You sage cooks out there already know this. But, we all had to start from scratch when learning to cook, so this tip is for the "newbies"!
When cooking stews, soups and such, getting the fat out is just as easy as 1 and 2 and 3
When your food has cooled, simply lift off the top and all that congealed fat will come up with the plastic. It's basic chemistry, but it works every single time. Throw the cellophane away and enjoy the food with virtually no fat left in it!
By Sandi/Poor But Proud from Salem, OR
This page contains the following solutions.
It is much cheaper to use a chuck roast than packaged stew meat when you make a stew. It takes no time at all to cut the roast!
When I find that my soups or stews or too thin or watery, I add instant mashed potatoes for the desired thickness. It works every time. And it's better than adding flour or cornstarch.
To make tastier vegetables soups and stews, I always add a package of instant brown gravy mix for the last 15 minutes of cooking. It also gives them a wonderful color and well as concentrated flavor.
If you like your soup a little thicker, sprinkle a small amount of instant potato buds/flakes into the already hot soup. Stir and wait for the soup to thicken. It is so good and easy!
To thicken meat sauces such as Bolognese, try using porridge oats. It's delish! To thicken soups or sauces, try using instant potato flakes - no more lumps and very tasty.
Sometimes I have added too much liquid to my homemade stew. If I don't have time to simmer the stew, to reduce the liquid, I add about a quarter cup or so of instant oatmeal.
If you have enough time before starting your stew, freeze your meat almost but not quite, solid, then chop it into whatever size chunks you need. The almost frozen meat doesn't slide around on the cutting board as much, and you are much less likely to slice yourself!
I already had leftover pot roast to which I added cooked carrots and heated all in thinned leftover gravy. To this mixture, I added the cut up leftover french fries.
When you are preparing a stew or pot roast recipe that calls for browning the meat, put your meat on a rack in a shallow pan and broil on high until the top is browned.
To thicken up a stew, use mashed potato flakes. It gives you that potato flavor. Instead of boiling your meat and veggies in water, use beef broth. Great stuff.
In the winter one of the things I do to try to stretch our budget is to make hearty stews and soups. It doesn't cost much to make a crockpot full of beef, chicken, or veggie stew or soup. It is filling, even by itself, but I also like to make a batch or homemade biscuits or some cornbread.
Once a week, make a big pot of stew or homemade soup, a pound of meat and some vegetables can be stretched into an inexpensive, filling and healthy dish.
To eliminate fat from soups, stews, gravies, etc. drop an ice cube into the pot. Stir and fat will cling to the cubes. Discard cubes before they melt. By Robin
