I made a really good beef stew for dinner this evening.
I got about 750g (1 1/2 pounds) of stewing beef, cut into largeish cubes
(3cm/1 1/2" or so), and browned them in a little olive oil, in batches,
in my cast-iron casserole dish. Once that was done I sauteed a
reasonably coarsely-chopped onion until it was golden brown, then put
the meat back in. Gave it all a stir, barely covered the meat and
onions with beef stock, a decent slosh of Worcestershire sauce, a metric
arseload of freshly-ground black pepper, a little smoked spiced salt
(from http://www.smokeandspice.co.nz) and a couple of bay leaves, then
into the oven at 180C/350F for an hour or so.
(If I'd been thinking I'd have dredged the meat in seasoned flour before
browning but I wasn't so I didn't, but it was recoverable. I took it
out of the oven, thickened it with cornflour-and-water, and let the
gravy reduce a bit while I cooked the potatoes.)
Served the stew with mashed potatoes and green peas, and it was well
received. I love it when a plan comes together!
Miche
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In the monastery office --
Before enlightenment: fetch mail, shuffle paper
After enlightenment: fetch mail, shuffle paper