longer.