Tag: meat and seafood stew

When  I saw the BotW recipe for Monster Stew I couldn’t imagine how I was going to pull it off.  Meat, seafood, flour, milk?  How on earth are you supposed to combine those together to make, not only something edible, but a stew?  So I just went with it – totally making this up as I went along.  It may not be the first recipe I’ve ever made up from scratch, but it is the first recipe I’ve dared share with people.  So hopefully you all like it as much as I do… I’ll be super embarrassed if not!

Also, no scary story today… I couldn’t get it quite right.  I’ll keep working and maybe I’ll post it a little later.  But Happy Halloween anyway, right!?

Monster Stew

Let’s start with the beef.  This’ll take about an hour to cook down, and the entire recipe will take about 2 hours, so give yourself plenty of time before you plan to eat.  Otherwise you’ll be starving come 9 pm and you’ll order take out just because you don’t want to wait till it’s ready.

Cut the beef into 1 inch cubes.  Add oil to the bottom of a heavy pot – as usual, I prefer my cast iron – and turn it on medium.  When the oil is hot add the beef and garlic salt and stir until the meat is browned on all sides.  Then add 4 cups of beef broth, wait for it to come to a boil, turn it down to a simmer, put the lid on, and step away for an hour.  I’d recommend checking it every half hour to make sure the liquid isn’t boiling off too quickly.  If it looks like it needs more liquid you can add more beef broth or water.

While the meat is cooking cut the carrots, onions, and peppers into bite size pieces.  Also slice the Andouille sausage into bite size pieces and pull the tails off the shrimp.  It’s pretty easy – I talk about it in my Seafood Fried Rice post.  But here’s a quick recap: Properly thaw the shrimp.  Then place the shrimp on a cutting board, lay your knife on the tail, and gently pull the shrimp away from the tail.  It should just slip right out.  Easy peasy.

When your beef has been stewing about an hour add the remaining beef broth and the rice.  We are deviating slightly from the photos.  After eating the stew it was determined (by me) that the rice takes way too long to cook and the shrimp and veggies are all overdone by the time the rice is done.  I think this is inherent to the thick grain nature of the forbidden rice, which brings such a delightful color, but really takes a long time to cook.  So instead, add the rice and broth to the beef and bring back to a simmer.  Place the lid on and leave it alone until we add everything else.  This will allow the rice to cook properly.  A word of advice – if you’re using white rice, you probably need to add the rice and veggies/shrimp at the same time.  If you’re cooking with brown rice, I’d recommend adding them early, like the forbidden rice.

We want to add the shrimp/veggie/sausage mixture in at about 15 minutes remaining in rice cooking time.  So when the rice has been cooking for about 10 minutes heat another pan/skillet with the remaining oil until it’s hot.  Add the sausage, shrimp, and creole seasoning and stir until the shrimp are just barely turning pink.  At this point add all the veggies, stir them around until everything is shiny, and pour the entire thing into the soup pot.  Stir it around to mix the creole seasonings in and cover again, letting it simmer until the rice is tender, about 15 minutes more.

Serve and enjoy this creepy, purplish black masterpiece!

Link’s Monster Stew recipe:

• • Any Meat
  • Any Seafood
  • Monster Extract

1. Cut the beef into 1 inch cubes.
2. Add 3 tablespoons of oil to the bottom of a heavy pot and heat on medium.
3. When the oil is hot add the beef, salt pepper, and garlic salt and stir until the meat is browned on all sides.
4. Add 4 cups of beef broth and allow to come to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. I recommend checking it every half hour to make sure the liquid isn’t boiling off too quickly.  If it looks like it needs more liquid you can add more beef broth or water.
5. Cut the carrots, onions, and peppers into bite size pieces. Slice the Andouille sausage.
6. Pull the tails off the shrimp. To do this, properly thaw the shrimp. Place the shrimp on a cutting board, lay your knife on the tail, and gently pull the shrimp away from the tail. It should slip right out.
7. When your beef has been stewing about an hour add the remaining beef broth and the rice and bring back to a simmer.  Place the lid on and allow to cook for 15 minutes. A note: if you’re using white rice, add the rice and veggies/shrimp at the same time as the cooking time is less for white rice.
8. Add the shrimp/veggie/sausage mixture in at about 15 minutes remaining in rice cooking time. So when the rice has been cooking for about 10 minutes heat another pan/skillet with the remaining oil until it’s hot.  Add the sausage, shrimp, and creole seasoning and stir until the shrimp are just barely turning pink.
9. Add all the veggies, stir them around until everything is shiny, and pour the entire thing into the soup pot.
10. Stir the stew to mix the creole seasonings in and cover, letting it simmer until the rice is tender, about 15 minutes more.
11. Serve and enjoy this creepy, purplish black masterpiece!