Sounds silly but how do I cook....

skysky69

OK, you will have to forgive my ignorance but I have just bought a load of ingredients and don't know the best way to throw them together.

I bought a swede, 2 parsnips, some carrots, some mushrooms, some beef stock cubes and some braising steak. I already have some plain flour and onions. If I was going to do a batch of beef stew or casserole to freeze down for OH's meals whilst I work of an evening, whats the best way to throw them all together?

saxy1

The easiest way would be to coat the meat in seasononed flour, them brown it slightly in a frying pan to 'seal' it then put in either a slow cooker or casserole with all the other ingredients and cook very slowly. I add some oxo /gravy granules at beginning, then a bit more later to thicken it up.

full-time-mum

saxy1 wrote:

The easiest way would be to coat the meat in seasononed flour, them brown it slightly in a frying pan to 'seal' it then put in either a slow cooker or casserole with all the other ingredients and cook very slowly. I add some oxo /gravy granules at beginning, then a bit more later to thicken it up.

If you are using a separate frying pan to brown the meat then don't forget to 'de-glaze' the pan to collect all those lovely flavours you have left behind.....

• Remove the meat into the casserole dish (leaving the heat on)
• Put 2 or 3 tablespoons of cold water into the hot (now empty) pan, as it bubbles up, stir with a wooden spoon.
• Pour juice into casserole.

Clive_Woody

To do a simple beef stew, take a large saucepan, put a bit of oil in the bottom. Chop the beef up and put in a plastic bag with the flour , shake the bag a bit to coat the meat. Pour the meat into the pan into the hot oil along with the chopped onion and stir until the meat is sealed on all sides. Add water to the pain and drop in a couple of stock cubes. Chop up the veg and drop into the pan and bring up to the boil. You may get a layer of scum/froth on the top, scoop this off and throw away. Now turn the heat down until the stew is just simmering and leave for at least an hour. This can be left for a very long time (i.e. all day if you like) the veg will go soft, but you will end up with a nice thick broth with very tender meat. If you are going to cook it for a long time you could always add the veg for the last hour or so to stop it disolving too much. Make sure you keep an eye on it and add more water if the level is dropping too low, and stir it occasionally to check nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan.

For added variety you could add some soup mix lentils (available from most supermarkets these need to be soaked for 24 hrs in cold water) or just some red lentils which don't need to be pre-soaked.

Adding fresh or dried herbs will add to the flavour, or you could add garlic, chill, red wine, tabsasco, soy sauce, whatever you have in your kitchen that you think might go with stew.

Rikki

skysky69 wrote:

OK, you will have to forgive my ignorance but I have just bought a load of ingredients and don't know the best way to throw them together.

I bought a swede, 2 parsnips, some carrots, some mushrooms, some beef stock cubes and some braising steak. I already have some plain flour and onions. If I was going to do a batch of beef stew or casserole to freeze down for OH's meals whilst I work of an evening, whats the best way to throw them all together?

The fun way to cook a beef stew is like this SC stew help for bloke please
Take care when reading this laughter and good advice guaranteed. There are more receipes avaliable here

competitionscafe

full-time-mum wrote:

If you are using a separate frying pan to brown the meat then don't forget to 'de-glaze' the pan to collect all those lovely flavours you have left behind.....

• Remove the meat into the casserole dish (leaving the heat on)
• Put 2 or 3 tablespoons of cold water into the hot (now empty) pan, as it bubbles up, stir with a wooden spoon.

Or use a bit of alcohol if you have some for extra flavour (red wine or brandy).

A cinnamon stick or a small amount of ornage zest (unwaxed) also work well with beef.