Quick gravy/base for stew

[Cooter]

Have some veni thawed out that needs to get eaten tonight. I'm gonna do a stew and go with cooked carrots and potatoes to speed things up. I don't want to mess with flour so any ideas for a quick gravy/soup base other than buying gravy in a jar?

[Chef]

You could use corn starch, but a flour based rough is always best.

I use 4 tbsps. melted butter and 1/3 c. flour, med-low heat and a wire whisk, keep it moving in the pan for about 4 minutes to cook it and then add about 1 c. of your WARM soup base to the rough, stir well with the whisk for no lumps and stir this into your liquid.

I realize you don't want to mess with this part, but it's worth the effort.

[IFallsRon]

Go with the flour. Put some in a cup, add cold water and stir until blended. Slowly add it into your pot, bring up the temperature and gravy happens.

[Dark Cloud]

Cream of mushroom or celery soup works. Sour cream will give you a gravy also. This will be a little loose but it's one I use alot. I know you dont want to do the flour thing but makeing a quick roux and adding at the end will thicken things the best.

Just melt a 3rd stick of butter and add about a half cup of flour and cook it for a few minutes. Set this aside and use it as a thickener at the end. This is what I use in soups and stews. When you add it though you need to bring your base to a slow boil to get the full efectiveness of the roux...

[Cooter]

Can I simply mix beef base and water together?

[Dark Cloud]

Coot - that will give you a good broth base for a stew but then you'll need to thicken it with something. Condensed creamy soup is easy and tasty...

[Cooter]

Thanks Dark, I'll give the creamy soup a try with the beef base. One of these days I'll expand into making real gravy, or maybe just need a good woman who can cook!

[Jim Uran]

A roux is the best for thickening though, it's really simple and not as time consuming as one would think. I can't do it any other way now, I used to use the flour/ cold water deal but I can't do it anymore, all I can taste is the flour.

Do the roux!!! Do the roux!!

DC, my gal does the mushroom soup deal too, it's really good also.

[Cooter]

I've got beef base, a big gravy mix packet, and condensed c.o.m soup - its either gonna be boom or bust!

[Surface Tension]

Build a stew by layering the flavors.

Heat the kettle add a 2 tbs EVO. Add diced carrots, celery, onion season with salt and pepper. Get those to caramelize but just before they hit that point add the garlic. That will take high heat. Remove from the from the kettle add more EVO add meat, season, and caramelize. If you add too much meat to the kettle it will not caramelize so if you have to do it in stages do so. You could build on that flavor more with crushed tomatoes or tomato paste. If so then remove the meat add EVO add the tomatoes and season. Again caramelizing.

De-glaze the kettle. a few choices there. Wine or beef stock. If your using wine then do that first. Let it reduce then add beef stock. Up till this point you haven't added anything unnatural laden with chemicals or preservatives. If you don't have beef stock then use beef base. Beef bullion would be my last choice for the reason you've built up good layers, it would be a shame to taint it with bullion.

Combine everything and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add a bay leaf. You could let this simmer with lid off to reduce. If you do that flavors will intensify or add your potatoes and carrots right away and simmer till done. You could add a roux now or wait. The butter and flour should have browned when making the roux.

[Dark Cloud]

Surface T - Great post, the only thing i'll add is, im a stickler for seasoning each layer or step. I like to add salt n pepper and maybe granulated garlic as im going instead of at the end. Seems much easier to control and helps bring out flavors along the way. A product like season-all or Emerals Essence works also...

Cooter - Where is the verdict?