Ingredients
2 lb stewing beef, cubed
1/4 cup flour (all purpose)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cup beef stock
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 can tomatoes 14oz drained
5 carrots, sliced
2 onions, sliced
1 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced (1/4 lb)
1/2 tsp rosemary, crushed and dried
Directions
In a bag, toss beef with flour, salt and pepper. Arange beef on a
baking sheet; bake in 500 F (260 C) oven for 10 to 15 minutes or
until lightly browned. Meanwhile in a large Dutch oven, combine
beef-stock, wine, carrots, onions mushrooms and rosemary, breaking up
tomatoes with a fork; bring to the boil. Add browned beef; bake in
300 F (150 C) oven for 2 hours or until beef is tender.
Servings: 6 servings
Saucy Beef Stew Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Dutch Oven; Meat; Soup; Stew
The History of Recipes
It is quite feasible to trace the history of written cooking instructions far back into ancient history, in fact as far into history as pharonic Egypt, and potentially, even further back. In practice though, in the main part, these early recipes were just primitive hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for preparing food.
Interestingly, the most ancient recipe discovered so far, according to Professor Solomon Katz, is a series of clay tablets in the Sumerian language which describe the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making people feel `blissful`. During the time of the Romans a man called Apicius compiled some documents describing recipes cooked by wealthy Romans. He recounts how the roman meals were separated into hors d`oeuvres, main course and desserts, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Aspicius also informs us how the cooks of Roman times used many different herbs, including some that we all recognise for example basil, mint and asafoetida. Moving our culinary historical trip onwards, we have two interesting books which appeared in the 1300s : a book called `Forme of Cury`, and another entitled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are a little misleading though, these books are not about the spicy food that is served today, but instead accounts of the types of food prepared by the chefs of the upper classes of the time. Later on, in the 15th century, knights returning from the crusades brought us many foods and herbs from Arab cooking, including spices such as parsley, basil and rosemary. These new culinary innovations caused a torrent in books on cooking, the majority of which are kept safe in private cookery archives. Over the next few hundred years, the wealthy families of Europe competed with each other to serve the most exotic meals, and as a consequence, chefs and their collection of recipes could command a high salary. Notwithstanding that, it wasn`t until the nineteenth century that fine cooking and cookery books reached a high level of popularity. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and Fannie Farmer in the US, dedicated their lives to collating, verifying, and writing down recipes common in their social group. When we get to the 20th century, recipe books were in high demand, mostly as a result of more people being able to read, leisure time and a general increase in wealth. The arrival of TV brought us cooking programs and the recipe books that accompanied them. Which pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, allowing everybody to search through thousands of recipes like those on the site you are now reading. |
We hope you enjoy this Saucy Beef Stew recipe.
