Hello! I know it’s been a while. And I know I said I’d do a dessert next, but I’m still working on that. Anyway, I’m not just a fan of FE3H. When it comes to long-running Nintendo franchises whose Switch entries are considered among their best, I also love Breath of the Wild. So let’s make yet another stew!
The Dish: Gourmet Meat Stew
The meat has simmered for so long it melts in your mouth. A true bucket-list meal! Required ingredients are Gourmet Raw Meat, Tabantha Wheat, Goat Butter, and Whole Milk.
The Method: Much like last time, I’m keeping this simple – only what the recipe requires, anything mentioned in the flavor text, any necessary accoutrements (like salt and pepper), and anything clearly included in the photo. In this case, it looks like the stew features potatoes and carrots. The flavor text seems to necessitate a slow cooker, and meltiness mentioned suggests a fattier cut of meat. So how’s about a brisket?
The recipe starts when I cut that bad boy in half, freeze one half, and cut the other into bite-sized pieces (I also try to keep a little fat on each piece for maximum fat distribution). Once achieved, they get a generous rub of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, and they go into the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes, up to an hour.
Once that’s done, it’s time to give our meat a light dredging in flour, then brown it. For this, I’m gonna ape the method J. Kenji Lopez-Alt uses for searing steaks. I’m gonna start by melting a bunch of ghee (that’s just clarified butter – it won’t burn) into a stainless-steel pan, dropping a couple sprigs of rosemary into the melted ghee, and browning my meat in the herbed butter mixture. This will ensure tender, delicious, flavorful meat.
Once all the meat is lightly browned, halve a bunch of potatoes and put them on the bottom of the slow cooker, and fill in any gaps with baby carrots until you have one kinda-uniform layer. Top this with your browned meat, pour in 32oz of high quality beef broth, and set your cooker to “low” for 8 hours, making this simultaneously the longest and least involved recipe I’ve done. When you have about an hour left, whip up a simple milk/butter/flour roux and stir it in there.
The Result: Oh my. I’m not a fan of beef stew, normally, but this is as delicious as advertised. The meat is, true to text, melt-in-your-mouth smooth, and all that extra fat made for a delicious, velvety broth. The rosemary in the ghee made for a delicious herbaceous flavor. The vegetables were fork tender. All told, this was one I’d gladly do again. It’s not on my bucket list, but it might be on yours.
Cooking with FE3H 