Mmm...I adore warm beef stew over white rice. There is a restaurant back home, Rambie's, that served a fantastic beef stew. When we went back in July 2007 the only Rambie's to be found was at the Micronesia Mall, and they did not have beef stew on the menu that day. It was a sad day to be sure. I wish I could have had a taste to see if I could dissect what it was exactly that made that particular stew so fantastic. Since I couldn't figure it out, I had to come up with something. I did some internet searches and located a recipe with an unusual ingredient, Lechon Sauce. So, here is the recipe that I can no longer find and has been adjusted to my way of cooking.
Beef Stew
1 package of brisket, trimmed and cubed
2 large potatoes
1 small package of baby carrots or 4 regular carrots peeled and sliced
1 can diced tomatoes (I use low sodium)
1 onion, diced
1 can of beef broth
1 can tomato sauce
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. lechon sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Brown beef in batches to achieve proper browning to all pieces. Remove from pan and set aside. Saute onions in salt and pepper until translucent, add beef back to pan. Add beef broth, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Add carrots and simmer for 10 minutes. Add potatoes and remaining ingredients, cook until vegetables are tender.
Serve over white rice.
I have done this recipe in a pressure cooker, adding all the ingredients at once except for the carrots and potatoes. Then, once the beef was tender, added the veggies and cooked through. Needless to say, that reduced the cooking time quite a bit.
You could also use a more tender cut of beef to cut the cooking time.
You can also add chili peppers or use the spicy lechon sauce instead to add a different dimension to the dish.
