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| A Beef Stew |
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables (such as carrots, potatoes, beans, peppers and tomatoes, etc.), meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef. Poultry, sausages, and seafood are also used. While water can be used as the stew-cooking liquid, wine, stock, and beer are also common. Seasoning and flavourings may also be added. Stews are typically cooked at a relatively low temperature (simmered, not boiled), allowing flavors to mingle.
Stewing is suitable for the least tender cuts of meat that become tender and juicy with the slow moist heat method. This makes it popular in low-cost cooking. Cuts having a certain amount of marbling and gelatinous connective tissue give moist, juicy stews, while lean meat may easily become dry.
Stews may be thickened by reduction or with flour, either by coating pieces of meat with flour before searing, or by using a roux or beurre manié, a dough consisting of equal parts of butter and flour. Thickeners like cornstarch or arrowroot may also be used.
Stews are similar to soups, and in some cases there may not be a clear distinction between the two. Generally, stews have less liquid than soups, are much thicker and require longer cooking over low heat. While soups are almost always served in a bowl, stews may be thick enough to be served on a plate with the gravy as a sauce over the solid ingredients.
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| Irish stew |
Stews have been made since ancient times. Herodotus says that the Scythians (8th to 4th centuries BC) "put the flesh into an animal's paunch, mix water with it, and boil it like that over the bone fire. The bones burn very well, and the paunch easily contains all the meat once it has been stripped off. In this way an ox, or any other sacrificial beast, is ingeniously made to boil itself."
Amazonian tribes used the shells of turtles as vessels, boiling the entrails of the turtle and various other ingredients in them. Other cultures used the shells of large mollusks (clams etc.) to boil foods in. There is archaeological evidence of these practices going back 8,000 years or more.
There are recipes for lamb stews and fish stews in the Roman cookery book Apicius, believed to date from the 4th century AD. Le Viandier, one of the oldest cookbooks in French, written by the French chef known as Taillevent, has ragouts or stews of various types in it.
Hungarian Goulash dates back to the 9th century Magyar shepherds of the area, before the existence of Hungary. Paprika was added in the 18th century.
The first written reference to 'Irish stew' is in Byron's "The Devil's Drive" (1814): "The Devil ... dined on ... a rebel or so in an Irish stew."
In meat-based stews, white stews, also known as blanquettes or fricassées, are made with lamb or veal that is blanched, or lightly seared without browning, and cooked in stock. Brown stews are made with pieces of red meat that are first seared or browned, before a browned mirepoix, and sometimes browned flour, stock and wine are added.
* Partial list of Tyes of Stews:
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| Brunswick stew made with chicken |
* Beef Stroganoff, a stew with beef from Russia
* Bigos, a traditional stew in Polish cuisine;
* Birria, a goat stew from Mexico;
*Booyah, an American meat stew
* Brunswick stew, from Virginia and the Carolinas
*Burgoo, a Kentuckian stew
* Chicken stew, whole chicken and seasonings
* Chicken paprikash, chicken stew with paprika
* Chili con carne, Mexican-American meat and chili pepper stew
Cincinnati chili, chili developed by Greek immigrants in the Cincinnati area
* Crow stew, a sour cream-based stew made with crow meat, popular in the United States during the Great Depression
* Goulash, a Hungarian meat stew with paprika
* Gumbo, a Louisiana creole dish
* Irish stew, made with lamb or mutton, potato, onion and parsley
For Breakfast this morning a Poached Egg, 2 Johnsonville Turkey Breakfast Sausage Links, 2 slices of Aunt Millie's Light Whole Grain Bread, and a cup of Bigelow Decaf Green Tea. Outside its beautiful! Sunny and 81 degrees out today. After Breakfast I went and picked up Breakfast for Mom at McDonald's. Stopped by at the ATM and filled Mom's Car up with gas. Then later took her car up to be washed. After Lunch did a couple of loads of laundry. Then got the cart out and did some yard work. Nice to be out in sunshine! For Dinner tonight its Beef Stew w/ Potatoes, Carrots, and Corn Bread.
I normally don't have Beef but Mom wanted to make some Beef Stew. I had purchased a Chuck Roast for her at Meijer along with Carrots and Red Potatoes. I gave her hand and we cooked everything in the Crock Pot. She made some Cornbread later on to go with the meal. Everything was so delicious. For Dessert/Snack later a bowl of Skinny Pop - Pop Corn along with a Diet Mango Snapple to drink. Keep the post short today as Mom was the cook. And you know everything is better when Mom does it! Later!
