Stew without Gravy Granules?? Any suggestions?

ellas9602

We like a lot of stew in our house come winter. I mainly make a veggie stew (lots of veggies, beans, potatoes) as one daughter is veggie but try to make it like a thick meaty stew because this is how kids like it. To achieve this I use garvy granules (lots of! :eek: :eek: :eek: )

How else can I make a thick and rich meaty stew without using gravy granules?

Thanks

Iona_Penny

You can put a veggie stock cube(this will give flavour) into the liquid it cooks in and then thicken with cornflour that has been mixed with little milk. As long as you mix well it will thicken up before your eyes and you can adjust the consistency accordingly.

ellas9602

Thanks, cornflour is something I never use actually Do you mean mix it well with milk or mix it well into the stock??

Sorry Im an absolute dummy :doh: :wall:

Debt_Free_Chick

Drain the liquid then fast boil it to reduce it to a thick gloopy sauce-like consistency. Fiddly, but probably the best way if you want to avoid gravy granules and other thickeners.

If you're happy to use a thickener, mash equal amounts of butter and flour and add spoonfuls of the mix into the stew, stirring all the time.

Curry_Queen

What you could do if making a veggie stew is to dice some of the potato into very small chunks so they literally dissolve whilst cooking and they will thicken the stock naturally. I do this when I make stovies (mmmm now there's an idea for a nice warming meal this weekend :idea: ) and it comes out lovely and thick and gooey if I cook it long enough

Debt_Free_Chick

Curry_Queen wrote:

What you could do if making a veggie stew is to dice some of the potato into very small chunks so they literally dissolve whilst cooking and they will thicken the stock naturally. I do this when I make stovies (mmmm now there's an idea for a nice warming meal this weekend :idea: ) and it comes out lovely and thick and gooey if I cook it long enough

Yep - forgot about that one. Also, you can remove some of the liquid & veggies and whizz them with a Billy, then return the puree to the stew

ellas9602

Thanks everyone, I'll try and give all of these suggestions a try.

another question Ive been pondering is; I dont have a blender but I do have a smoothie maker, can I still blend soups/stews in the smoothie maker?

squeaky

I don't see why not - except for the heat... what does your instruction book say about smoothing hot things?

ellas9602

I had a look and it didn't mention anything

Curry_Queen

ellas9602 wrote:

I dont have a blender but I do have a smoothie maker, can I still blend soups/stews in the smoothie maker?

Have you got one of those stick blenders? They're ideal for something like this as you just give a few whizzes in the pot to blend a bit of it, then stir it through and it's done!

squeaky

ellas9602 wrote:

I had a look and it didn't mention anything

I suspect that if it was bad for the smoothie maker they would say so in the instruction book - you know how cautious companies are these days.

You could always take a portion out twenty minutes early and allow it to cool, just so long as it gets heated back up properly when back in the soup.