BS: Things to put in a stew

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Helen
Date: 09 Sep 25 - 02:14 AM

If you want something big and spicy, try Beef Rendang

There are Malaysian and also Indonesian versions. It is a fairly dry dish because it is slow cooked to a fairly dry stage, and is usually served with rice, maybe coconut rice (yum!) and some other vegetables, maybe stir fried.

It's the kind of dish which is "once eaten, never forgotten". I first tried it a few decades ago at a local Malaysian restaurant and I make it now and then. The level of spiciness can be adjusted to your taste. We are lucky to have some lemongrass growing in a pot but it can be expensive to buy in the grocery shops. We also have a small kaffir lime tree. We don't get limes but we use a leaf or two in different dishes to up the subtle lime flavour.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 25 - 10:20 PM

Mrrzy, your recipes always sound marvelous. I shop at a Halal market that carries goat, lamb, chicken, turkey, and beef. As you understand, no pork.

On a recent trip to that store the young women in line behind me had some butcher department packages of lamb and goat in their groceries. I asked them what they were making, and while one of them realized they'd picked up the goat by mistake, they weren't concerned and didn't remove it from the cart. It would be just fine in the stew-type dish they had planned (they were Afghan immigrants, hopefully still safe in our Blue City in a Red State that ICE seems to have ignored).

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Sep 25 - 08:35 PM

“Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and owlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.”

Bill Wigglespear recipe

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Sep 25 - 07:54 PM

My local grocery has started carrying ground goat. Tonight's stew, keto …
Onion (out of celery) bell pepper zucchini, goat, a spice called Resist! which has many different peppers, oregano marjoram, out of garlic (poo!). Chicken broth, tomsto paste.

Yum.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Helen
Date: 07 Sep 25 - 01:40 PM

Fresh beetroot! I've had borscht but I've never put fresh beetroot in a lamb stew.

I used to make succotash from a recipe in an old book I have with recipe sections on different vegetables. I know there are lots of variations of succotash but I think the key ingredient is corn kernels.

And sorry Raggytash, but your name reminded me of that recipe. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 07 Sep 25 - 01:28 PM

Lamb of course. Swede, carrot, parsnip, celery (yes celery) fresh beetroot. leeks, and Bisto onion gravy for sure.....plus whatever else you fancy adding.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Raggytash
Date: 06 Sep 25 - 08:02 PM

There's a song in there somewhere

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: The Sandman
Date: 06 Sep 25 - 05:25 PM

which herbs you use is a matter of taste,my recommendation is rosemary, thyme, sage, and parsley

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Helen
Date: 06 Sep 25 - 04:06 PM

The usual herbs are good: oregano, thyme, parsley. I have a herb mix which I buy from the supermarket. It is called Italian Herb Mix and it includes Garlic, Tomato, Basil, Onion, Black Pepper, Oregano, Parsley, Marjoram, Bell Pepper Red. It's a quick fix for a few of my recipes and I just add a bit extra of whatever else suits the dish.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Sep 25 - 04:05 PM

By the third reheating, the egg noodles have dissolved and the meats are tender.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: MudGuard
Date: 06 Sep 25 - 01:03 PM

it ain't a stew without onions. Meat to onion ratio between 1 and 2 ...

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 06 Sep 25 - 01:00 PM

yes Sandman herbs, but which herbs?

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: sciencegeek
Date: 06 Sep 25 - 11:26 AM

LOL   being a Heinz 57 American with two immigrant grandmothers, my ancestry's cuisines include the UK, central Europe and the Mediterranean... then I married into a Scots-Irish, Bohemian and Polish family.

Growing up the main difference between a stew and soup was based on what we had in the pantry and how many would be at the table, add a little more water and seasoning with plenty of bread to fill you up. :)

Stewed zucchini with chopped onion, celery, bell or cubanelle pepper, tomatoes and some left over Italian sausage would have garlic, basil, oregano and some left over spaghetti sauce would be ladled up and coated with grated cheese along with thick slices of Italian bread for dipping and cleaning the bowl.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Sep 25 - 10:47 AM

Roasted nuts when stewed have a tender meaty texture and flavor.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: The Sandman
Date: 06 Sep 25 - 02:05 AM

Beer, Herbs, pearl barley, potatoes . carrots

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Helen
Date: 05 Sep 25 - 11:50 PM

Yeah, nuh! Not for me. LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 25 - 11:35 PM

The thing about anchovies is that they are an umami ingredient, so they won't necessarily give a fish flavor, they'll just boost everything else.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Helen
Date: 05 Sep 25 - 07:50 PM

I'm not a fan of mushrooms or anchovies, so thanks but no thanks BobL, although my Hubby would eat it. He'd probably add real oysters too. He likes what I call "smelly things" food - oysters, prawns, the whole fishy lot.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 25 - 07:00 PM

We've gone too long without a food thread! Thanks, Al!

I like to brown the beef and braise it to make it tender and bring out the flavor, before adding onion, potatoes, and carrots. That is pretty much it for a pot roast; if I'm making stew then I like to also add parsnips (Turnips and Rutabagas or Swedes are too bitter for my appreciation). Season with some Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and red wine. I tend to put garlic in many dishes, but for some reason leave it out of beef stew. Season with a big grind of black pepper, salt (I use non-sodium salt these days), and sometimes some dried oregano or thyme. At the end I thicken the gravy with a little flour (I don't use wheat now, so a non-gluten product, or use cornstarch.)

Chicken stew is a totally different creature, one that doesn't braise, that I usually make with potatoes, carrots, onions, salt, pepper, oregano, and must have green peas added at the end. Make the broth into a gravy same as above.

I wouldn't mind mushrooms in either one, but it isn't a usual ingredient.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: BobL
Date: 05 Sep 25 - 06:36 PM

Steak and Mock Oyster casserole - beef, onions, sliced mushrooms, stock/beer and a teaspoonful of anchovy essence.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Helen
Date: 05 Sep 25 - 05:22 PM

Well I cheated and found an online recipe to paste the link here but I don't put potatoes or celery in my beef & Guinness stew. I also use a different Aussie brand of stout which is called "Cooper's extra stout" because Guinness is more expensive. For thickening, near the end of the cooking time I put about 3/4 cup of red lentils in and cook it for the last 20 minutes. It thickens the stew nicely, the flavour is not over-powering, it blends in well with the flavour of the stew, and it has the advantage of adding a bit of healthy fibre.

The beef in red wine is a great variation too and is a very similar recipe to the beef & Guinness.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Sep 25 - 05:17 PM

Turnips. Ya gotta have turnips.

Also celery, carrots, potatoes, onions....and meat.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 05 Sep 25 - 05:07 PM

some great ideas there Helen - the bacon sounds good as does the garlic and thickenig flour. I was considering red wine. Im not too sure about the potatoes, which have foud disintegrate not altogether nicely.

Thanks very much. My wife doesn't like celery - so I'm not confident about that either. Idid put in carrots which were fine as were the mushrooms. I was watching the cook Jean Pierre on Youtube and I loved the way he cut up the mushrooms.

Anyway thanks very much.

Subject: RE: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Helen
Date: 05 Sep 25 - 03:04 PM

Hi Big Al,

I made this a couple of days ago. One of my faves:

Irish Beef and Guinness Stew

I use the leftovers to make pies using store-bought puff pastry, and we had that for dinner last night. I use a bit of ras el hanout spice mix in the stew too and I always add carrots and orange sweet potato (aka kumera) chunks, slow cook it for about three hours. Yum!

My other favourite stews are beef and prunes, or lamb and apricot which are also good in pies.

For chicken, one of my faves is paprika chicken although I don't add tomato paste to mine. I don't add other vegetables to the cooking. I serve them on the side because the taste of the dish is so good and simple and I don't want to muddle it up with other flavours.

Subject: BS: Things to put in a stew
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 05 Sep 25 - 02:20 PM

If you were going to create a beef stew or a chicken stew, what would you put in it?

I did one yesterday and one of the eaters didn't like mushrooms. I didn't know he didn't like mushrooms. Has anyone got some brilliant ideas for ingedients.

All contributions gratefully received.