all the veg

I love eating vegetables but here in Lagos, I've always felt like my options are very limited. Most local vegetable vendors stock carrots, cabbage, bell peppers, string beans and not much else. Broccoli and cauliflower are also available but quite pricy. When i went through this recipe, I knew that finding all the ingredients would be challenging. There is one vegetable vendor i know of in Victoria Island that stocks a wider range of fruits and vegetables so i went straight there with my shopping list, hopeful. 


Momma's Rich Beef Stew

1.3kg Chuck or braising steak
salt and ground black pepper
50g plain flour
75ml vegetable oil
750ml water
1tsp salt
1/2tsp ground black pepper
3 bay leaves
1tsp chopped fresh parsley
1 onion
2 turnips
1 swede
2 white potatoes
1 parsnip
3 carrots
1 green pepper

*not found

THE BEEF. Top rump...sirloin...tenderloin...shank...there are so many cuts of beef but none of them were labelled 'chuck' or 'braising beef' so i asked the butcher at Spar for some advice. I ended up getting the one labelled 'Beef Fillet Steak' and it turned out great. I could already tell when i was cutting it that it would be good. I seasoned the beef with salt and ground black pepper and dredged in flour. 

beef fillet steak

flour dredged beef

I poured oil in a saucepan over medium heat and browned the beef on all sides. Water, salt and pepper, bay leaves and parsley went in and the whole thing simmered for about an hour. The beef was tender, the stew was thick and flavourful.  

I went on my vegetable search with google by my side. From the pictures i found online, i thought i had found parsnips but it turns out i bought and used white radish. They look very much alike. White radish tasted nice but i still wonder what parsnips, swede and turnips are like. 

white radish...not parsnip 

slices of white radish

All the vegetables went into the saucepan at once and continued to cook till the vegetables were tender. 

The book suggested serving this stew with a good Italian bread or Crackling bread but i had it alone. There was a recipe for Crackling bread in the book but i unfortunately couldn't make it because i couldn't find white cornmeal/maizemeal anywhere. Another major ingredient i couldn't find was crisp crackling. Crackling is the crisp fatty skin of roasted pork. I've made this before so even though i was searching for it in the supermarkets, i was ready to make it myself if i didn't find it. All hope was lost when i couldn't find the cornmeal. 

This stew was really delicious and as the name suggests, rich. Full of a wide variety(could have been wider) of ingredients that all contributed to a robust deeply flavourful meal. I'm definitely making this again.