Improv Super Stew

Perhaps my Blog has found it calling: cooking! Whist I am not typically a frequent cook, I did do a GCSE in Food Tech and have the general capabilities, but sometimes eating out is just so much more appealing.

However, after the pancake success and knowledge that I had some (reduced) casserole beef in the fridge I decided to make a stew/broth thing... due to my plans changing I had no time to find a suitable recipe so I had to improvise and make it in flash (because I was going to a gig to see Kelly Clarkson... another story) which had a recipe for disaster written all over it!

So, after a quick dash via Sainsburys on the way home, this occurred:

A standard packet of diced beef into a frying pan with a whole finely chopped onion, a lining of oil was hot before they were put in

Now, I peeled two (very) large potatoes, two medium carrots and skinned a six button mushrooms

500ml of beef stock, with a minature bottle of red wine along with 500-750ml of boiling water in a giant stew-pot on a high heat to come to boiling

Veg were chopped chunkily, in haste

Beef was now browned and had produced lots of juices

Beef and juice into pot, along with all veg

This was all I had planned, however, I made a few additions into the pot:

One crumbled Oxo cube, around a tablespoon of instant beef gravy powder

A satisfying squirt of tomato puree and a little less of garlic puree

A liberal shake of salt, pepper, thyme and mixed herbs

I found some frozen green beans in the freezer so I chucked in a couple of handfuls of them

I waited until this all came to a boil, and then it was left at an intense simmer for an hour and a quarter, stirring occasionally. The stove here is electric so I turned it off as I left for the gig, so the heat would have slowly died down over the next half hour or so.

And the results: shockingly good! I did fear over my perhaps liberal quantity of red wine, but that reduced as it simmered. There are many areas for potential change as opposed to improvement, perhaps a couple more green veg (I really hate the stringy bits you get in frozen beans...) and a beef tomato. The overall consistency of the liquid was still runny, so for someone who despises thick gravy it was perfect but some may prefer to thicken it slightly with corn-flour.

Anyhow, I think the key rule here is that as long as the principles are right, it can't go that wrong! I was slightly dubious with my minimal simmer time, whereas many recipes suggests 3+ hours, but the par-cooked meat solved that problem.

So, go forth and cook! And let me know how it goes! Anyone made pancakes today?