Home made stews, any thoughts?

Mark_VTfisherman

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Nov 29, 2008
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Re: Home made stews, any thoughts?

Red wine hmm like that idea. Let it cook down for the essence of the wine.....Wonder if beer would work too?? I like putting ribs in a wok with the ring in the bottom pour in a can of bud and steam the ribs till the beer disappears. Then onto the bbq for 5 minutes each side on high. A little materpiece sauce.....But no wine or beer on Boy Scout trips hard fast rule that we enforce with a vengince.

The wine adds a richness, and the woody aging gives ground beef some of the lean flavor you get from venison because of its lack of fat.

When I have steamed red meat or poultry it seems to make it dry in general. I like to sear beef pretty well and serve it very rare; venison I prepare medium on a low heat with a little butter (not margarine:eek:) added.

With my stews (and almost any other red meat dish) I cook down my onions in olive oil to almost a caramelized level, and then brown and sear the meat. I remove the meat and then cool the pan with a spritz of red wine, adding finely chopped fresh garlic. I cook the garlic almost tentatively, keeping it simmering on the oil, but I pull back from the heat off and on so the garlic does not roast (brown). Keeping it from toasting releases incredible flavors from the garlic:) Toasting it kills all the floral aromas (taste) of the garlic

Then I start the real cooking- stew, stroganoff, or some sort of pan-made sauce over rice or whatever. But the base is always the same, excepting that depending on the intended outcome of the meal I use varying amounts of basil, oregano, and copious amounts of fresh-ground four-color pepper or straight black pepper in starting the meat off right.

I overthink everything- -sorry- -
 

waterinthefuel

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Nov 15, 2003
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Re: Home made stews, any thoughts?

5 hr stew

Beef or venison
1 can of tomatoes
potatoes
corn
carrots
peas
beans
1 can of water chestnuts (drained)
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca
salt and pepper

put all in a roasting pan and put in oven at 275-300 degrees for 5 hours.
you can use any type of veggies that you like fresh Italian bread or rolls go very good with this stew.

How in the hell are you going to make that? How many potatoes? How much corn? Peas, how much? How many beans? C'mon man.....you must quantify everything in a recipe, not just a few things! LOL :D
 

timdan94

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Jun 23, 2008
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Re: Home made stews, any thoughts?

5 hr stew

Beef or venison
1 can of tomatoes
potatoes
corn
carrots
peas
beans
1 can of water chestnuts (drained)
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca
salt and pepper

put all in a roasting pan and put in oven at 275-300 degrees for 5 hours.
you can use any type of veggies that you like fresh Italian bread or rolls go very good with this stew.

How in the hell are you going to make that? How many potatoes? How much corn? Peas, how much? How many beans? C'mon man.....you must quantify everything in a recipe, not just a few things! LOL :D

I don't have a set amount... I add what looks right and depends on how many veggies you want in it.
here is my estimate but like I said I just add it all to the pan and decide if I have enough of the veggies in it or not
Probably about 3-4 potatoes chunked
half a bag of frozen corn
3-4 carrots sliced about 3/8ths of an inch thick
half a bag of frozen peas
half a bag of frozen green beans
 

BWR1953

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Jan 23, 2009
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6,278
Re: Home made stews, any thoughts?

Hey... don't forget dessert! Mmmm... that was good! :D

-BWR

bananasplit17feb09.jpg
 

i386

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Aug 24, 2004
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3,548
Re: Home made stews, any thoughts?

I'll make the cornbread. Now what did she do with my square iron skillet...
 

jonesg

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Feb 22, 2008
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7,198
Re: Home made stews, any thoughts?

I've been doing the crock pot versions, buy mix and add sausage, some spices, chicken, carrots and potatoes - son INHALED last batch, for snacks , dinners etc. No chicken in last batch, but last night we did whole chicken($9) wrapped in foil on bbq with a season rub - YUMMMMM... and SOME of leftover in stew tonight - I low cook it for 8 hrs. The rest of the chicken will be for sandwiches - broiled w/ cheese, another favorite of mine....Would love to hear other recipies, and we're doing fine work/$ wise but it's so cost effective!

I have to pull rank, I'm a chef ,French trained and most of these recipes are bilge water except for a couple .

Heres a basic bourgignone.

Start with a chopped spanish oinion in a big pot, saute it in oil a couple of minutes (otherwise it will taste acrid like it was boiled raw).

Add 2 lbs cubed beef, cheapo braising cuts work best, dredge the beef in flour first to seal it and add body to the stew (this is the difference between stew and soup) , the beef will want to stick to the pot but just let it cook and stir after a few minutes. Add 4 peeled cubed potatoe(not red) and carrots, keep cooking on the stovetop, throw a handfull of breadflour in to absorb the oil and 1/2 bottle burgundy red wine. Stir the wine in and add just enough water to thin like thick soup. Add a pint can of tomatoe sauce to richen the taste and color. Cover and bake at 325 at least 3 hrs, add water as needed to keep from drying out. If you don't add the tomatoe sauce it will look like dishwater and taste shallow. A bit of sage and rosemary.

Resist seasoning (S&P) until its almost done, its too easy to over season before the fluid cooks down. When the potatoe and carrots are very soft its done.
Its better if cooked and rewarmed the next day.

Most stews follow the same format, switch to dry vermouth or dry chablis for chicken...or red for coq au vin.

For fish (bouillabaise), cook the sauce first then just poach the fish briefly in the sauce.

Fish stew base: start with onions but add leek (chopped and washed) saute and add tomatoe sauce, dry vermouth or burgundy , lobster (or shrimp) shells and fish racks.
Simmer to extract the gel from the fish bones ( or use chicken bones).
Don't boil it or it will turn cloudy forever.
Let cool, it should gel when chilled if its rich enough.

To serve just heat the sauce, add sliced leeks and various fish and shellfish.
Only cook(thats poach, not boil) for a minute or so otherwise the fish will disintegrate into bits.

Heres a peak at what I do. The cute blondie is my partner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOTayuTc_Rc
 

CheapboatKev

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Oct 4, 2008
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Re: Home made stews, any thoughts?

I have to pull rank, I'm a chef ,French trained and most of these recipes are bilge water except for a couple

Wow...did he just say bilge water???

Personnellement, je crois que les chefs fran?ais sont a, mais mal ventil?
 

mthieme

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Oct 6, 2007
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Re: Home made stews, any thoughts?

My recipe was stolen from a restaurant (and improved) thank you very much.
 

levittownnick

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Jul 2, 2003
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Re: Home made stews, any thoughts?

What? Nobody makes a good stone stew? Start with a nice clean round stone (about the size of a medium potato) and boil it for about an hour. Then "borrow" some carrots--- you get the idea. lol

AKA hobo stew
 

Mark_VTfisherman

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Nov 29, 2008
Messages
1,489
Re: Home made stews, any thoughts?

Wow...did he just say bilge water???
Personnellement, je crois que les chefs fran?ais sont a, mais mal ventil?

Some kitchens have a lot of propane appliances, which depletes the oxygen content ;)

Amis imposer sur moi pour faire mon chaudr?es et rago?ts ? leur domicile. Je suppose que la Nouvelle-Angleterre palais ne sont pas assez raffin??
 
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