Damsel in dis Dress wrote:
> On Tue, 31 Oct 2006 20:01:02 +0100, "Jke" >
> wrote:
>
> >But I usually wing my stews. They often include beef, canned tomatoes,
>
> Nice touch! I've never thought of doing that, but I'll bet it adds a
> lot of depth to the flavor!
>
> >I also love hachee, which is a Dutch classic that involves equal weights of
> >beef and onions (get them really brown to make sure you don't wind up with a
> >grey sauce) and ginger snaps (ontbijtkoek or taaitaai, really, but the
> >spices are much the same). It's served with potatoes and red cabbage.
>
> Okay, I've *got* to try this! Thanks so much for posting it, Jke. )

Been doing beef stew for years. My recipe is based on several others
and then took the best from each. It's one of my favorites. I just
finished a batch I made up a few weeks ago. I always make up a bunch,
then freeze about half of it. When the first half is gone, I wait a
week or two, then thaw the other half and have it a few more times.

Not complicated, but how you prepare it and make the roux is the
critical part.

2lbs Beef Chuck
2-3 cloves garlic chopped
1 white or red onion coarse chopped
1 cup red wine (didn't have any this time, so I used Sherry, which I
keep for exactly such occasions)
1 package frozen peas with pearl onions
1 package frozen corn
1 cup mushrooms cut to big pieces (I prefer crimini to button)
3 or 4 carrots, cut about 1/4" thick, more or less
2 bay leaves
salt
pepper
1 cup flour
a few tablespoons of olive oil or your favorite oil
2 - 4 cups water


Cut the beef up into whatever size chunks you like in stew. Dredge them

in seasoned flour. Heat up a tablespoon of oil in a large stew pot (4
qts or larger) until it's medium hot. DO NOT use a non-stick pot! You
can't make a roux in non-stick.
Put SOME of the meat in the oil, not enough to quite cover the bottom
of the pot. This is very important. The pieces of meat should not be
touching each other, or just barely touching. (If you pile the meat in,

you get an entirely different cooking process). Let the meat brown on
one side, give it time. Don't stir it a lot. When it's nice and
starting to form a crust, turn it and cook the other side. When it's
browned on as many sides as you can get it, take it out and put it in a

bowl. Keep browing the meat until it's all browned nicely. Add a little

more oil as needed to brown all the meat.
You'll see the brown crusty stuff in the bottom of the pan. Put in the
chopped onions and the garlic. Add a tablespoon or so of flour. Stir
and mix. Add another tablespoon of flour and stir again. You want the
flour to coat the onion so lumps don't form. I like to add a third
tablespoon of flour if it doesn't look to floury (takes some judgement
here).
Add the wine and stir. Add a cup of water. Put the meat and any juices
from it back in the stewpot. If necessary, add more water to just cover

the meat. Add the bay leaves.
Bring just barely to a boil, then reduce heat so it's just simmering.
Cook one hour.
Now add the carrots, and some water if the stew is not covered
completely. Cook 50 minutes. Stir once or twice during that time.
Add the peas, pearl onions, corn. Add the chopped mushrooms last. Cook
another 5 to ten minutes, util the veggies are hot. Don't cook the
mushrooms to mush! Just want them hot.
Get a scoop out and make yourself and whoever else a bowl of delicious
stew! Good with good bread or biscuits or even a salad.
I do this about 2 or 3 times a winter. I also make Beef Bourginion
(sp?) starting with pretty much the same ingredients and procedures
except for the wine is required and the veggies, except for the
mushrooms, aren't. I make it thicker, less water, and add some sour
cream just before it's done. YUM!

Hope you enjoy this recipe!