Tasteless stew

corblimey

I made some beef and guinness stew over the weekend and while it turned out ok, it's a bit tasteless, just doesn't taste of anything really. I used plenty of herbs (thyme, rosemary, bay leaves) plenty of salt and pepper, etc. What can I do in future to remedy this kind of situation? More herbs and spices and stuff? Not cook it for so long (it was frying for about 10 mins then in the oven for 3 hours as per the directions)? Cook it for longer? Better cut of meat - I just bought a packed of stewing beef from tesco?

Sparks

Better meat = worse stew.
You want cheap cuts. Round steak is about as high up as you should go. The point is to get meat with connective tissue in it, which breaks down into gelatin during the cooking.
Myself, I start with two or three onions in the saute pan, roughly chopped (if even chopped, sometimes quartering is enough) and some garlic and sweat them down, then turn up the heat and add chopped carrots and saute them for a few minutes, then drop them into the stew pot. Then keep the heat under the saute pan high and add the cubed meat and sear it off and throw that in the pot. Then take about a half-litre of stock (stock cubes will do if your cooking time is long enough) and use a cup or so of it to deglaze the saute pan and the liquid and remaining stock goes in to the stew pot. Make sure there's enough liquid in the pot to cover everything, then calmp on the lid and then bring it up to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and leave for a bare minimum of three hours ( four to six or even more is better - chuck everything in a slow cooker in the morning and go to work and you get wonderful results).
As to spices&herbs, the only real necessity is salt (add some to the onions during the sweat, and there'll be a fair bit in the stock cube, so once it's simmering, taste and see - or wait a few hours and test then). But it's your stew, so add what you like the taste of (I've a habit of adding a teaspoon or two of nam pla and/or wostershire sauce to bring out the meatiness and sometimes adding chillis or curry powder to up the heat a bit).
You might add a tablespoon of flour to the stew in the last half-hour or so to thicken it up if it looks thin, but be sure you give it time to cook out the raw taste of the flour.

corblimey

I used a comparable recipe and method, except I used a can of Guinness instead of stock (500ml) and put the flour in before it went in the oven. Apart from that, everything seems to be ok

So I guess there's no easy way of determining what could have gone wrong with this one. Perhaps more spices, I did add some oregano to the mix while frying just cos that all I had. I'd like to try it again, but I would like to get some bang for my buck.

Sparks

Guinness works really well (unless one of the diners is alcohol intolerant - genetic quirk, a bit rare, but you give any alcohol *at all* to someone whose liver doesn't produce enough ALDH and you'll in effect poison them).

I don't put the flour in at the start because if you over-flour, the sauce thickens up too much and you get to spend twenty minutes scraping burnt stew residue from the bottom of the pot

Oregano works well enough in stews.

Try using a mix of meats - beef and lamb. Same recipe as above. And don't be confined by what's listed in recipe books - just because it doesn't say there's curry powder in Irish stew isn't a good reason to leave it out of your dinner if you like it. I usually add a can of broad beans (or any other tin of beans bar baked beans if I can't find the broad beans) to the stew, and I'll throw in pearl barley if I have it. Sometimes, I'll use cous-cous in the last half-hour or so instead of the flour, and skip the potatoes.
Try things, see what happens, keep notes, and go with what works for you.

Mr Floyd

I've been meaning to try guiness stew myself recently, have been doing lamb stews though, one thing you could try is making your own stock, makes a big difference. One thing I will say about herbs is that in my opinion you dont need a lot, my Mother makes great stew but doesnt use any herbs at all. Practice it again and maybe dont stick exactly to the recipe, use your own judgement.

olaola

You need to brown your meat first to get a 'fond' on the bottom of the pot, which will give you more flavour. You can take the meat out and repeat with the veg if you want - layer up the flavour. And when you pop it all back in with the liquid - it will all cook into the stew.

Alun

I always brown the (floured) meat first in batches, take it out and do the same with the onions and other veg. Then put the meat and accumulated juices back in together with stock / beer / wine / whatever and any seasonings (herbs, worcester sauce, s&p etc.) The flavour and colour comes to a large degree from the browning of the meat, and the onions, so don't skimp on that. You have to be a bit careful when browning meat that's been floured, as it can catch very easily, and alternatively you can dispense with the flour when browning the meat, and add it later on before adding the liquid. Be sure to cook it off a bit first though otherwise it'll just taste of flour.

Dizzyblonde

A dash of worcestershire sauce and a squirt of tomato puree are a must in any beef stew - they bring it to life

1966

agree that cheaper cuts of meat are the best for stew but definitly at least teaspoon of salt is needed & I'm not a salt lover and know it "un-pc" to even mention using it but its a must for a stew.

The Sweeper

Taste while you cook.

As mentioned, better cuts of meat lose flavour through long, slow cooking. You want to use something like shin of beef, a mix of guinness and good beef stock, onions and carrots for vegetable flavour, and a large, fresh sprig of thyme. Splash of worcestershire or mushroom ketchup will help round things up, as will a good seasoning of salt and pepper.

Salt in cooking is essential to bring out the flavours in food. You don't have to over-salt things, but don't be shy to use a teaspoon of something really good like Maldon sea salt in a stew (I wouldn't use a teaspoon of granulated iodised table salt, and yes, I do claim to be able to taste the difference). Allowing salt to cook in a stew makes a big difference - it rounds out flavours and the salt itself cooks, so you don't get the same effect by just dumping a teaspoon of table salt into stew before you plate it up.

muckety

A couple of additional points - Go to a good butcher for your meat, look for a master craft butcher who sources his beef himself rather than buying prepacked meat like a lot do. You need fat on the meat - fat = flavour - and when searing the meat do it in small batches as if you put too much in the pan it will just steam.

the beer revolu

Shin Beef = Great flavoured stew.
Takes about 3 hours to soften.

Kat1170

When cooking a stew for 3+ hours how do you stop ypur potatoes going to mush. Cook seperate, then add or add when about an hour or so to go. Mine always fall apart.

Ponster

Kat1170 wrote: »

When cooking a stew for 3+ hours how do you stop ypur potatoes going to mush. Cook seperate, then add or add when about an hour or so to go. Mine always fall apart.

Use 2 different types of spuds. Floury ones go in first which end up dissolving and making the 'sauce' while the other type I add 15 minutes later and end up more solid when the stew is done.

Dizzyblonde

I cook my potatoes separately - unless I'm cooking the stew in the slow cooker. Then I put my potatoes, sliced, on the bottom. They never go to mush in the slow cooker.

nerdysal

we actually made this last night and it turned out really well. we fried one onion and one garlic clove for 5 mins on medium heat. removed from the pan into casserole dish. then fried beef (1lb) on high heat until browned. Then we added 1tblsp flour and 150ml guinness. Stirred it until it started to brown then transferred into casserole dish and added 75ml beef stock and bouquet garni and cooked in oven at 150degrees for 2 and half hours. It turned out really nice and really tasty!!!!

BankMan

For extra taste, try any of the following: Celery, Cumin Seeds, Brown Sauce, Worcester Sauce (I use all of the above);)