My new menu item V - Beef stew

I had always wanted to make a beef stew myself, with lots and lots carrots I thought, cause I just think the sweetness of those orange sticks make a stew that much more flavorful.

It's certainly out of my character to make a stew, cause everything I make normally takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. But anyway off to the supermarket I went. At the end I did forget a few things, but I made do.

I chopped up some onion and a few cloves of garlic - I used a tiny food processor I didn't know I had, now my blender is really for blending only - I peeled and cut up some carrots and potatoes. I actually "food processed" some of them to make my stew a little thicker. I cleaned and cut up just a few celery stalks - I hate celery, but no stew can go without it, so I cautiously experimented with the amount.



And then my secret ingredient - half an apple - to give it the acidity and fruit flavor.

I carved up some beef cubes from a slap of london broil. I forgot the tomatoes, but I should be fine, because I have a can of tomato juice to use as base.



Lastly, for seasoning, a pitch of salt. I forgot bay leaves, so in its stead I added some chopped oregano, basil and thyme.



I dump everything into the pot, bring it to boil on high, then let it simmer on medium for another 45 minutes. Then it goes into my miracle vacuum thermal - where it continues to cook form within - for about 5 hours.

It smelled so good while it cooked, you have no idea. The spices, the garlic, the onion, everything, it was mouth watering.

And when the lid was removed... oh well, it didn't really looked the way I had expected... it looked a lot like an Italian vegetable soup... nonetheless it was absolutely delicious. Everything was just right, the beef dotted with bits of onion and carrots were so tender and the sauce was thick and layered with flavors.



Experiment next time: I will trim the beef's fat (didn't know it would add so much grease), more salt, more celery and perhaps an entire apple. Less liquid, a bay leaf, and perhaps some asparagus. Should be interesting.