‘FALLEN VEGETARIAN’ BEEF STEW
More than a decade spent as a serious vegetarian many years ago resulted in an awareness and appreciation of cuisines that do not revolve around meat, resulted in culinary travel, herb and spice experimentation, and some unusual cooking skills – I can still puff a fair chapatti.
The experience has lasted across the next thirty years: I still don’t eat much red meat, but when I do I am satisfied with a little bit of the best.
And when I come up with something decent I want to share it. As with this Beef Stew recipe.
The amounts are not exact – please trust your intuition and judge size and quantity.
l lb extra lean stewing beef
1 large white onion
4 garlic cloves
some flour to coat meat
bit of good oil to sauté
salt and fresh ground pepper (finely ground – I hate cracked chunks of pepper – most unpleasant to get stuck in one’s teeth or bite down upon and servers wielding (large!) pepper mills look silly)
French tarragon leaves, dried, crumbled – maybe about two tsps – the amount that sits in the palm of your hand and looks right
sliced nutmeg – grate it if you don’t have one of those nifty nutmeg slicers – I discovered such a thing existed at a garage sale – it looked like a salt mill but had a nutmeg in it and when I turned it upside down I discovered a blade that sliced thin strips from the nutmeg kernel or whatever it is called – for this recipe I sliced enough until the amount smelled right
Let’s catch up with a bit of Method here (reminds me of Science class)
Put the bit of oil (I used canola – maybe a tbsp) in a heavy bottomed saucepan and start to sauté the onion and garlic, both coarsely chopped.
Meantime put the meat in a plastic bag (the butcher had put it in one already) and add enough flour to coat it – shake it around to coat nicely. Now add the salt and pepper and tarragon and nutmeg and shake some more.
Once the onion and garlic are fragrant add the meat and on medium heat get it to brown, stirring now and then while you chop (don’t be stingy with size – you don’t want chunks too big to fit on the spoon but you also don’t want small soup pieces: this is a stew!)
2 celery sticks
3 large white mushrooms
2 carrots
1 large baking potato (peeled)
1 large red skinned potato (leave peel on)
4 small Yukon gold potatoes (leave peel on)
(I used the three type of potatoes for different flavour, texture and appearance)
When the meat has browned add the vegetables and stir all up nicely. Then add cold water to cover. I don’t like the thought of water that has been in a hot water tank used for cooking although some people seem to do this and think they get a start on the cooking. Seems to me a stew deserves the same respect as a cup of tea – cold fresh water.
Bring to a boil and then let it cook gently for an hour or more depending on how you like your veggies. Soft but still identifiable is my preference.
This is good the first day but improves on being put in frig to cool and served next day. It also freezes well and serves the purpose of a lovely surprise when you open the freezer wondering and wandering toward supper and discover a container of stew.
The salad that went with this stew was simply (and simple salads are the very best!) a mixture of different greens, nasturtium leaves and flowers included, put in a salad bowl, a handful of roasted sunflower (not salted) seeds, some capers and then drizzle olive oil over it and toss. This salad, with the addition of cut up cooked sausage and some ricotta cheese can form the main part of a meal without the stew. Oh – and don’t use cold greens – put the lettuces out on the counter for a half hour or so before making the salad – much nicer: cold greens shrug off the dressing instead of cheerily embracing it. No, I didn’t forget to add a vinegar; try this with only the oil. The capers add both zest and salt.
And use nice bowls, bowls with some meaning, bowls with beauty as well as being functional. Napkins. And if you can eat outdoors – well, do so!