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Author Topic: Bit Of a Stew.  (read 4,157 times)

AI Summary
The discussion revolves around the cooking times for beef stew and its implications for curry preparation. One user noted that a beef stew improved significantly in flavor and texture when cooked for four hours, leading them to consider applying similar long cooking times to their curry base to enhance flavor extraction from the vegetables, particularly onions. While some participants shared their own cooking methods and times, there was a general agreement on the importance of cooking down ingredients to develop richer flavors in both stews and curries.

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Offline emin-j

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Bit Of a Stew.
« on: September 29, 2010, 07:53 PM »
Hi All ,
Around this time of the Year my Wife starts making the occasional Beef Stew , all the usual Veg,Onions, Carrots , Parsnip , Swede, Potatoes . At great risk to my well being following the last Beef Stew we had I commented that it was not very tasty , the liquid seemed thin and tasteless and the Veg was a little ' firm '  :) My Wife said she had cooked it for 2 hours and she thought it was OK . This time she cooked it for 4 hours and the Stew was fabulous , the liquid was thicker and very tasty plus the Veg was much softer with little sign of the Onion which had been cooked down.
This got me thinking about my Curry Base cooking and I'm pretty sure the same would apply so in the future I will simmer my Base Veg for a similar time ( 4hrs ) or until the liquid has thickened some and the Veg has well and truly softened , if it makes that much difference to a Stew I wonder what it would do for a Curry  :)
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Offline fishy

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Re: Bit Of a Stew.
« Reply #1 on: September 30, 2010, 12:11 AM »
I make beef stew often (simalar to yours) plus added can of baked beans (tasty)!, i stew for about 1hrs then eat (tastes fresh if severvd after cooking), i make so much that i use and reheat next day and day after,(no more than 3days) it has so much more flavour if left to cool for 24hrs+ and reheat.

im with you and gonna try base stewed and cooled for say 24hrs+.

im not sure but i think BIR make ther base same day so proper stewing doesnt take place.
ATB
Fishy
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Offline JerryM

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Re: Bit Of a Stew.
« Reply #2 on: September 30, 2010, 09:54 AM »
emin-j,

the norm i use is 2 hrs, blend add more water, 2 hrs more all on a very low heat "gentle simmer". after the 4 hrs total i've not found the taste improves.

yesterday i even kept the lid on for the 2nd 2 hrs (normally lid off) and it seemed to work just as good.
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Offline Vindaloo-crazy

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Re: Bit Of a Stew.
« Reply #3 on: September 30, 2010, 09:55 AM »
I eat scouse regularly, loads of brown sauce pickled red cabbage and crusty bread, nice...
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Offline commis

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Re: Bit Of a Stew.
« Reply #4 on: September 30, 2010, 07:37 PM »
Hi
Vindaloo-crazy, do you have a recipe please for scouse.
Regards
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Offline emin-j

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Re: Bit Of a Stew.
« Reply #5 on: September 30, 2010, 07:52 PM »
Quote from: JerryM on September 30, 2010, 09:54 AM
emin-j,

the norm i use is 2 hrs, blend add more water, 2 hrs more all on a very low heat "gentle simmer". after the 4 hrs total I've not found the taste improves.

yesterday i even kept the lid on for the 2nd 2 hrs (normally lid off) and it seemed to work just as good.

Hi JerryM,
Going by the Stew it took 4 hours to cook the Veg down enough to thicken the liquid which gave it the delicious flavour , Onions especially hold lots of flavour and you need to cook them down as you would when making an authentic Indian Curry this ' Cooking Down ' of the Onions is what gives the ' authentic ' Curries their unbeatable flavour. In future I am going to ' Cook Down ' the Veg in the Curry Base for as long as it takes to extract all that flavour and then blend and add water as required. I just have the feeling we are not cooking our Base's long enough to get the full flavour IMO  :)
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Offline JerryM

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Re: Bit Of a Stew.
« Reply #6 on: October 01, 2010, 09:23 AM »
Quote from: emin-j on September 30, 2010, 07:52 PM
you need to cook them down as you would when making an authentic Indian Curry this ' Cooking Down ' of the Onions is what gives the ' authentic ' Curries their unbeatable flavour.

emin-j,

i'm sort of roughly on the same thoughts - i use very little water in the 1st 2hrs (20% water of the original chopped onion volume - works out at 300ml for 800gm onion). as a side effect it effectively increases the proportion of oil during this initial period which i feel helps too.
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