"Wayne Boatwright" > wrote in message
5.250...
> On Mon 12 Oct 2009 12:16:11p, Zeppo told us...
>
>>
>>
>> "phaeton" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> In my BH&G there is a crockery recipe for "Beef and Brats":
>>>
>>> 1 pound boneless beef round steak, cut 1" thick
>>> 4 ounces uncooked spicy bratwurst, cut into 3/4" slices
>>> 1 TB cooking oil
>>> 1 small onion sliced and separated into rings
>>> 2 TB quick-cooking tapioca
>>> 1 tsp dried thyme, crushed
>>> 1/4 tsp salt
>>> 1/4 tsp black pepper
>>> 1 14 1/2 oz can chunky tomatoes with garlic and spices, undrained
>>>
>>> 1) trim fat from beef, cut into 4 pieces. Sear beef and brown brat
>>> slices in oil.
>>> 2) place onion in crock, sprinkle with spices, pour in tomatoes, put
>>> meat on top.
>>> 3) cook on low for 10-12 hours. Serve on noodles or rice.
>>>
>>> a) I presume that the tapioca's role is to thicken the sauces? If
>>> so, I presume that you'd do this instead of the usual water+flour into
>>> drippings method so that the flavor isn't diluted?
>>>
>>> b) What is the consistency of this supposed to be like? Watery like a
>>> soup, or thick like a stew? I've never had it before (nor heard of it
>>> prior to owning this book) and it is referred to as an "American
>>> classic". The Internet hasn't heard of it either.
>>>
>>> It's a fairly simple, inexpensive recipe and not so bad. I doubled it
>>> so that I could have leftovers for the week, but maybe I screwed up,
>>> because mine turned out watery like soup. If that *is* how it's
>>> supposed to be, how much should I increase the Tapioca to make it more
>>> stew-like?
>>>
>>> Or, would it be best to skip the tapioca, separate the fat from the
>>> juices, then do the flour+water+plus juices method to make a "gravy"
>>> out of it?
>>>
>>
>> I've used it in a couple of desert recipes to thicken the filling and it
>> does indeed coagulate quite copiously. The fact that it didn't thicken
>> might have more to do with when you added the tapioca than how much.
>> When did you add it? I don't think you mentioned that.
>>
>> I would want to do it near the end, say 30 minutes before serving, for
>> fear it would break down whatever binding power it has over the long
>> cooking period. However, the flour + water to juices would work too.
>>
>> Jon
>>
>>
>
> I have an "oven stew" recipe that calls for "minute tapioca". The
> quantity
> specified vs. the rest of ingredients is just right to thicken the liquid
> of the stew. One thing you end up with are almost invisible transparent
> particles of the tapioca. It's not really objectionable, but it can be
> eliminated by grining the tapioca into a powder in a spice mill. The
> finished texture is similar to a sauce/gravy thickened with cornstarch.
>
> The oven stew recipe I have calls for adding the tapioca at the very
> beginining when adding all the other ingredients. The stew cooks at 250°
> for 8 hours.
Hi Wayne,

I seem to remember someone mentioning tapioca flour here sometime ago. Is
that the same thing?

Jon