AIBU to ask you how you make stew?

[eternallytired]

And what do you put in your stew?

And does it taste better the second day?

Shamelessly admitting I'm 31 and have never made stew

My mam used to do it with mince but I have never replicated it. She would roll the mince into balls and brown them and add them to the pot after about an hour of the veggies cooking. My kids would throw the mince balls at me if I took away their beloved beef pieces.

Yeh it's true if you cook shin of beef down foe long enough it shouldn't need thickening.

Slow cooker for me. I'm too lazy to brown anything so diced beef, onions, carrots, potatoes, cover with beef stock (I like the knorr stockpot)mixed herbs, salt & pepper&a bit of Worcestershire or brown sauce gives it extra flavour . Leave it on for the whole day then thicken with gravy granules at the end. I usually add some dumplings for the last half an hour of cooking. Also you have to mop up the gravy with lots of bread&butter, preferably a tiger loaf. Yum

Stewing steak, carrots , onion, potatoes, fresh parsley and thyme. Put the meat, full
onion and herbs in a big pot and cover it with water. Let it boil away for about an hour, then add carrots and small potatoes. You may to top up water. After about 2 hours add in oxtail soup. Keep stirring and then leave on a low heat for as long as you can. Stew is always nicer the second day. I also serve my stew with creamy mash.

Mince and tatties is a Scottish thing, is it not? - and very delicious it is too.

@Lolly34h : Beef skirt is a wonderous thing. I thought I was the only person in the world who knew of it's existence (apart from the butcher).

A teaspoon of caraway seeds in a stew adds another, very tasty, dimension.

I’m loving all the suggestions... got a controversial one for you. Add in a small jar of anchovies, they melt and don’t taste fishy at all just add to the general depth of flavour.

My easiest stew is a from-freezer-to-slowcooker special.

1. Diced casserole beef - tossed in olive oil, flour, black pepper, and chilli flakes in the bottom of the slow cooker, no salt due to later seasoning
2. Add a frozen cube of garlic and ginger
3. Add several shakes Worcester sauce, a heaped tbsp of marmite, 2 squares dark chocolate, and a Knorr's beef jelly stock pot (these all add amazing flavour)
4. Add frozen casserole veg (carrot, onion, celery, swede)
5. Sprinkle some steak seasoning over the veg

It's so easy/fast and my go-to weekday meal, or throw together from the freezer meal when guests are coming unexpectedly. I'm not an amazing cook by any stretch, but seem to have this right - it always gets compliments and requests for recipe.

I love how everyone has a slightly different variation of what is really an essential dish....

I did mention anchovies in my (best) recipe @ishoos. ..

@Wingedharpy it's my favourite cut of beef for a proper stew. U can't go wrong with it low and slow is the key

Ask in the food and recipes topic why don't you.

I use this recipe. The addition of the redcurrant jelly and sugar makes it amazing.

www.kitchensanctuary.com/slow-cooked-scottish-beef-stew/

@Destroyedpeople

I did mention anchovies in my (best) recipe *@ishoos*. ..

Yes! We are stew twins!

For a beef stew I use beef skirt, toss in flour and brown, set aside and brown onions then pop both in the slow cooker with carrots, swede, parsnips and potatoes, sometimes leeks. Two beef oxo, one veggie oxo. To thicken if necessary I use thickening granules, I believe it's just potato starch so no taste to it and works a treat. If want dumplings I'll then cook it on the job as I'm not a fan of slow cooker ones.

Mince (boiled first to get scum off) steak pieces, onion, potatoes peeled and chopped (boiled until soft) and chopped carrots. The meat and veg added into pot for an hour on high with 2 beef cubes. Then add potatoes in with one more beef cube. Thicken with bisto.
Im in Ireland, we serve with crispy rolls and add hp brown sauce. Delicious

Always tastes better second day

Cook on the HOB haha not on the job 😂

Diced braising steak, coated with flour seasoned with black pepper and celery salt, browned with garlic and chopped onions, in a big cast-iron casserole known as "the cauldron".

Then I add a pint or so of water with 2 Oxo cubes, sliced carrots, cubes of swede, a couple of sticks of celery and approx a third of a bottle of red wine. Additional seasoning is a a bouquet garni, some thyme and 3 bayleaves, dash of mushroom ketchup, some dark soy sauce, a splash of Worcester sauce and, my late mother's secret ingredient, a dessertspoon of black treacle and a dash of balsamic vinegar. Instead of flour, I chuck in a tablespoon of oat bran to thicken, bring just to boiling point, then cook in a low oven (gas mark 3) for 2-3 hours.

Tastes bloody delicious and even better the second day. Lovely with buttery mash and strong greens, kale or Savoy cabbage. If I'm being flash, I do Savoy cabbage sweated in butter with a few caraway seeds and dry Martini.

Mutton is excellent, glaze with anchovy and garlic paste

@ishoos....you know what is amazing...lamb shank cooked down on the hob with onion , garlic, half a jar of anchovies and a massive spoon of ground allspice and a smaller one of black pepper....
(Diverting)

@angieloumc: Now, that really would be multi tasking at its best😂😂

Ooohhhh, I'm eating a stew now! Braising steak (diced beef) onion, carrots, potatoes, stock, some garlic, seasoning, & dumplings bunged in 20 mins before you want to eat.
I also love a splash of Worcestershire sauce yum!

I use a cheap cut of beef with plenty of marbled fat.
Onions, carrots, seasoned flour, a bay leaf, thyme, beef stock and a whole bottle of beer.
Cook for 3 hours on a low heat.

Umm why has nobody recommended oxtail yet ?
ok strictly speaking it would make it oxtail stew but its sooooo good .

@eternallytired
As most others have said brown your meat 1st add onions and garlic what ever root veggies you want ( I use carrot & spuds, parsnip & swede make it to sweet for my taste ) then add what ever flavourings you like .
My choices would be a few of the below DONT use all of them at once
Parsley
Bay
pepper
marmite
brown sauce
tomato puree
cider vinegar
oxo

the stock can be in the form of
home made , def my preferred choice
oxo
knor
Stout ( 2nd fave {grin] )
wine dont go mad with that though or it can spoil the taste
But my one must add is barley.

Whatever combo you use patience is the most important ingredient,
a good stew takes 4 or five hours or 10 + in a low slow cooker.

Serve with pickled beetroot / red cabbage and toast ( I cant be doing with soggy bread )

I'm veggie now so make mushroom stew but used to make beef.

Brown off beef cubes, put to the side, cook onions, add carrots, mushrooms, parsnip, cook a bit, addd flour and stir in add herbs and spices (herbes de Provence, garlic, pepper) then add stock. Add beef and a splash of red wine. Cook with top on adding water every so often for about 2 hours. Throw in some par boiled potato and marmite. Continue to cook 1 mins, salt to taste, eat with Yorkshire puddings.