That's why I like dishes such as meat stew - it's because it is not necessary to strictly adhere to any recipe. Of course, you need to know the basis of the dish, and then trust your intuition, add what you like depending on the season or exclude the component that you don’t or don't like - in the end it always turns out a little bit differently, and rarely when spoil something. In addition, you can immediately feed the whole company - that's enough for everyone!
Where did the name stew come from? The word itself comes from the French ragoûter, which means “to stimulate appetite” (and the French know a lot about food and they will not call a tasteless dish!) However, stews with various additives, vegetables, and beans are prepared in many countries. Surely you have heard about Irish stew , which is usually made from lamb with potatoes, or the well-known Hungarian goulash made from beef or veal. And since the basis of such dishes is well-stewed aromatic meat with spices in thick gravy, all this in one form or another can be attributed to stew. That’s why this dish is so popular all over the world, although it can be called differently, and all its charm is just in the sauce that is obtained during the cooking process (dry stew is not that!)
Of course, purely vegetable options turn out great, I make them with pleasure myself, but when stew with fresh tender meat and vegetables is always a celebration!
How to cook meat stew?
We have already found out that meat for stew needs to be taken young, whether it beef, lamb or pork. As a rule, they take the pulp from us, cut it into small pieces, quickly fry it over high heat in vegetable oil or fat, then fry onion, coarsely chopped on half rings, carrots with slices or large circles in the same fat (I also like to add zucchini, cut into large diced), season with your favorite spices and only then add water or broth, and stew thoroughly until cooked. If the meat is not very young, it is better to stew a little longer, but you must make sure that all the liquid does not evaporate, better add a little more water immediately if the vegetables are not too juicy, and do not spare the onions. In general, no matter how many onions you put in the stew, there will not be much - it will all shatter and turn into a component of a delicious sauce; you won’t even notice it!
If you cook stew with meat and vegetables along with potatoes, then it’s good to take young meat, and on the contrary, it is better to use mature potato (young potatoes are good in itself, with butter and garlic, you must agree).
When the meat is already quite soft, then I add tomato or ketchup to the stew to taste. If you have fresh tomatoes, then blanch them first, peel them, finely chop and simmer lightly in oil, and then combine with the rest of the vegetables and meat and let everything else obscure over low heat until a uniform, thick gravy is obtained.
You can do it in another way - stew with potatoes and meat
If we cook stew with meat in Irish (the so-called “Irish style”), then in this case we must take lamb under the bones (the neck or shoulder and chop it into portion pieces) - it is believed that it is on the bones that the most saturated sauce is obtained. In this version, dishes of potato and meat are laid out in layers in a container with thick edges - bottom is laid potatoes, cut into large pieces, then a layer of meat, spices, onions, then again vegetables. In the Irish version, the required components are lamb (not fried), onions and potatoes. Sometimes they take leeks (the middle part of the stem), and carrots are often not added at all (although with carrots, for my taste, the dishes are more fun). And from seasonings most often take thyme, black pepper with peas, and salt, of course.
But the main nuance, especially loved by men, is that the Irish stew with meat is prepared in dark beer - they are almost equally divided with water and the meat is poured with potatoes and vegetables, brought to a boil, the pan is covered and cooked over a small fire for about 2, 5 - 3 hours - until the meat is free to separate from the bones.
Honestly, I haven’t tried to cook in beer, but I think that with fresh tender lamb it will be tasty without beer, although it’s worth a try with beer - I would rather have a weekend!