The Old Boar - Beef Stew

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Beef Stew

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Written by Bear

Friday, 15 February 2008

Now, everyone likes a good stew. It is one of the oldest ways of cooking food and still one of the best. Stew is really a very simple concept - it is the combining of ingredients in a sealed vessel. That is it. After that it is just a question of choosing the right ingredients for the job and getting on with it.

This one is loosely based on a French hunters stew. But over the years I have to admit it has become corrupted as I add different ingredients depending on what is available. Oh, and I have also added dumplings. However, I have stuck to the two core ingredients - Beef and Wine.

The beef is as important in a stew as it is when choosing the perfect steak. Choose from good quality beef stock like Hereford. The cut you want is something like shin or braising steak with plenty of thin fat marbling. But do trim off any very heavy fat or tough gristle as that wont help. While you are picking up your beef you will also need a bit of gammon hock - to help the whole thing along.

Now, on with the show.

1 kg diced beef
1 smoked gammon hock
2 large onions
8 cloves garlic
10 medium carrots
2 Turnip
2 stalks celery
150g dried Cep
1 bottle red wine
2 tbs goose fat
Salt and Black Pepper
Small bunch French Parsley
Flour and butter for thickening.
Red Desiree Potatoes as an accompaniment.
Suet and flour for dumplings (see side of your suet pack!)

Bouquet Garni made out of:

2 sticks of rosemary
small bunch fresh Thyme
2 Bay leaves
small bunch of Marjoram

Chop the onions, garlic and celery. Heat the goose fat in a large saucepan or pot over a medium heat. Add the onions garlic and celery and fry gently for about 10 minutes or so till very soft and all the juices have evaporated. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Remove the gammon from the hock, chop up finely and add to the pan. Fry for a short time, but do not brown. Remove with the slotted spoon. Now, turn up the heat a little and fry the beef in batches till it is all brown. Return everything to the pan together with any juices that may have collected.

Add to the pan peeled and chopped turnip and chopped carrots (do not peel them) and the Ceps. Pour in the wine, add the bouquet garni and salt and pepper lightly. Bring to a light boil, then turn right down, put the lid on and leave cooking for 1 hour.

Make up suet dumplings with Beef Suet. There is usually a recipe on the side of the packet. Add to the stew and leave cooking for another hour until the dumplings are well swollen.

Remove the dumplings carefully with a slotted spoon and set aside. Remove the bouquet garni. Mix a tablespoon of flour and a tablespoon of butter together into a paste and add to the stew. Stir gently till the stew thicken thickens. Add chopped parsley and check the seasoning. Return the dumplings to the top of the stew. Put the lid on and cook for another 1/2 hour. In the meantime boil Red potatoes with the skins on. Once cooked, drain, add a nob of butter, salt and lots of pepper and keep warm.

Serve the stew with the dumplings and potatoes in large bowls with lots of fresh bread to soak up the gravy!

You really can add anything to this dish - green beans, haricot beans, swede, parsnips. Just keep it seasonal - then it will happily transform itself through out the year! Oh, and green vegetables only need to be added right near the end. Or cook seperately.

Note: Ceps are more often called Porcine in UK supermarkets and come dried in small packets. If you get them fresh, please send me some!

Tags: beef stew hereford huntsman
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