Winter started here in Oz on 1 June and I for one was very pleased to
see the onslaught of cooler weather. If only because it heralds the
season where I can make stews and casseroles & curries to my heart's
content!
So..... given that I now always roast my capsicums and garlic (and
sometimes even onions) as a precursor to the making of bolognaise, I
decided to replicate this process for my first stew of the season.
Once the capsicums & garlic were well roasted there were plentiful
juices from both still in the baking dish and I decided to add my diced
topside steak to the dish and ... gads... what a novel idea... bake the
diced steak in the still hot (and on) oven!
All I can say is that the diced steak was the most tender, succulent
and moreish addition to any stew I have made in the last 29 years!
This is definitely a method I absolutely will be continuing for the
(hopefully) next 29 years.

Preheat oven to 180DegC.
Place 6 large capsicum (bell peppers) into baking pan, together with 2
or 3 heads of garlic. (Yep, I know it seems a lot, but once they are
baked they are very, very mellow...and so, so very delicious!) Drizzle
with evoo, thoroughly coating skins of both garlic and capsicums and
bake for around 40 minutes.
Turn at least once to promote even cooking. Once cooked, remove
capsicums and place in freezer bags and tie off - this aids in the
eventual removal of non-digestible skin). Squeeze garlic from husks and
mash. Once the capsicums have cooled sufficiently to handle, deseed and
slice or dice - your choice.
In same (hot) pan add cubed/diced beef steak. Season with freshly
ground black pepper and toss through the capsicum juices/oil.
Return baking dish to oven and cook for around 30 minutes, tossing meat
once or twice during this time (saves on standing over cook top
browning meat in a casserole!!)
Into large, heavy based (preferably Le Crueset) dutch oven/casserole,
add 2 Tblsp olive oil and saute 4 large, finely sliced brown onions.
Add the mashed garlic and add 1 Tblsp tomato paste. Fry for one
minute.
Add 1Litre beef stock, or ½ & ½ of beef stock & passata (tomato
puree) then add the roasted beef. Stir well and add 1 large can of
Guinness - secret ingredient! can substitute plain old lager/beer, but
the Guinness gives it a lovely dark, rich gravy! - then add the beef
and stir well. Add capsicums. Add freshly chopped herbs of choice
(around 1 Tblsp. all up - I use rosemary, marjoram, oregano, parsley &
bay)
Simmer for at least one hour - preferably two. This will be much nicer
day two (or three, if it lasts that long!)
Serve with boiled then mashed potatoes (boiled with a couple of cloves
of garlic, then smashed and add 1 whole egg - gives a lovely creamy
texture to the mash & the heat of the spuds cooks the egg) and whatever
veg you like.
Main serving accompaniment is thickly sliced crust bread with lashings
of fresh REAL butter!
Sometimes I add chopped potato, sweet potato, frozen peas, turnips,
pasnips, swedes, pumpkin to the stew at intervals so that all veg are
cooked (but not stewed to obliteration) by the time the meat is cooked
& tender. Other times I serve up an 'Irish Stew' - meat, onions,
potato, with other veg on the side.
All I can say is that the roasted meat cubes really, really were
delicious - much more so than cubed/diced meat which was stir fried at
the stove top and then stewed. PLUS it had the juices from the
capsicum/garlic to infuse before the slow cooking process started.
Family gave it a wholehearted thumbs up - and they were thoroughly
smitten with my previous method!

Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks? hehehe

LadyJane
--
"Never trust a skinny cook!"

In article .com,
"LadyJane" wrote:
[snip]
Add 1Litre beef stock, or 1/2 & 1/2 of beef stock & passata (tomato
puree) then add the roasted beef. Stir well and add 1 large can of
Guinness - secret ingredient! can substitute plain old lager/beer, but
the Guinness gives it a lovely dark, rich gravy! - then add the beef
and stir well. Add capsicums. Add freshly chopped herbs of choice
(around 1 Tblsp. all up - I use rosemary, marjoram, oregano, parsley &
bay) [...]

G'day M' Lady,

How did you manage to add the roasted beef twice? %-)

(Okay, okay, it was the rest of the Guinness 6-pack speaking.

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

Phred wrote:
In article .com,
"LadyJane" wrote:
[snip]
Add 1Litre beef stock, or 1/2 & 1/2 of beef stock & passata (tomato
puree) then add the roasted beef. Stir well and add 1 large can of
Guinness - secret ingredient! can substitute plain old lager/beer, but
the Guinness gives it a lovely dark, rich gravy! - then add the beef
and stir well. Add capsicums. Add freshly chopped herbs of choice
(around 1 Tblsp. all up - I use rosemary, marjoram, oregano, parsley &
bay) [...]

G'day M' Lady,

How did you manage to add the roasted beef twice? %-)

(Okay, okay, it was the rest of the Guinness 6-pack speaking.

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

oopps... lmao...
note to self: recheck recipe instructions in future BEFORE hitting
'post'!!!
sorry for the confusion.
must have been the Guinness (or the bottle of red)
nudge nudge, wink wink.

LJ

On 11 Jun 2006 23:35:29 -0700, in rec.food.cooking, LadyJane wrote:

In same (hot) pan add cubed/diced beef steak.

How much did you use?
Thanks

Doug
--
Doug Weller --
A Director and Moderator of The Hall of Ma'at http://www.hallofmaat.com
Doug's Archaeology Site: http://www.ramtops.co.uk
Amun - co-owner/co-moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Amun/

Doug Weller wrote:
On 11 Jun 2006 23:35:29 -0700, in rec.food.cooking, LadyJane wrote:

In same (hot) pan add cubed/diced beef steak.

How much did you use?
Thanks

Doug


2kg.... as I said... it improves no end with a little judicious
'ageing'
Though if you aren't looking for a very meaty rendition, you could
easily go with 1kg or 1.5kg. I got my butcher to cube half topside,
half rump but with the gradual stewing process you could substitute
skirt steak (which I used extensively and very economically in our
early married years when dollars were tight) or chuck (though I can't
be bothered picking over every piece to make sure there's no gristly
bits or excessive fat) or any other stewy meat.

I really can't describe how much better it is for resting and ageing...
but am sure if you have left overs you will see for yourself the
change.

enjoy!!

LadyJane
"Never trust a skinny cook!"