Possibilities for beef stew?

[nancylebov]

I made beef stew (soup?) today, and it occurred to me that I've been making roughly the same beef stew for about 20 years. Now, there's nothing wrong with beef, onions, ginger, garlic, thyme, rosemary, hot pepper, carrots, celery, red wine, salt (possibly need more of that), mushrooms, and tomatoes, but today it seemed like one time too many. Any recommendations for beef stew that goes in some direction other than basic veggies and herbs?

Comments

[thespian.livejournal.com]

I do something similar, but I do it by cooking the beef in a slow cooker on low for an hour, in Catalina dressing (California, while the same basic dressing, is not quite the same as the branded stuff, and it's noticeable). This gives the beef and the stew a particularly tangy flavour that I enjoy. I Then I add beef stock and potatoes, give it another hour or 90m, and then drop in a bag of frozen vegetables (usually the mix I us is the store one that you can get at Shaw's and Kroger that has corn, beans, onions and lima beans). My stew is seriously for 'too busy to cook' days, but it gets a lot of good comments because the flavour is very different from other stews.

It's vaguely based on a recipe from the I Hate To Cook Book.

[bruhinb.livejournal.com]

http://www.dianaskitchen.com/page/meats/gambian.htm?skip=20

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

So, roughly the same sort of thing, but with sweet potato and peanut butter added? Worth a try. I might even add some peanut butter if the batch I've got palls on me.

[bruhinb.livejournal.com]

Pretty much. It really changes the tone of the overall dish, though.

[henrytroup.livejournal.com]

Picked up Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking and the index entries under Beef, stews are:

• Provencal meat and wine
  
• with red wine and brandy (albigeois)
  
• with red wine, onions, and mushrooms (bourguignonne)
  
• with wine and black olives (from western Provence)
  
• with wine, ham, and tomatoes (from the Bearn)
  

I like the look of the red wine and black olives - also has a little strip of orange peel.
"For 4 people, 2 lb beef in 1" cubes; 4 Tbls brandy,; 6 oz red wine, bouquet of thyme, parsley, bayleaf, orange peel, one crushed garlic clove; 6 oz pitted black olives (kalamata, I think).

Brown the meat in butter and olive oil. Warm the brandy, pour over the meat, and light it, shake the pan till the flames go out. Add wine, let it bubble fast for half a minute. Add the bouquet, salt and pepper, reduce heat as far as possible, cover with two layers of parchment (greaseproof) paper and the lid; cook 3 1/2 hours. Ten minutes before serving, remove bouquet and add olives."

I find that a bit challenging; I think I'd try it in a crockpot on low. There just doesn't seem to be enough liquid around, even with the braising paper. But it sounds yummy. I bet the orange peel would be a Seville orange, or maybe a blood orange.

Then, there's chocolate beef stew (http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails.aspx?dishid=8563). And beef stew with apples and raisins and some curry powder.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Japanese beef and potato stew

Slice 1/2 lb of beef thin and stir-fry in a bit of oil and remove

Peel and cut up around 1 lb of potatoes (I use yukon golds) into 1/4s or 1/8th (small potatoes in 1/4s, large ones in 1/8s and cut up on medium onion into medium thick slices. Stir fry both in the same pan for 2 minutes.

Add 1 cup water, 2 TBS sake, 1.5 TBS sugar to pan, and cook covered for 10 minutes, add 2 TBS soy sauce, beef, and a bit of fresh ginger (optional and to taste). Cook 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are done.

it's exceedingly good and very simple.

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

I have an SCA recipe someplace that's medieval, or at least medieval-inspired. It features raisins and apples, and a few turnips, in place of the potatoes that usually feature in beef stew. But if you want other recipes to try, just do a few Google searches and check out what you find.

[gildedacorn.livejournal.com]

My beef stew is also more or less the same every time. Recently I've done two things that broke out of the rut:

1. Verjuice instead of wine. I found this old bottle of verjuice and said "Why is this still here?" Later, I realized I did not have wine for the stew. So ... It came out really good and A. suggested doing it again, but I first will have to find a source for verjuice since the original bottle was a present.

2. I had half an eggplant and was making stew. I put it in instead of carrots (which I didn't have). I liked it, but it added so much water to the stew that it came out thinner than I like it.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

So I looked up verjuice--it looks interesting. It can vary wildly, so I hope you know the maker and/or type of grapes for the one you like.

A couple of varieties are available from amazon, and a book for cooking with it.

It might be the next gourmet thing.

[nwhyte]

Two options from my archives:

Here's a Colombian recipe which does interesting things with dried fruit.

This Georgian recipe has an interesting technique for the meat and also includes quite a lot of pepper and peppers.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Thanks, they look interesting, as does the celery and walnuts.

[landley.livejournal.com]

I use mashed potato flakes as a thickener. It gives it sort of a cream base, without any actual dairy in it...

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Unfortunately, I'm being cautious with both carbs and dairy, but I'm still figuring out how cautious I want to be, so I might try cream or potato flakes.

[regalpewter.livejournal.com]

Swap out beef and try chicken. Take legs and thighs and sear in a smidge of butter; remove chicken and carefully add flour a pinch at a time browning the flour to make a roux. Then sweat onions, a bit of garlic, and carrots and celery with a very small amount of water in roux. Add spices (delete ginger). Put chicken back in and cover with white wine and water/chicken or veg stock. Drain tomatoes, chop with spoon in can and add. Cyanne pepper and hot sauce to taste. Simmer till thick. Chicken will fall off of bones and they can be fished out. Serve over brown rice.
BTW as long as it is brought to boil about every other day it will keep a long time in the fridge. To strech, just add any veg leftover, and/or meats as well.