The Beef Stew

This is how the beef stew started for my dinner party yesterday evening.

Start with the freshest of beef shank cut into even sized largish pieces - I bought 2 kgs of meat and fried the meat in two huge batches.

Toss in plain flour, salt & pepper and fry on high heat till edges have browned. Don't worry that I am overcrowding the pan - remember this beauty here can take high heat and there was no chance whatsover the beef was going to start steaming. Add lots of assorted herbs and black pepper and bay leaves.

Fry vegetables separately (lots of red onions, garlic, carrots and leeks) till edges are slightly charred.

Add a large can of Bavaria non-alcholic beer to the meat.

Or red wine or beer for a non-halal version.

Add stock. Add charred vegetables and let the lot stew on low heat, stirring regularly.

It is very very important that you do not over or under do the meat - over and they all fall apart into shreds - you want the meat to maintain its shape but be tender enough to almost melt in the mouth and by using beef shank, you get the gelatinous bits in the meat which tenderises it further.....

Under and its tough - you don't want your guests to develop headaches from chewing and chomping on chunks of hard plasticky meat.

It doesn't look appetising at all at this stage, does it?

But give it time and this is what you get. A great tasting gorgeous meat stew, which looks and tastes great, made from a few simple ingredients.

The thickness of the gravy comes from the flour which coated the meat bef0re frying. Add mushrooms before serving.

Cooking, to me, is almost, almost like bringing up kids; you pay them a lot of attention and care - you have to know what makes them tick, understand their temperament, and leave them alone or keep a sharp/tender eye on them; and whatever happens under any circumstances, you give heaps and heaps of LOVE AND PERSONAL COMMITMENT into the task and you end up with great tasting food (or well balanced kids) which echoes your efforts.