America's Test Kitchen beef stew recipe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anchovie pastes is usually near the canned fist.

Canned fist is near exploding palm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anchovies don't belong in beef stew.

Have you tried it? The anchovies disappear and leave nothing but a depth of flavor - no fishy essence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In any case, the recipe calls for them and says they're important. ATK tries to take a scientific approach to developing good, traditional dishes in non-conventional ways. Skipping the steps that seem odd seem to defeat the purpose of trying the recipe.

ATK also does the same thing over and over tweaking things a little just so they can sell more books/magazines. Their older cookbooks that I have don't call for anchovies in stew.

[Anonymous]

This thread has raised so many questions. Many of you have very odd ideas about cooking.

Pre-made roux? I had no idea such a thing exists, and have no idea why one would need it. It has 2 ingredients.

The notion that shrimp are interchangable with anchovies is both hysterical and disturbing.

[Anonymous]

I did learn that Worcestershire sauce is made form fermented anchovies - had no idea.

[Anonymous]

The person saying they use storemade roux is confusing it with mirepoix, which is just diced onions, carrots and celery. At least I hope that's what they mean.

Anchovies and bacon are both great in stew and can also be left out if other savory ingredients like garluc and tomato paste or soy sauce are added. If you can't figure out a recipe, OP, pick one that makes more sense to you.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if you could use a splash of fish oil in place of the anchovies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In any case, the recipe calls for them and says they're important. ATK tries to take a scientific approach to developing good, traditional dishes in non-conventional ways. Skipping the steps that seem odd seem to defeat the purpose of trying the recipe.

ATK also does the same thing over and over tweaking things a little just so they can sell more books/magazines. Their older cookbooks that I have don't call for anchovies in stew.

Fine, but if you're going to dismiss the tricks in a ATK recipe as weird or gross, why use that recipe at all? There are certainly plenty of beef stew recipes without anchovies and salt pork. The advice to use a recipe but skip the ingredients that the recipe specifically says are important is just silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if you could use a splash of fish oil in place of the anchovies?

I think part of the point if the anchovy is to add glutamate and the only glutamate in fish oil is if you use a gel cap.