How do i make a decent stew???

Question

I want to have a go at making a stew so i can suprise my Gf with tea when she gets in from work, so far so good as ive borrowed a slow cooker from a neighbour....and thats it!
Im off to asda tommorrow so i need to know what to buy, a list of ingredients would be great, then a step by step guide on how to make an awesome stew, cheers in advance from a hopeless cook!!

Answer 1

First get a nice 'chuck roast' with NO BONES ... then you may cut it into pieces yourself or ask the 'butcher' to cut it for you. Then you need the 'vegies' ... get some 'Yukon Gold' and some Baby Red potatoes, some of those 'peeled baby carrots, and some 'shallots' ... if you can find 'peeled' shalotts, that's fine, otherwise you MUST peel them yourself.
To 'start' your stew, put the meat into the slow cooker and 'just cover it' with water and turn it onto HIGH and put the cover on and 'go away and don't look' for AT LEAST FOUR HOURS. When you come back, add the other ingredients. A half and hour before you want to 'serve' you should add 1/2 cup COLD water mixed with a tablespoon of 'corn starch' ... and 1/2 cup of cold black coffee. Serve in a bowl with 'salt and pepper' on the side (the shakers or 'mills) ... with a nice dry red wine for 'beverage.'
Yes, you MUST add the cold coffee ... You want a 'dark thick broth' and if you use AuJus mix, there is FAR TOO MUCH SALT in it, even the 'liquid' kind, and 'beef broth' also has salt and isn't dark enough. The coffee also adds a 'bit of musky flavor' to the stew that makes it taste SUPERB, rather than just 'tasty.'

Answer 2

ok here goes I am assuming you are looking for Beef Stew but you can substitute any cut of meat and still have a great tasting stew.
Beef (chuck or any low priced cut because as it cooks it will get tender) about 1 1/2 lbs
2 medium onions
5-6 potato
carrots
celery
salt
pepper
flour
fresh garlic
bay leaves

in a large pan (skillet) heat about 2 tablespoons veg table oil
on medium heat.
use about 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour and season with salt and pepper about 1 teaspoon of each
take meat chunks and lightly coat with flour by rolling in the flour mixture and shaking off excess.

sear meat in skillet til browned

in your crock pot have carrots and potato chunks onion celery
and fresh garlic (smashed then chopped) add meat as it finishes browning.

once meat is browned take about 1/2 cup water or stock and put it in the skillet to get all the bits off the bottom of the pan.
Pour the liquid from the skillet into the crock pot and add an extra 2 -3 cups of water.

place crock pot on high to get up to temp. Add bay leaves and turn to low.
Allow to simmer for a few hours until the vegetables and the meat are tender.
Remove the bay leaves from the mixture and taste
reason if needed and serve.

this recipe serves usually 4-6 it can be frozen and reused at a later date.

Answer 3

Never used a slow cooker but have a big stew pot that goes on the stove and cook it slow.
Carrots
onions
swede
parsnips
stewing steak and kidney if you like it
I cut and wash the whole lot and pop it in to water in the pot covering and over it by an extra 2 inches. (big pot)
three oxo cubes salt and pepper to taste
It is on my stove for three hours done slow so like a slow cooker I guess.
I put potatoes in half hour before we need stew as potatoes help flavour the stew a lot.
I mix two more oxo'x with cornflour in a seperate small dish and ten mins before ready (potatoes soft) I mix the oxo's/cornflour into the stew stiring all the time. to stop it going lumpy.
You can buy packet dumpling mix to make dupplings but I am hopeless at those so tend to leave that lol
Very basic very quick and so tasty you can if you want put pearl barley lentils in it put they thicken the stew and are an aquired taste if you like them.
My nan god love her taught me how to make pot of stew and have been making it for 30 yrs now.

Answer 4

You need to start with a roux. Its flour and oil browned together. Use a nice beef rump roast or ribeye roast. Cube up the roast and season with zataran's and worcestire sauce, maybe even a little red wine. Not the cooking type, only use what you would drink. Brown the meat minus the liquid, after meat is browned remove drippings and add liquid back to meat and simmer. Take some butter and saute onions and garlic until soft or transparent. Add drippings to roux, then dd that to the meat. Keep it simmering and make sure there are no clumps. Add some sage, paprika, bay leaves, celery, carrots, small wild mushrooms, one smlla can diced tom. Simmer until carrots are tender then add some new potatoes or gold . Simmer again until potatoes are tender.

Answer 5

Carrots Onions and turnip.Cut them chunky,put in saucepan with about three quaters of a pint of water.Bring to the boil then simmer for about 10 minutes, add either Beef Lamb or Chicken if you prefer,Simmer for an hour on a low light.When this is done add a tin of Cambells oxtail soup and a tin of Cambells tomato soup. Make dumplings and simmer for another half hour.
If you are having bolied potato they can be cooking at the same time as the dumplings,
this is lovely a filling and waming stew .Especially on a cold day

Answer 6

for ease, get some stew beef chunks, a can of whole tomatoes in juice, some corn, peas potatoes, carrots, Green beans, maybe some parsley. Flour the chunks of beef, and brown them add the the crock (I only cook on the stove top so I'll try to do this for the crock) add the corn, peas, dice the potatoes add them, rough chop the tomatoes but add the juice to the stew. add salt and pepper some onions, and a bit of garlic. add water to cover. and let it cook. when it is done, add some chopped parsley to brighten it up and taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Get some crusty bread and add some butter and wrap in foil and put in the oven to get warm and melt the butter. If you want to experiment, you can get some baby spinach and add at the end with the parsley as it does really need to cook just wilt. Good Luck.

Answer 7

OLD FASHIONED BEEF STEW

2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1 1/2" cubes
1/2 c flour
2 T oil
1 bay leaf
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 onion - chopped
1 c beef bouillon (or you can use 1/3 c coffee, 1/3 c soy sauce and 1/3 c water)
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
6 carrots, peeled and sliced or quartered
1 c sliced celery
4 potatoes, peeled and cut into eighths
12 small white onions
2 medium turnips, peeled and quartered (optl)
4 c water
1 c cooked okra (optl)

Coat meat with flour; set excess flour aside. In large skillet or slow-cooking pot with browning unit, heat oil. Brown meat on all sides. In slow-cooking pot, combine browned beef, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce, chopped onion, bouillon, pepper, salt sugar and vegetables. Pour water over all. Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hrs. Turn control on high. Thicken with flour left over from coating (about 1/4 c) dissolved in a small amount of water. Add okra if desired. Cover and cook on high 10-15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Makes 6-8 servings.

Now, if you want to make the recipe smaller for just the two of you, here's the quantities. I'm assuming you love meat.

1 lb beef stew meat
1/4 c flour
1 T oil
1 bay leaf
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/4 onion - chopped
1/3 c beef bouillon (or enough of the coffee, soy sauce and water to equal 1/3 in fairly equal portions)
dash black pepper
dash salt
dash sugar
2 carrots - peeled and sliced or quartered
1 stalk celery - sliced
2 potatoes if medium size or 1 large - peeled and cut into 8ths
4 small white onions
skip the turnips unless you really want them
2 c water
skip the okra unless you really want it

Follow the above directions and you should be good to go. Browning the meat before putting it into the cooker is very important - the browning adds additional flavor. The coffee and soy sauce in place of the bouillon will help tenderize the meat and make your gravy nice and dark.

Answer 8

to make a beef stew. a pound of shoulder steak,half a pound of steak mince, one large onion. cube the steak and braise it ( to braise it, you put it in a dry pot turn on the heat until it changes colour, keep stirring it till you can't see any pink bits.) add the mince and do the same, add some boiling water(enough just to cover the stew) , chop and add the onion, put in an oxo cube, turn to a simmer let it cook, when the beef is tender, it's ready, add a tea spoon of gravy granules for extra flavour. you can also add vegetables to the stew if you wish, it's a matter of taste, give it a go, have fun.

Answer 9

Brown some lean beef cubes in a small amount of oil then add some chunks of onion and garlic to that for a few minutes, put that in the crock pot and add beef broth which you can buy either in a can or box, chunks of potato, carrot, celery, turnip or parsnip. Add peas at the last if you like cause they don't take long to cook and thicken with a little flour mixed with cold water. Enjoy!

Answer 10

Making a decent stew really depends on your (or her) tastes and what you want to put in it. I would head over to www.allrecipes.com for some ideas. They include the ingredients, step by step instructions, reviews or the recipe, and sometimes photos. Ive found some awesome recipes for soups and casseroles there.