Monday, March 2, 2009

The Ultimate ... Stew!


I am in the process of perfecting my stew. I have been working on it all winter and think I am almost ready to share my recipe. But, I wonder, do any of you have anything that is your secret ingredient that makes your stew special, that you would like to share? I'm happy to give full credit when I publish the recipe. In the meantime, the house smells great

9 comments:

Kathy's Klothesline said...

Liquid smoke. Just a dash ot two, depending on how big your stew is. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

My irish grandmother always added a splash of stout. :)

Stella Jones said...

I use HP sauce, about a tablespoon in for a stew for four people. I don't know if you can get HP sauce in America - maybe in Freshmarket- but the nearest you have to it is Steak Sauce.

The other thing I always put in is an Oxo cube. Again you may not be able to get that over there. It is a dark stock cube, which we crumble into gravy or stew or curry or whatever. I've never found anything like it in America. I'm sure there must be something similar.

Main thing is to go with a rich taste. To get that you need to make sure that your liquid reduces enough to bring out the flavours of the meat and veg.

Hope that helps.

Blessings, Star

Butternut Squash said...

You are such a tease. I would love a good stew recipe. My only special ingredients are garlic and soy sauce and they go in everything. And lots of merlot for stew.

mouse (aka kimy) said...

we love stew on a cold winter day.... I don't think I have any secret ingredients....I generally use the crock pot...my recipe: the beef of course and whatever veggies at hand (potatoes, carrots, onions), beef broth, a can of rotel, a couple bay leaves, salt pepper and of course lots of garlic cloves (everything is better with garlic if there's an open bottle I'll add some red wine.... hummmm this sounds good for tomorrow's dinner - we're in for another cold day!

maybe I'll substitute guinness for wine - thanks to cqa!

Seraphine said...

i can tell you what i don't add. i don't add corn starch or thickeners. it ruins an otherwise great stew.
I also don't add meat because i'm vegetarian.

Rose said...

I love Thai food, so, I add Thai basil to a lot of my soups. If I was going to make a beef stew I would add it to that too. I am not sure if they sell it where you live, I have a plant I have been snipping from for about a year now, but before I had my own plant I would ask for extra when I ate out and bring a sprig or two home.
I await your recipe.

L'Adelaide said...

hmmm, since I am a stew maker for the last 35 years, believe it or not, who makes stew for 35 years~I digress, as always...

use le cruiset pot if possible or other cast iron pot~flour(dredge) the meat and brown well with a whole yellow onion sliced and 1t of sugar, add a carrot or two, peeled or not, chopped roughly, and brown with the above...water to barely cover...cook in oven in heavy le cruiset pot for 2-4 hours til tender, stir occasionally...season with s&p, a little thyme or rosemary or both, hoping fresh...voila!

sometimes, if it's very chunky, I use a stick blender to blend it up a bit, careful of meat chunks...eat with dumplings, cooked on top, noodles or mashed potatoes, our favorite, so I don't put them in the stew itself...

sorry this is soooo long! :)

California Girl said...

Beer.

No, seriously, it's great in stew!