Howdy! ‘Tis I! I’m back with 3 recipes! back on schedule at last. Anyway, today I made a beef stew, a garlic, potato and saffron soup and spinach surprise (that is the name of the recipe I kid you not). The soup, was an Aigo Bouïdo with add-ons basically. You put some water, some garlic and some herbs in a pot, boil it for a half hour, add some diced spuds and saffron, and continue boiling for 20 minutes. After that, she doesnt say to do so – she doesn’t say much at all – I blended it to make it not just lumps of potatoes. It was fairly nice. I prefer the original Aigo, more creamy and without saffron. It is interesting, but not a great addition.
So then I made my stew. I started by marinating some beef and some vegetables in some red wine, brandy, allspice, thyme and bay for 6 hours. Then I little before cooking I drained the beef to dry it. I heated some oil until smoking in a big pan, and added the meat to brown. Then, I added the marinade, reduced by half, added some stock and a pork knee and put in the oven at 140 degrees for 3 and a half hours. Meanwhile I braised some carrots and onions in some butter and once the stew was done, I added them. I then made my spinach surprise. Basically all you do, is blanch some spinach, drain it, add some butter, cook over a heat, add some flour, continue cooking and add some cream. Then I made some crêpes and placed a crepe over the spinach to hide it. SURPRISE! it’s spinach… The stew was really really good. Dad’s beef cheek stew is still the one to beat, but I’m getting close. The spinach was as you’d expect. Spinachy.
So that was long, but rewarding. Again, I’m gonna try and make the best beef and red wine stew. Oh and one more thing, the name of the stew “Boeuf à la mode” roughly translates as Trendy beef. Nice. Anyway, I’m going, bye.
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