french country stew - part 2

Very often the dishes that I prepare for a meal is driven by what I have on hand. Two weeks ago I went shopping in a rare occasion that most of the ingredients were for Western dishes. I bought a bag of carrot and a stalk of celery and after a few dishes I still have plenty left over. There is no better excuse to make another pot of french country stew to use up the carrots and celery.


My first encounter with French beef stew was a long time ago in Toronto. I was living with my brother at the time. Our neighbor invited us over for dinner one summer night. There was this fragrance that was so foreign to me but one just knew it must be something delicious. My neighbor explained to us that they made the beef stew in French style, using carrot, onion, celery, and red wine...


For me it would turned out that I experience with sofrito long before I dabble with this very basic French foundation.

Once I tried the basic French country stew I realize it is really simple, and the result is very rewarding.

I took out a package of rump roast cut from the freezer. It was a rather small package weighting in about 2.5 lb.

preparing the mirepoix (aka holy trinity) - 1 onion, 3 carrots, 4 stalks of celery;  i also used a few gloves of minced garlic all saute in sensible amount of beef fat

browning the pieces of beef in two batches with sea salt and fresh ground pepper

outdoor cooking like a lot of families do in asia

deglaze the pan, i am sure the neighbor can smell the wonderful fragrance and wondering which house it comes from;i used about 3/4 bottle of dry spanish monastrell

The wine and the carrot bring enough sweetness. I did not need to add any sugar. If I want a bit more sweetness, I just eat the stew with a dash of home made fruit concentrate.
i let the meat stew for about 3.5 hours and added the baby potatos to cook for another 30 minutes in the stew; the result is a one pot meal

There has been enough written about the French paradox. While I used I never use huge amount of butter as many French cooking shows I can attest that meal like this that seemingly unhealthy if you take to heart what the public health authorities tell you is in fact much more health than most of the ready made meals a lot of family eat.

This is one of the dishes great for skipping cooking a few meals. You can make a big pot enough to last a number of meals.

just heat up enough for a meal and put the rest back into the refrigerator; i prefer not to use the microwave because it tends to heat the food very unevenly; it is much simpler just use a non-stick skillet

 

low heat and cover with a lid - it took only a few minutes

 a meal outside

 and another one for brunch

the small dish of condiment is my home made rhubarb orange glaze