request: stew recipes

[East Coast Hustle]

well, it will be the sum total of the fat content of whatever animal bits were put in there, so it can end up being quite a bit of grease. nothing wrong with saving it for other uses, but in general when I'm making something with stock I'm not going for a greasy mouthfeel.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

greasy mouthfeel 

that made me think of like, buttered teeth.

[Muir]

Quick and Easy "Stoop" (not quite stew, but more than soup)

Large pot or slow cooker
Left over beef roast
Left over roasted vegetables (carrots, onions, potatoes, parsnips, etc)
Fresh vegetables (leeks, celery, peas, green beans, etc)
The brown/black scrapings from the roasting tin that you used to cook the roast and veg in
Boiled water (I use my electric kettle)
1-2 Vegetable Stock Cubes

Slice the roast beef into manageable chunks/slices.  Put all the ingredients in the pot/slow cooker.  Add enough of the boiled water to nearly cover the ingredients. Put a lid on the pot/slow cooker. Cook at a low simmer, stirring occasionally until the beef is melt-in-your-mouth tender and the fresh vegetables are cooked.  Serve with fresh homemade bread.


I did this the other night, and it resulted in a very tasty meal that required no seasoning/spices other than the stock cubes.

[Triple Zero]

Right. ECH and Squid I see both your points

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

My favorite quick & easy recipe recently is really only quick & easy if it's summer and you have a garden, or if you can all your leftover green tomatoes and chilies at the end of the year. But I thought I'd throw it out there anyway.

One quart jar of home-canned green chili

or

About a pound of green tomatoes or tomatillos
1/2 an onion
a couple of cloves of garlic
a couple of Anaheim chilies
a couple of Jalapeno chilies

a pound or so of boneless pork chops
a couple of potatoes
a carrot or two
a cup of broth
salt to taste

Cut everything up, combine it and simmer for a couple of hours, until the pork is falling apart. Top with jack cheese, fresh green onions and cilantro, maybe a dab of sour cream, and tortilla chips or steamed tortillas.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

::drool::

i love tomatillos. so much.

[Triple Zero]

hey is it a terrible sin if I don't use bay leaf for my stock?

cause in the supermarket it was either 1 euro for 2 gram (3-4 leaves or so) or 2.80 euros for 20 gram. now the first is stupidly expensive, but I know from having had bay leaf in my kitchen for AGES (before the fire) that I hardly NEVER use it so either choice is kind of stupid.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I almost never use bay, even when I have it growing in my back yard. I'd say skip it; use sage or something cheap instead.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

it isn't mandatory.
i use them in a lot of different things but they can surely be left out.

that is ridiculous expensive

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

If you find a place that sells it bulk, that might be a great way to get 1-2 leaves without having to pay the price of packaging, which is probably what the deal is with that.

But again, just not using it is fine.

[Nast]

I hardly use bay leaves myself, but when I do it's for soupstock or kheer. The latter sounds weird, but it has a nice fragrance that goes well with the cardamom.

[Triple Zero]

If you find a place that sells it bulk, that might be a great way to get 1-2 leaves without having to pay the price of packaging, which is probably what the deal is with that.

Oh yeah absolutely. I'm pretty sure I can get it a lot cheaper at either the street market or one of the marrocan/turkish/indian/chinese/surinam/indonesian "toko"s, just not at the supermarket around the corner :-P

[LMNO]

Since this is cooking and not baking, almost everything is "to taste".

Since the point of stock making is collagen extraction, everything else is personal preference.

You can experiment - throw in some dried ancho chilies.

Or chop up a handful of mushrooms.

Add seaweed - why not?

Throw a whole bunch of different bones - chicken, beef, lamb, pork... see what happens!

Once you have the basic technique down, the rest is up to your palate.