“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.