Veal Stew and a Milestone

Wednesday, May 30th, 2007

Filed Under Beef or Veal, India - Kerala, Mains, Recipes

Wow, I can’t believe I am writing my hundredth post! More unbelievable is the fact that I kept this up for five months! It had become an addictive obsession at one time, but I think finally the honeymoon period is over. Now I am at that stage of life where I don’t need to do it everyday. The romance is still very much alive, I can squeeze in two or three a week, even with the busy work schedule and soon with parents in the house. Yes, I am still talking about blogging, take your mind out of the gutter :). Thanks to all my readers and blog buddies for the support you’ve given me these past months! If it weren’t for your encouraging words, I would have quit a long time ago! So thank you!

Now time for the trip update. We had the most fantastic, fun-filled three day mini-vacation on the beach. It was just perfect, exactly what I needed after the week I had at work. The house was amazing, a gourmet kitchen with an eight burner stove, just perfect for a foodie vacation! We cooked and ate a lot, drank a lot, played a lot, even attempted to shop, but all Seaside had was a factory outlet. Weather wasn’t too kind to us, it was way too cold to be out on the beach, but that didn’t stop us from getting out into the ocean. We even caught hundreds of some creature we thought were baby turtles or soft shelled crabs, it took about two hours to collect those, during which we brainstormed about the perfect recipe for the shellfish! But finally those turned out to be some parasites which are not proven to be edible yet, so we let them go back into the ocean. I wish I had pictures to share, of the food and the beautiful ocean and the scenery, but we were too busy having fun that we forgot to take pictures most of the time. But here is one of all of us in front of the house we stayed at. Siv and I are the ones on the left.

Coming back to the subject of this blog, I wanted my hundredth post to be about food. So here is something exotic, well the meat is exotic, the recipe is not so. A stew is a stew is a stew , but with veal it is just a little something extra. Don’t let the boring picture fool you, this stew was just amazing! The meat was just so tender and tasted great with the mild spices in this stew.

Ingredients

1.5 lb Veal shoulder chop
For the stock (can be replaced with 2 cups store bought veal stock)
- 6 cups water
- 10 cardamom pods
- 2″ cinnamon stick
- 20 black pepper pods
- 15 cloves
- 1 star anise
- 1/2 cup onions cut into big pieces
- 1/2 cup diced celery
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp fresh ground pepper
salt to taste
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped shallots
2 tbsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp chopped ginger
3 green pepper slit
1 tbsp vinegar
2 cups canned coconut milk
1/2 cup diced potato

Method

Trim the fat from the veal along with a little meat and keep aside. Cut the rest of the meat into small cubes.

To make the stock, cut the fat and meat kept aside in the previous step into small pieces. Mix with all the other ingredients for the stock and bring to a boil in a stock pot. Simmer on medium heat for about an hour. Strain the liquid and throw away the solids.

In a deep pan, heat oil and add the veal pieces. Season with salt and pepper, and saute till the meat pieces turn brown. Add the all purpose flour and saute for a minute.

Add the shallots, garlic, ginger and green pepper and saute for about two minutes.

Add the prepared stock and bring to a boil.

Open the canned coconut milk without shaking. Remove 4 tbsps full of thick cream from the top and keep aside. Mix the rest of the coconut milk well and add to the pan along with the vinegar. Add more hot water if the liquid looks too thick.

Simmer on medium low heat for about 20 minutes. Along half way through this, add the diced potatoes.

Add the coconut cream kept aside in the previous step and mix well. Simmer for about 10 minutes on lowest heat setting.

Delicious stew is ready. Serve with rice or Appams (hoppers) or Idiyappam (string hoppers).

Technorati tags: Veal Stew

Comments

29 Responses to “Veal Stew and a Milestone”

Coffee on May 30th, 2007 7:32 am

Now that sounds like a super vacation!!!! You surely seem to have had a lovely time.
Sia on May 30th, 2007 8:11 am

so u think honeymoon period is over? LOL sig, first few lines confused me but thanks for the clarification;)
glad to know u had gr8 weekend and that1000w smiles u all have in that pic confirms the fact:)
congrats girl for completing 100th post. i am sure there will bemany more fundu posts from u:) a tight hugs to u:)
indosungod on May 30th, 2007 11:31 am

100 Posts in 5 Months, that was some romance.
trupti on May 30th, 2007 12:08 pm

Congrats!
Your beach vacation sounds awesome…its so much fun esp. when you have good company to share it with.

Cheers!
trupti
Richa on May 30th, 2007 12:09 pm

congrats on hitting the big century sweetie, many many more to go….
looks like you guys had a blast on the beach
sunita on May 30th, 2007 12:18 pm

Congrats on your hundredth…hope to see more in the coming months…glad you had a nice break…we all deserve it once in a while…the stew looks yummm…
Asha on May 30th, 2007 12:34 pm

100th in 5mnts!Congratulations:))
I am still trying to catch up with 100,may be in July when started my blog.
You look cute Sig,I have the same white blouse too!;D Looks like fun holiday.We usually choose a hotel Suite,never rented a home which Arvind wants to do in Asheville mts,may be next yr.
I love Veal,I make southern fried steak with that!!My kids love anything with meat!Stew looks yummy:))
Sia on May 30th, 2007 1:03 pm

oh i forgot to mention one thing…u look sexy sweetheart;)
sra on May 30th, 2007 1:24 pm

May the romance continue, Sig! Honeymoons never last, do they? Can’t say much about the dish as I don’t eat veal!
bee on May 30th, 2007 1:32 pm

congratulations on your 100th post. i’m so disappointed you didn’t try to cook those parasites. and don’t you dare blog less often. i will spam your inbox every day if you do.
Jyothi on May 30th, 2007 3:42 pm

Sig, Congrats on your 100th posting. Never think about final stage of honeymoon period. Because there is no final stage for that. :). Cheer up sweet girl. Enjoy.
Ramya's Mane Adige on May 30th, 2007 4:03 pm

Congrats on your 100th post, Sig… Way to go!! The pic sure says you had a lovely time!
TheCooker on May 30th, 2007 4:18 pm

Sig, congrats!
You better not reduce the frequency of posts
Mandira on May 30th, 2007 6:51 pm

Wow, congratulations on the milestone and here’s to many more wonderful posts and reviews from you. The vaccation sounds like just what I need
reena on May 30th, 2007 8:01 pm

sigs, congrats on the milestone. you did great. i am at the same stage as you are. i don’t find much time and i don’t have much urge………i am talking about blog too:)):))

looks like you guys had a great time. we had a fun time during long weekend.
Revathi on May 30th, 2007 8:17 pm

Congratulations !! it took me twice that time to do 100 posts…
Sharmi on May 30th, 2007 11:16 pm

hey Sig, which beach did you visit? looks like a awesome trip with cool ppl.
Sharmi on May 30th, 2007 11:18 pm

oh BTW congrats on the 100th post dear.
Pravs on May 31st, 2007 12:53 am

Congrats on the 100th post. You look great in the pic!
Archana on May 31st, 2007 4:54 am

congrats Sig
We went to Seaside a while ago and love the oregon coast. I like the dunes in Cannon Beach myself.

Your holiday sounded lovely! keep up the blogging! Where else can I get good restaurant reviews and nice cocktails and yummy meat dishes all in one go??!

Archana
Shantanu on May 31st, 2007 2:27 pm

Congratulations, Sig! Looks like you had a fantastic time during the long weekend.
Sukanya Ramkumar on May 31st, 2007 10:17 pm

O o veal stew is looking YUM!..Nice pictures..100 Posts in 5 Months…Its really great…
Cynthia on May 31st, 2007 10:32 pm

I think that you should seriously consider doing a stand-up comedy routine - that post was hilarious! The only way our minds would have been in the gutter is because yours was! (lol)

Congratulations on the 100th post. Keep the romance alive!

Hugs.
Amy on June 1st, 2007 12:33 am

Looks like you had a great time! The kitchen sounds awesome. Congrats on the 100th post, the stew look superb.
Sig on June 1st, 2007 7:10 am

Coffee, thanks it was a super vacation.

Sup, so you had your mind in the gutter then… and thanks

Indo, lol that was a whirlwind romance

Trupti yep, company matters the most, and it really made all the difference

Richa, thanks girl we had a blast, no wedding though

Sunita Thanks I really deserved it.

Asha, WHATT? You haven’t hit hundered yet… well the number of posts may be, but if you count the number of recipes, you will be way above I’m sure :).. oh and you have two blogs too…

Sup <blush>

Sra, lol, honeymoons never do… five months is not bad, eh? more than my honeymoon period I guess:)

Bee, lol I really wanted to cook those, but i am glad we let them go… Now they have a story to tell about the alien abduction for the rest of their lives

Jyothi, you are one lucky girl, if you believe there is no end to the honeymoon period lol…

Ramya , thanks… it was a great vacation.

Cooker, thanks girl.. I will try to keep up

Mandira thanks I doubt that you need it more than I did last week

Reena lol, thanks for clarifying, you had me going there for a while… hey keep it up okay, if you don’t do it for a while all the creative juices will dry up soon

Revathi, thanks I know I went a little overboard, 200 is going to take a longer time for sure.

Sharmi , we went to a small beach town called Seaside in Oregon state…. a few hours drive for us. It was great!

Pravs, thanks girl <blush>

Archana, I love the sand dunes too… the buggy ride is awesome… Oregon coast is great for short trips like this…

Shantanu, thanks..

Sukanya, thanks

Cynthia, thanks sweetie, glad you enjoyed my little joke

Amy, thanks… Another reason to love Seattle, lots of awesome places just a short drive away
reena on June 1st, 2007 8:23 am

sig wrote: Reena lol,hey keep it up okay, if you don’t do it for a while all the creative juices will dry up soon

reena: are we still talking about blog?:)):)):))
Sig on June 2nd, 2007 1:29 am

Reena, I am always talking about the blog … u do have a dirty mind
Nandita on June 2nd, 2007 3:33 am

my dear babe,
you could have just said, “who do you think is the most gorgeous, stylish girl in the pic? Well, you just saw me”

Haha, love to hear your vacation stories, you are doing so much food now that I miss your trip stories
Nandita on June 2nd, 2007 3:34 am

and hey….thanks for not eating those aliens (parasites), God knows what your vacation would have turned into then!! hahahahah