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Brazilian Beef Stew
2 POUNDS LEG OF BEEF VINEGAR 1/2 CUPS SLICED CARROTS 2 CUPS TOMATOES I CUP SLICED ONIONS I TURNIP, PEELED 4-5 SPRIGS PARSLEY I TABLESPOON MELTED FAT I TABLESPOON FLOUR 4 LARGE AND 6 SMALL POTATOES SALT AND PEPPER Trim any fat from beef, but leave in all muscle or sinews, which become glutinous when stewed. Cut beef into 1into 1inch cubes and dip them in vinegar. Put all vegetables into saucepan with melted fat into which flour has been stirred. Fry everything light brown, then add the 4 big potatoes, whole, but peeled, with salt and plenty of pepper.
Cover and let simmer very gently 31/2-4 hours, without water. 1 hour before stew is ready add peeled small potatoes by putting them on top of stew.
Brazilians take this stew on picnics and hunting trips already cooked, merely wrapping the big earthen cook pot cooked , merely wrapping the big earthen cook pot in blankets so the stew will keep hot for hours.
A dry-stew method: no liquid is added at all, so the pot depends entirely on the tomatoes and onions for moisture and on a tight lid to keep it there. Get that part right and the rest is forgiving.
- No added water is deliberateTwo cups of tomatoes plus the onions and turnip give up enough liquid to carry three and a half hours of gentle cooking, provided the lid seals and the heat stays low. Use a heavy pot, check at the first hour, and add a splash only if the base is catching.
- The beef goes in with the vegetablesThe instructions list the vinegar-dipped cubes and then move straight to the vegetables. Brown the meat in the fat-and-flour first, then add the vegetables and continue browning together.
- Leg of beefThis is shin or foreshank -- the cut the recipe means when it says to leave the sinews in. The connective tissue is the whole point; it melts into the sauce over the long simmer. Beef shank, oxtail or chuck all work; anything lean will be dry at four hours.
- The vinegarNo quantity is given. A dip is all that is intended -- toss the cubes in two or three tablespoons of red wine or cider vinegar and let the excess drain off. More than that will curdle the browning and sharpen the finished sauce.
- Carrot quantityThe carrot measure has lost its whole number in this printing; one and a half cups sliced is consistent with the cup of onions and the single turnip.
- Melted fatThe recipe specifies only "melted fat"; drippings or lard are the likely intent. Any neutral fat or oil serves. The tablespoon of flour stirred into it is a roux in miniature -- let it colour before the vegetables go in or the sauce will taste raw.
- Potatoes in two stagesThe four large ones go in whole at the start and will soften over the long simmer, which helps thicken the stew; the six small ones, added on top for the last hour, steam rather than boil and stay intact. Do not stir them in.
- Heat and yieldLowest possible burner. A low oven of about 300F with the lid on is a modern alternative the recipe does not mention, and it holds the temperature more steadily over four hours. Two pounds of shank with this much potato feeds five or six.
- Carrying it hotThe blanket-wrapped pot works by thermal mass, but it only holds the stew safely while it stays above about 140F; once it drops below that it is in the bacterial danger zone. Serve it while it is still hot, eat it within two hours of the temperature falling, and refrigerate anything left.