As a child beef stew and samp was probably my favorite meal. We would mostly have this over a weekend when there was enough time to let it cook low and slow. I usually just made rice with mine when I’ve made this in the past because I just couldn’t get my samp to taste as good as my moms'. I was convinced it had to do with her pressure cooker, it's ancient, the steam nozzle-thingy is held down with a rubber band or some boer-maak-'n-plan maneuver, I don't know how, but it works. She's had an electric pressure cooker for a while and uses it quite often. But some situations just call for two pressure cookers, I guess? So, at the risk of tainting the taste of that memory... rice it was.
I find it soo awesome that we have the ability to connect a specific taste or smell to a memory - oh how wonderfully we have been made!!
Anyhow… That was until I found Iwisa's parboiled samp, you don’t have to soak the samp overnight and it cooks much faster, and tastes just as good.
Stew needs time to cook for the meat to become tender and melt in your mouth. Don’t make this if you are in a hurry. All good things are worth waiting for, in life, love, and yes, even lunch.
As soon as you’ve completed the stew prep and it’s minding its business simmering away, you can cook the samp. So, by the time your guests arrive, you can be a fab host, enjoy a glass of wine with them, and feel flattered by all the compliments you’ll get for how delicious it smells.
Just remember to check on your stew every few minutes, you don’t want to serve burnt food and risk ruining your buzz (be that from your dopamine-high brought on by all the compliments, or an actual wine-buzz).
You will need:
- Large heavy-bottomed pot
- Medium heavy-bottomed pot
- Measuring spoons and cups
- Chopping board and knives
Yields: 4 Servings
Ingredients:
1kg Beef chuck, stew meat, cubed (trim about 70% of the fat)
3 tbsp Plain flour
1 Large, tomato, diced
1 Medium, onion, diced
4 Garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Can of All Gold, Tomato Puree (410g)
¾ c Water
1 Knorr, Beef stock pot (28g)
1 Large potato, small cubes
2 Large carrots, small cubes
2 Sprigs of fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
250g Iwisa, parboiled Samp
± ¾ c Water
Salt to taste
Method:
Start by rinsing your samp. Rinse thoroughly, cover with water in a pot and cook for 10minutes. Remove from the heat, rinse three times. Add back to the pot with ± ¾ cup of water and salt. Check on it while you do the preparations for the stew. It should cook for 1 – 1 ½ hours. Add more water if needed.
For the stew, start by preparing all the components. Wash, peel, and cube your carrots and potatoes. Your cubes should be between 1.5 – 2cm. Finely dice your tomato and onion and grate mince or grate the garlic.
Trim the excess fat off of the meat and cut it into smaller cubes, ± 3 – 4cm. Place a large heavy-bottomed pot on the stove over medium heat and add in 2 Tbsp of olive oil.
In a large mixing bowl, add your flour and cubed beef, toss the meat to ensure it is covered with the flour. Once the oil has heated up, add in the beef. Make sure your heat is not too high, otherwise the flour will stick to the base of your pot. Stir-fry the beef cubes until the start to become lightly golden brown. Remove the cubes from the pot and set aside.
Add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to the pot and allow it to heat up. Add in the onions, and sauté until they start to become translucent. Now add the tomatoes, rosemary and garlic, cook for about 2 minutes, now add back the cubes of beef, stir to combine. Add the carrots, potatoes, tomato puree, beef stock pot and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, bringing the heat all the way down. Taste for salt and pepper, add if needed. Cover the pot and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally.
If you prefer your potatoes a bit firmer in a stew, you could only add them in about 30 minutes before the end of your cook. But I find the longer they cook the more flavour they soak up, even though they end up being very soft.
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