“Curried” Beef Stew

 

I was at the store to buy a bottle of Malbec (my favorite red) and for some reason I wanted beef stew, so I bought a bottle of Malbec and a pack of stewing beef. 

Of course I was never going to make anything straightforward, but I also didn’t feel like buying additional ingredients, so this was pretty much thrown together based on what was already in my pantry or my fridge. Most of the ingredients were leftovers from food deliveries. This was really less a recipe and more a “what can I put into this that would actually work.”

Rice was the easy one. Basmati rice was cooked with turmeric, paprika, and a lot of salted butter.

The beef “curry” was truly “inspired.” I had leftover sliced onion, jalapeño, and beef ramen soup seasoning. So, I made a “curry” powder of turmeric, paprika, five spice powder, and beef ramen soup reasoning. There was no measurement. Everything was eyeballed.

1. Drench the stewing beef in seasoned cornstarch (essentially a mixture of seasoned salt and cornstarch)
2. Sauté sliced onion in hot oil
3. Brown the beef
4. Add the “curry” powder mix
5. Add water and red wine to cover
6. Add sliced jalapeño
7. Add curry sauce leftover from delivery (seriously)
8. Cover and simmer for two hours

I know this is extremely imprecise, but it is how I usually cook (if and when I do cook), and since this was literally a dish that was thrown together based on whatever leftovers I had, the measurement really wasn’t very important.

Steamed Wings

 

One can never have enough wings. I decided to steam wings so they could be used as blank canvases for hot sauce! The wings were steamed plain for 15 minutes and then dunked in an ice bath to stop the cooking. They were then ready to be sauced.

Seafood “Curry” Rice

 

Not really a curry, but I like rice and I like mixed seafood, so I thought a pseudo curry over rice would be perfect comfort food! The turmeric gives it the “right color,” but of course there must be HEAT (a combination of several hot sauces)!

• 1/2 cup basmati rice
• 1 cup water
• 2 tblsp turmeric
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 lb frozen mixed seafood, thawed
• 1 tblsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 tblsp ground black pepper
• 2 tblsp fish sauce
• 1/4 cup hot sauce
• 1 tblsp cornstarch, mixed with 2 tblsp water to make slurry
• 1/4 cup finely chopped scallion

1. Add rice, water, 1 tblsp turmeric, and 1 tsp salt to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. 
2. Stir, then cover and bring the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. 
3. Turn off the heat and let steam for at least 15 minutes. 
4. Fluff before serving.
5. In the meantime, melt butter in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion until slightly caramelized. 
6. Stir in the rest of the turmeric, salt, and black pepper. 
7. Stir in the seafood and heat over low heat until cooked. 
8. Add the fish sauce and hot sauce and stir to coat. 
9. Pour in the slurry and stir until thickened. 
10. Stir in the chopped scallion.
11. Arrange the turmeric rice in a bowl and spoon the “curry” over the rice.