Healthy Meals Delivered are most suitable for stewing include among the red and white meats and game (beef and veal, stewed chicken, rabbit, guinea fowl, goose, roe deer, fallow deer, wild boar, deer). For fish (the most common ones are eel and stewed grouper, cod, tench, carp) cooking times are reduced to prevent the meat from flaking, except for the cod that requires more prolonged cooking.
Among the vegetables and legumes that lend themselves to being stewed are potatoes, courgettes, cabbage, green beans, leeks, fennel, carrots, turnips, beans, peas
Preparing a good stew is not difficult, and the recipes in circulation (the luckiest ones will have those on hand) are tantalizing, but there are 7 points to keep in mind to serve a dish that is not only good, but perfect.
The best cuts of beef to use are the tastiest ones, so those marbled and rich in connective tissue are fine. During slow cooking, the connective tissue will become gelatinous, making the pulp very soft and helping to thicken and enrich the sauce; leaner cuts would be too dry and hard. The cuts we are looking for are therefore the most tenacious: shoulder, brisket, belly whitewash, real, bow; some advise the shin.
Also excellent is the shank or pork shank, the part of the hind limb: rich in connective tissue, requires 3 hours of cooking to give the best of itself. For poultry, choose spindles and overcast or divide a whole chicken, separating the chest from the belly and wings as well as the thighs.
The perfect stew is cooked in a casserole: the most expert advise it round in shape, with the edge having a lower height than the diameter. More important than the shape is the material with which the casserole is made, which must absorb the heat and yield it gradually without burning. For this purpose, cast iron is ideal, a very heavy material that continues to cook food, even with the heat off, for at least an hour (the most modern cast-iron casseroles are glazed).
The lid must adhere perfectly to the edges and be rounded, so as to collect the steam droplets and make them fall back into the container. Meat intended for stewing should be cut into pieces that are not too large (for which Healthy Meals Delivered are recommended).
Browning is very important: as for roasts, even in stews the reaction is triggered by the chemist who studied it (it is the transformation of sugars and proteins that caramelize with heat), concentrating the flavor and, in the case of meats, sealing them so as not to lose the juices. Heat the olive oil in the casserole with a knob of butter, when the butter has completely melted, add the ingredient to be cooked (cut into pieces) and let it brown, over high heat, on all sides.
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