Four servings: Five-hundred grams (1.1 lbs) of beef meat cut into 1-inch dices;
four middle-sized potatoes (1.1 pounds), cut into cubes; 1 big-sized carrot cut
into not-too-thin slices; 3 ounces green peas; 1 bay leave; 1 glass (200 cc)
white wine; 1 big-sized onion, or two middle-sized ones, cut into brunoise; 5
medium-sized tomatoes (they must be very ripe and red and can be substituted
by 5 tbsp of tomato purée; 4 tbsp olive oil, salt pepper, 3 un-skinned garlic
cloves.
Preparation: In the first place, start frying the meat (do not salt or pepper to
avoid it sweats and loses juices) in a casserole on a medium fire until it browns.
Add the chopped onion(s) to let them get some brownish color, and add the
tomato (purée or chopped) together with the garlic cloves and the bay leave.
Stir the ingredients to avoid they stick on the casserole surface (add some
water if necessary to thin out the mixture) and continue the cooking process
until the tomato and the onion look a single element. Then add the wine, stir it
all, and let simmer for a few minutes; add the water (enriched with a stock cube)
to sufficiently cover all the ingredients, and stew for 70-80 minutes (although
this time may be shorter if you use a pressure cook). It is important to control
the stew process, and stir the ingredients to avoid they stick to the bottom of the
casserole. Once the meat has been stewed (in the casserole or the pressure
cook), you can add the potatoes (this time do not seal the PC with lid), together
with some more water (in the event the preparation looks short of juices ), allow
the recipe stew for some 20 minutes, and serve as usual. In general, stews are
more savory from one day to the other.
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