Posie’s Place

This morning I told Stewart that if he picked a recipe from any of my cookbooks which could utilize the pack of beef stewing steak and another which used the minced beef which I had in the fridge then I would happily make one for tonight and the other for tomorrow night’s dinners. After flicking through a couple of books I was presented once again with my copy of Cook With Jamie as Stewart really liked the look and sound of the recipe for The Best Stew With Potato and Rocket Pasta Cushions. I read through the recipe to find that we had almost all the ingredients in the fridge but I since the potato and rocket past cushions are a little too high in carbs to be diabetes friendly, I have decided to just concentrate on making the stew and serve something else as my side dish.

Check back tomorrow to see what I made using the minced beef.

In the meantime here is The Best Stew….

THE BEST STEW RECIPE

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS

• 800g Veal cheeks or another stewing cut (I used beef stewing steak)
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• 4 Carrots, finely chopped
• 2 Red onions, finely chopped
• 3 Sticks of celery, finely chopped
• 4 Cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked and finely chopped
• 6 Sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped (I’m not the biggest fan of rosemary and I thought this sounded a bit excessive so I only added 2 sprigs)
• 1 Heaped Tsp flour
• 1/2 Bottle white wine
• 2 x 400g Tins chopped plum tomatoes
• Small bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley.

PREPARATION

1. Heat some olive oil in a large pot. Add in the meat and season. Fry until the meat is well browned on all sided.
2. Add all of the vegetables and herbs (excluding the parsley) and allow to cook down gently with the lid on for about 10-15 minutes, don’t allow to colour.
3. Stir in the flour, then add the wine and the tins of tomatoes. Lightly season and stir well. Replace the lid and allow to simmer gently for 2-3 hours until the meat is extremely tender. If the sauce gets too dry at any stage then just add a little water.
4. Sprinkle over the finely chopped parsley and serve.

I served this with potatoes oven roasted in olive oil. We both really loved this stew. The rich, sweet sauce had a wonderful depth of flavour and was ideal for a day like today when the wind is howling and the rain is unrelentless!

I have submitted this posting to Cyndi’s great new event Thursdays Soup or Stew Night #6. Head over to Cook With Cyndi for more info.

recipe, food