Gracie’s Life Experiment

Made a beef stew today.  It was a little bit of an experiment but it worked out really well and was quite a lot quicker.  So for posterity here is my ad hoc recipe:

- Cut up 2 stewing steaks into 1″ cubes
- Fry on high heat in a small bit of butter
- When it’s all browned off and a bit gnarly looking add chopped onions and some garlic
- When onions have gone translucent then add a big splash of wine
- Add a tablespoon of whole grain mustard
- Add a sliced up leek, sliced up carrot, some sweetcorn and some spinach
- Throw in a small handful of pearl barley
- Throw in 1/2 tin of leftover baked beans!
- Dissolve a beef stock cube in about a pint of hot water and add to pot
- Add some mixed herbs (I found some italian style ones, that would do)
- Put lid on and turn down heat
- Cook for as long as you need (yesterday I cooked it for about 35 mins before the next step – basically try one of the lumps of beef, have all the fatty bits gone gooey yet? if so then go to next step)
- 20 mins before you want to eat peel some white potatoes and cut into bite size pieces, add to the pot
- You may need to add some more water if it’s looking too thick in order for the potatoes to cook. If it’s looking a bit watery then leave the lid off while it boils.
- Serve up

Summary of the day: Got loads done at work, Had a telecon in the morning, Caught up with work in the afternoon, Made a beef stew, Stuffed ourselves silly with stew, Still had space for mango sorbet for dessert!