Today it's a little rainy and dreary so I decided it'd be the PERFECT day to try out a new recipe I found for Beef Stew. I've never made it before, so I am looking forward to seeing how it'll turn out.
I tweaked a recipe that I found on allrecipes.com (Beef Stew) I set it up in the crock pot, and then started reading the bad reviews. I'm a little nervous now. Although, I'm always nervous in trying a new recipe that it'll fail and I'll have wasted money and time on a dud.
In reading the reviews, it sounded a little bland so I added more Worcestershire sauce and a couple drops of balsamic vinegar. I was also worried that 1.5 cups of broth/stock wasn't enough so I used more. I figured that I can always add corn starch or more flour to thicken it as dinner approaches. Pre-taste tests tell me that I may have too much salt in there. I also did not have celery to add, nor did I add bay leaves. Right now it's really watery. Hopefully 4 hours of cooking on high will thicken it and make it the right amount of flavorful.
I'm also worried about the vegetables cooking as they are supposed to. I do not have luck with potatoes cooking fully in recipes. I'm hoping the 15 minutes of boiling that I did in order to remove the skins (check out this neat way to remove potato skins) will help the potatoes be more cooked. *crosses fingers*. If I'm ever making this in a hurry, I may use canned carrots and potatoes.
7pm: The reviews are in
Ok for a first attempt. Branden felt it was a little too onion/carroty and not enough beef. I thought it was pretty flavorful but the meat I used was subpar.
Improvements:
- use 2 lbs better quality meat, not 1lb stew meat (too fatty, blah for cooking)
- sear meat first, deglaze with stock. could result in better flavor
- chop vegetables better (smaller pieces of onion)
No comments:
Post a Comment