Stew

This is a basic recipe for just about any type of stew - beef, veal, chicken, pork, lamb, goat or even wild game (see wild game recipe below)

Ingredients

Meat 600 g cut into 3 cm squares

Onion 1

Carrot 1

Celery 1 branch

Leek 1 (cleaned properly)

Capsicum 1 (red or green)

Tomato 1 (optional)

Method

Peel and dice all vegetables into 3 cm squares.  Bring one and a half litres of water or vegetable stock to the boil.  Sauté all the vegetables and the meat in a fry pan with the olive oil until brown.  When the ingredients start to brown, sprinkle with some flour.  Keep stirring to cook the flour and then add the vegetables to the boiling stock.  You may have to repeat this operation a couple of times, as there is alot of frying to be done.  After each frying process, pour a cup of liquid from the stockpot into the frypan, bring it to the boil and then return any remaining stock to the stockpot. This is done to transfer flavour from the roasting ingredients to the stockpot.  Add all the herbs and spices to the pot and simmer for at least 1 hour or until meat is tender.  (This could take 2 hours depending on the type of meat and wild game could take even more - see recipe below) Thicken the stock with cornflour if necessary.

Left overs can be used to make a pie, but you have to make sure it is thick enough.

You can also use the same recipe to make a curry casserole. You may want to add a couple of bananas or a few slices of pineapple.  Use 2 tbsp of curry powder or see recipe below for curry paste.

More Ingredients

Parsnip 1 (optional)

Garlic 6 cloves

Flour ½ cup

Oil 1 cup

Parsley ½ cup chopped

Bay leaves 2

Thyme

Cracked pepper 1 tsp

Salt

Curry Paste

Ingredients: 4 tsp coriander seed, 2 tsp cumin seed, 1/4 tsp mustard seed, 2 cloves, 2 tsp ground tumeric, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp finely chopped chilli pepper, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp fenugreek seed (leave them whole), 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Method: Mix everything together

Wild Game Stew

Cut wild game into small pieces and place in a large saucepan.  Cover with water and simmer. To make sure the meat is covered properly, place a brick on top. When the brick is tender the meat is cooked.