Whatever the crisis, Sky News on TV can be guaranteed to come up with an inexhaustible supply of ‘experts’ who will pontificate on every conceivable topic. During the floods in Britain earlier in the year, for example, there were umpteen global warming and climate change pundits all putting in their threepenny-worth.
One in particular was of the opinion that due to global warming, Europe was going to get very much hotter and, in a few years’ time, those of us in southern Europe would find ourselves living under desert conditions. We shall see!
Leaving aside my cynicism, I do think we have had a relatively benign winter and I haven’t been making as many stews or thick soups as I usually do. But just in case those experts happen to be right and we’re heading for a permanent year-round heatwave, I thought I’d better get cracking and make one or two while it’s still cool enough. And as we are talking global, I’ve been looking at recipes for stews from various countries.
The first is from our next-door neighbour. It always surprises me that you don’t see osso buco more often in Malta, either on butchers’ counters or on restaurant menus. While I was waiting to be served at the butcher’s recently, the lady in front of me was buying some beautiful fresh veal shank slices.
I couldn’t resist following suit, and they made a really succulent stew. Osso buco is traditionally served with risotto Milanese, but I’m not terribly fond of saffron, so I serve it with a plain risotto, polenta or garlicky mashed potatoes.
Brunswick stew is a speciality of the southern US and both Brunswick County, Virginia and Brunswick, Georgia claim it as their own. It can be made with squirrel, rabbit, chicken, pork or beef. I’ve made it with both chicken and rabbit but I’ve yet to try it with squirrel. However, should I ever manage to catch one, I have an American cookbook which describes in gory detail exactly how to skin and paunch a squirrel, but I think I’ll give that a miss and stick to chicken and rabbit.
Next is bullfighter’s stew, although this one is not from Spain but from the south of France. There is a Spanish stew called rabo de toro, which is made with oxtail, but in France it’s called daube de taureau and they don’t use oxtail but beef from the same breed of cattle that are bred for bullfighting. The beef is marinated for 24 hours in a whole bottle of wine, together with herbs and spices, then cooked either on a stove or in the oven until it is meltingly tender.
One of my all-time favourites is lamb shanks. I like them just plain roasted with mint sauce or cooked in a stew with pearl barley and carrots.
But best of all, I like to cook them slowly in a Moroccan-style tagine with aubergines, dried apricots, prunes and honey, then serve them with couscous which, if the pundits are correct in their assumptions, will be just right for a Moroccan-style desert dinner in a year or two’s time.
Lamb shanks with apricots and prunes
(Serves 4)
4 meaty lamb shanks
Seasoned flour
2 tbsps olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 aubergine, about 300g, diced and pre-salted if preferred
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp paprika
2 tsps ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
Approx. 500ml chicken stock
2 tbsps honey
16 dried apricots and 16 pitted prunes
1 cinnamon stick
3 tbsps chopped fresh mint
Salt and pepper
250g couscous
20g butter
Roll the shanks in seasoned flour and shake off the excess. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown the shanks all over; then transfer them to a large, deep casserole.
Add the onions and aubergine to the pan and fry until they start to soften. Add the garlic and fry for a minute, then sprinkle over the paprika, coriander and cumin and fry for a minute more. Preheat the oven to 160˚C.
Pour in the stock, add the honey, apricots, prunes and cinnamon stick, then stir in two tablespoons of the mint and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then pour the mixture over the lamb shanks.
Cover the casserole with foil and a lid and cook the shanks for two hours until the meat is so tender it’s almost falling from the bones.
Prepare the couscous according to the instructions on the pack, stir in the butter and the remaining tablespoon of mint and serve with the lamb shanks.
Osso buco
(Serves 4 to 6)
4 veal shank slices, approximately 2cm thick
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, 1 large carrot and 1 celery stick, all diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
200ml dry white wine
300g chicken stock
4 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp flour mixed with 1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped parsley
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Preheat the oven to 170˚C. Pat the shanks dry with kitchen paper and tie them securely, but not too tightly, with string so they keep their shape during cooking. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the shanks until browned on both sides. Transfer them to a large casserole.
Add the chopped vegetables to the pan and fry until they start to soften. Stir in the crushed garlic and fry for a minute more, then add the wine, stock, thyme and some salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and pour the mixture over the shanks. Cover with a piece of foil and a lid and cook for about 90 minutes until they are very tender when tested with the point of a knife.
Transfer the shanks to a serving dish, cover and keep warm. Fish out and discard the thyme sprigs, skim off the fat from the surface, then tip the vegetables and juices into a pan.
Bring to the boil and whisk in the flour/butter mixture a little at a time, until the sauce thickens. Simmer for two minutes, taste and adjust the seasoning and pour the sauce over the shanks.
Mix the chopped garlic, parsley and lemon rind together, sprinkle over the shanks and serve.
Brunswick stew
This easy American stew should contain lima beans which look like broad beans that have been popped out of their skins, and that is what I’ve used here.
I buy bone-in chicken thighs because they are much cheaper, although boneless thighs are more convenient.
(Serves 4)
8 large chicken thighs or 1 rabbit
Seasoned flour for dusting
2 tbsps oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
400g can chopped tomatoes
Pinch of sugar
1 large potato, diced
300ml chicken stock
Salt and pepper
1 sprig rosemary or ½ tsp chopped dried rosemary
150g (prepared weight) cooked and skinned broad beans
Small can sweetcorn, drained
Remove the skin and bones from the chicken thighs and cut them in half. If using a rabbit, have it cut into smallish pieces. Dredge the meat in seasoned flour and shake off the excess.
Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the chicken or rabbit until lightly browned, then transfer it to a plate. Add the onion to the pan and fry gently until starting to soften. Stir in the garlic and fry for a minute more, then add the tomatoes, sugar, potato and chicken stock.
Return the meat to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Sit the rosemary on top or stir in the dried rosemary. Cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes, or the rabbit is very tender, about 45 minutes.
Stir the beans and sweetcorn into the pan and simmer for another five minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary, then transfer to a serving bowl. This is good with just plain boiled potatoes, pasta or rice.
Bullfighter’s stew
(Serves 6)
1.5kg good stewing beef,
cut in 4cm chunks
1 large onion and 1 large
carrot cut into chunks
4 cloves garlic, chopped
6 thyme sprigs, 6 parsley
stalks and 1 rosemary sprig
3 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
¼ tsp ground cloves
Salt and ground black pepper
1 bottle good red wine
2 tbsps olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
100g streaky bacon, chopped
4 large carrots, thickly sliced
1 tsp dark brown sugar
60g pitted black olives
1 tbsp flour mixed with 1 tbsp butter
Put the meat, chunks of onion and carrot and garlic into a bowl. Tie the herbs, bay leaves and cinnamon together, add them to the bowl with the cloves and plenty of salt and pepper, then pour over the bottle of wine, cover tightly with cling film and leave to marinate in the fridge for 24 hours, giving it an occasional stir.
Drain the meat well over a bowl, reserving the marinade and bundle of herbs and discarding the rest.
Pat the meat as dry as possible on kitchen paper or a clean tea towel. Heat the oil in a frying pan until really hot and fry the meat in batches until well browned all over, then transfer it to a large pan.
Add the onion and bacon to the frying pan and cook until the onion starts to soften, then add the carrots and fry for a minute or two more. Tip it all onto the meat and add the marinade, bundle of herbs, brown sugar and olives.
Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to its lowest point, cover the pan and simmer very gently for two-and-a-half hours, giving it an occasional stir. If it starts to look dry, top it up with a little beef stock.
Remove the bundle of herbs and stir in the flour/butter mixture a little at a time, adding just enough to thicken the sauce. Simmer for another few minutes, then serve in warm bowls either with mashed potatoes or with pasta mixed with some of the sauce.