Long have i not seen thee! Here's a request from a friend of mine. I swear I have given her this recipe at least 5 times already LOL. Ok this time it is documented. I made this stew a few times already and I absolutely love it. It is easy, relatively cheap to make and can feed loads of people. Great to be eaten with rice or some bread. I'm sure it would make a great soup too.
We start with the meat. You'd need either lamb or beef. Doesn't really work with chicken due to lack of connective tissues. Unless you're willing to use chicken feet... But that's another show. Choose meat that has a lot of connective tissue, by that i mean the cheaper the cut, probably better it would be. But you don't want to cook forever so avoid briskets and go with chuck. Lean meat is probably not the best. You need the meat to break down and the connective tissue to form gellatine which thickens the sauce. This only occurs through long slow cooking process.
Cut the beef into bite sized pieces and add some flour, black pepper and salt. Not too much salt as you would still need to adjust the seasoning later.
Brown the beef in a large pot with some oil. Use a neutral oil with a high smoke point because you want the beef to brown up. Flavour town here I come!
Usually you'd this in batches, but i couldn't be bothered.
Once the beef is brown on the outside, turn down the heat and add carrots, celery, onion, and a bunch of garlic cloves. Cut them in similar sized chunks as the beef.
Add a can of chopped tomatoes...
Add water... Bay leaves, oregano, paprika, worcestershire sauce, black pepper
Stir for a bit and let it simmer for about 2 hours or until the meat is fork tender.
ENJOY!
