Serves: 4-6
Approx cost: β¬4
Approx calories (per serving if divided by 6): ~350
Approx preparation and cooking time: 60 mins
I recently bought some lovely lean braising steak and I was dreaming about posting a lovely “boeuf bourguignon” (ok, actually the dreams were about eating it, not so much the posting part :p) and then I realised that I currently still don’t have an oven. While pondering what I could do with the meat instead we suddenly had a bit of a cold snap – a couple of days of rain, grey skies and chill so stew, or “Pot au Feu” as the French call it, seemed like a good idea.
The great thing about stew is that you can literally hack it to suit you however you like. Don’t have x, y or z vegetable? No problem! Want to replace the meat with chunks of sausage? No problem! I’ve had many a rather hilarious argument with my Irish friend regarding stews. He makes a rather delicious Irish Stew which I think has a vegetable soup base and “definitely no barley”. Perhaps I can make a post about that one one day if he’d like to share the recipe but for this version we’ll be sticking to barley and water as a base. The barley makes a great addition, as long as you don’t add too much, and acts to absorb some of the water and thicken it up. Additionally, the water base means you can taste all the vegetables in their “purest” form. This is especially good with “dumplings”, but that’s a post for another day I think. Here’s to stew – hardly pretty, but colourful, warming and hearty!
Ingredients
– 500g or more lean Meat (Braising Steak works best)
– ~ 1 or 2 large Onions
– ~ 1 or 2 Leeks
– ~ 3 or 4 large Carrots
– ~ 2 large Turnips
– ~ 3 large Potatoes
– ~ 3 large stems of Celery
– ~ 40g Pearl Barley
– 1 tbsp Olive Oil
– 2 tsps dried Thyme
– 1 Bay Leaf
– Salt
– Pepper
Optional
– Celeriac
– Swede (Rutabaga)
– Parsnip
Instructions
- Before you begin, make sure you have a large pan. A stock-pot or similar deep pan will be sufficient. Start off by peeling and chopping the Onion coarsely. Trim and clean the Leeks and chop into thick chunks. Heat the Olive Oil in the pan and when hot, add in the Onion and Leek and fry for a couple of minutes, until the Leek is starting to “unravel” from th the rounds that it’s in.
- While the Leek and Onion is cooking, cut the meat into large chunks, being sure to remove any hard sinew or fat (some soft fat is fine). Add into the pan with the Leek and Onion (once ready) and fry quickly, stirring well, to ensure the outside is lightly browned but the inside is still uncooked.
- Once the meat is done, remove the pan from the heat while you prepare the rest of the vegetables. Peel and roughly chop the turnips, potatoes and carrots (plus the others if using). Remember not to cut the pieces too small – you want a good chunky consistency. Wash, trim and chop the celery, and then add everything into the pot with the leek, onion and beef. Add in the Thyme, the Bay Leaf and the Barley, as well as some freshly ground salt and pepper. Stir well to mix and then fill the pan with water, to just below the level of the vegetables. Cover with a lid and return to the stove on a medium heat for around 40 minutes, stirring once or twice during this time.
- After this time the vegetables should be soft enough to stick through with a fork and a lot of the water should have been absorbed into the barley and vegetables. If there is still a great deal of water left, leave uncovered and continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes, being sure to stir every now and again. Serve out and enjoy. Goes well with some nice white bread, to mop up the stock!
Sissi says
Charles, your stew looks wonderful (although with the hot days we have now I rather crave salads). Strangely, I have experience with thick soups, ragoûts etc., but I have never made a single stew in my life! Where did you get the very interesting barley addition idea? I think it's the first time I see it in a stew (although I have had soups with barley as a thickener, not in France though).
Charles says
Thanks Sissi. It's true – stew isn't really a summer food, but it was pretty chilly here the last couple of days so it made a lovely warming meal. My mother always used to put barley in her stews so I've been doing the same for mine ever since I left home. The trick is to not add too much. In the past I've always added WAY too much and then you end up with a funky "barley porridge" at the bottom of the pan… not so nice!
Sissi says
I should have guessed your source! It's exactly because of my mum that I don't have the habit of stews. She used to make thick soups and ragoûts, but never stews…
kelly says
Hi Charles – stew is so satisfying and I love it's versatility and portability. You've got some great veggies in here – particularly like the leek. Everything looks fresh and delish. Great idea without a stove (but I still want to see your boeuf bourguignon one day π )
Charles says
Oh absolutely – I'll make the bourguignon my top priority when I get an oven back, so long as it's not too hot!
My mother always puts parsnips in stews – I love them so much – but I'll be damned if I can get them in France, especially not at this time of year. You can usually get them at markets around Christmas time, but never in supermarkets π
Greg says
This looks great! To me it's the definition of comfort food. We recently had a cold snap too. It was only in the upper 90s. Hey, it beats 100.
Charles says
Cold snap in the upper 90s – LOL – you poor thing. I hope you had plenty of blankets on hand to fend off those harsh chills. I'll be heading off to visit my wife's parents in northern Sweden this winter. My first time ever visiting Sweden in the winter. Average temperature there around December to January is about -20 to -30 Celsius (-4 to -22 Farenheit for all you non-metric people). That's going to be… let's say – "interesting".
BakerbyNature says
I basically live on stews like this during the fall/ winter!
Charles says
Thanks for stopping by! I do love meals like this – almost makes me long for colder months when this type of food is more appropriate π