Thursday, July 12, 2007

Jamie Oliver's stew

So simple and yet delicious. I must confess from time to time I suffer from a bit of Jamie overload. The omni present Jamie and his band of followers is getting a bit on my nerves. I mean tv-series, tefal pans, cookware, aprons, a "flavour shaker"? Come on! But still, I like him. Who couldn't like Jamie? Maybe that is the problem, the fact that everybody likes him. He doesn't need me to like him. *Sniffs*

I own only two of his books and they make for fine reading but somehow I don't make as many recipes from them. Why? Beats me! Recipes are clear, ingredients are simple, preparing them is a cinch. Maybe that combination makes me wonder: could this be good enough to try? As a matter of fact: a whole hearted yes!

As the weather continues to be definitely un-summery I was a bit uninspired but this brought a smile on my face:

olive oil
700 gr potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 red onions, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
2 sticks rosemary, just the needles
1 ts ground cumin
1 heaped tbs smoked paprika powder
zest and juice of 1 orange
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800 gr lean stew beef
400 gr borlotti beans (can or rehydrated)
400 gr canned tomatoes
salt + pepper
for garnish: greek yoghurt/sour cream, fresh cilantro

Not much cooking involved, throw it together Jamie-style: heat olive oil in a large dutch oven and add first list of ingredients, stir, let cook for a minute or two, stir again. Period.
Add rest of the ingredients, salt and pepper to taste and add as much water as needed to almost cover. Period.
Bring to a boil and put in the oven. Period.

Oven temperature? Well that depends on when you'd like to have dinner, at 180C it's ready afer 3 hours cooking, longer time needed? Oven 140C....6 hours. Crowd pleasing dinner fare and easy on the hostess!

I mean, when you read this are you pressed to try? You better do because it's really delicious!
Serve with rice or pasta as a stew or wrap in tortilla's and serve with quacamole....

That's all folks!

5 comments:

  1. And that's all you need. Sounds perfectly wonderful. Wish I'd been there to catch all the lovely aromas. And, well, the wine and the laughs too.

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  2. Haven't seen Jamie for a while myself. You must be occupying all his time!! This stew looks like it would be the perfect companion to one of your loaves of yummie bread!

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  3. I adore Jamie - I have his new one and I think it's one of his best after Jamie's Italy. This stew sounds so typical of him. Perfect!

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  4. I will have to wait before making it, it's to hot to keep the oven going for such a long time! But thanks, I'll come back in a couple of months time!

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  5. I've totally been thinking about stews and soups with this abominable weather we've been having. Thanks for the inspiration!

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