"Catmandy (Sheryl)" > wrote in message
...
>I have been making beef stew and pot roasts since I learned to cook at
> the age of 12 or so. They are 2nd nature to me. Mom was the queen of
> braising, which made me the Braising Princess, I guess.
>
> Was in the mood for beef stew, had a nice 2 lb slab of Sirloin Tip
> steak (which I know is part of the round) which I'd gotten on sale. So
> I made a big pot of beef stew Wednesday night. Here's what I did:
>
> Cut it into 2 inch chunks and seasoned it well with salted meat
> tenderizer and black pepper. Then browned it in a small amount of hot
> oil in a dutch oven in small batches. Once the meat was browned, I
> added a diced onion and 2 crushed garlic cloves and cooked it until
> soft and added the meat back to the pot. To the pot, I added a cup of
> red wine and 1/4 cup of Goya Sofrito (from the jar). Then I added a
> cup of chicken broth and a cup of beef broth (I wanted to use up the
> chicken, it was in the fridge) and a couple of good shakes of
> worcestershire sauce. Also stirred in some thyme and rosemary.
>
> Brought the meat and broth to a boil and then immediately turned it
> down to a
> low simmer for about 90 minutes. I stirred in about 1 tablespoon of
> Wondra flour, then I added some red potatoes, washed and cut into
> quarters, a few carrots, cut into 1" pieces and a small yellow turnip,
> peeled and cut into 1" cubes. It needed more liquid, so I added a cup
> of water, brought to a boil, covered and turned down to a medium
> simmer. I checked after 45 min and the veggies weren't quite ready.
> At this point, I added a cup of frozen peas....
> and a secret ingredient: a tablespoon of jarred prepared
> horseradish. Once the turnip was fork tender, about 20 minutes later,
> I served it.
>
> You didn't taste the horseradish directly, but there was this low
> undercurrent of richness and zip that you couldn't really identify
> but was definitely there. I'd add the horseradish again.
>
> Of course, if you want a more assertive zing, you can certainly add
> more at the table.
>
> This was delicious!!! Brought the leftovers to my friend's house
> for supper last night. She loved it too and took another portion for
> supper tonight, as well. I was happy to share, there was PLENTY!!!
>
>
Do you always use Wondra? I always add all purpose flour to the onions,
celery, carrots[my sofrito] while sauteeing to make a roux. I have a hard
time putting any flour into a stew that isn't precooked. I've never heard of
the Goya Sofrito, which apparently contains tomato, onion, green peppers,
cilantro and garlic. For almost all beef stews I use bacon fat or salt pork
fat. I'm going to try the horseradish.

Kent