While you may think a hearty stew is something you would eat in the fall and winter time.
You might be right but in my way of thinking, I like making dishes in the summer that take under 10 minutes to set up and then simmer to perfection as I can stay cool in an air conditioned room.
Last night was beef stew night or if you want to be fancy and impress your sweet as I was trying to – call is Beef Bourguignon. He was impressed – trust me.
Lets talk of the basics of a stew. A roomy pan, make sure the meat is dry and well seasoning and when you are browning it – do not crowd the pan, else the meat boils instead of sears. Add flour to thicken to sauce and I like to use tomato paste to add color, body and flavor to the stew. Red wine for red meats and white wine for the like of chicken and fish.
Use any vegetables like potatoes, turnips, onions, almost any root vegetables. Always add the vegetables when the meat is almost cook – simmer and in an hour or two you have dinner.
Here we have a hot pan, some oil, seasoned meat and searing. Make sure you don’t crowd the pan – do it in batches if need be. Once the meat is seared, sprinkle some flour. Stir well and cook. Make sure the flour is cooked through – there is nothing worse that the taste of raw flour. The flour will soak up the oil – don’t worry about it – just keep stirring and this is why you use a heavy pan – Le crueset if you have it.
Here we have the sprinkling of the flour, the oil being sucked up by the flour but then like in life, wine makes it all better. I add a nice amount of wine and some water or stock if you have it.
Throw in a bay leaf, I add some chopped garlic here – taste for salt and pepper and adjust it. Add some rosemary or thyme if you have it and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, lower the flame to a simmer and cover.
Now pour some of the wine in your glass and leave the kitchen.
Every so often, I come to the kitchen, give the pot a stir so people think I’m working so hard and also to refill my glass of wine.
In about an hour, add the potatoes or any other vegetable you may be using and simmer for another half hour or until the meat and vegetables are tender.
Right before you are ready to eat, add some more raw chopped garlic and a splash of wine. This gives a freshness to the stew.
You can serve this stew with a crusty baguette, over noodles or pearl couscous as I did last night.
I hope this clears up the mystery of a good stew and make em in the summer – gives you plenty of time to do others things and not stand in front of the stove.
Add herbs like parsley or mint and enjoy.
Until I cook again!
Indian Culinary Center, NYC 