Don’t be blue. Have some stew
One pot recipies from some of our favourite places to eat in Leeds
No point beating around the bush anymore, summer has done one and autumn, along with its crappy cousin winter, is knocking on all our doors. Time to layer up, dig out the big duvet and invest in a new tartan cover for your hot water bottle, for it’s the shivery times. These chilly days do have some upsides though, in the form of toasty, tasty, seasonal stews.
Stew season is our favourite time of year to eat in Leeds, the perfect excuse to get munching on unctuous bowls of steaming goodness whenever it takes our fancy…and our fancy is often taken. Here at Eat Your Greens, we’re stewing seven times a week, you can’t walk past our kitchen without the luring fingers of aroma from a bubbling stew pot dragging you in, enticing you to another bowl of culinary hugs.
The great thing about this dish is its versatility, it’s a perfect fridge emptier as you can bung anything in a Dutch pot and let it simmer down. This, of course, means less waste, so while it’s better for the environment it's also easy on the pocket.
We tend to use what’s left over from our in-house grocery store ‘Greens Grocers’ to inspire us, we stock only the freshest local organic produce and finest provisions, and there’s always something delicious to work with.
Like all our menus, stews can be adapted to use what’s in season, fresh, happy produce that will make your belly grin.
It’s probably going to be a long winter, so we’ve got some of our good pals, from the best food places in Leeds to chip in some recipes for their fave stews. There is plenty to keep warm with, impress your friends or just batch cook to your heart’s desire.
Happy stewing.
Words by Barry’s Here
EASTERN OVEN
This family-run stall has been serving Levantine cuisine to the lucky people of Leeds for over a decade. Located in Kirkgate Market they offer tasty, lovingly made grub for a very reasonable price. Fresh as you like.
Tirşik (Kurdish lamb stew)
Serves: 5 people
Ingredients
500g lamb shank or ribs
7 medium-sized tomatoes
4 green peppers
2 aubergines
2 garlic cloves
1 large onion
1 teaspoon of Aleppo pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of cooking oil
1 tablespoon of tomato purée
Method
Chop the lamb into pieces of 4x4 cm or larger (preferably large pieces with bone and fat)
Place the lamb into a large pot and add 150ml of boiling water and a sprinkle of salt, simmer on medium heat until water evaporates.
Sauté the meat in its own fat for 5-10 mins after the water has evaporated
Add another 300ml of boiling water to the pot and repeat the same process until the water has evaporated then sauté the meat in the fat
Add a teaspoon of cooking oil then add 4 chopped green peppers and 1 chopped large onion and sauté them with the meat for 5 minutes
Add 2 chopped aubergines to the pot and simmer with the rest for 5 minutes.
Add 7 chopped medium-sized tomatoes, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of Aleppo pepper and 1 teaspoon of cooking oil to the top of the pot and do not mix
Mix 1 tablespoon of tomato purée with a glass of boiled water and drizzle on top of the ingredients in the pot then put a lid on the pot and let it cool for 45-60 minutes, checking ultimately if the meat and aubergines have fully been cooked.
Serve with nan bread and fresh green chillies and enjoy.
OWT
Six years in the game and Owt and have been growing in strength and size at a rapid pace. The one thing that never changes with location is the quality of their food which is hearty, well thought out and plate lickingly lovely.
PORK RAGU
Ingredients
3kg Boneless Pork Shoulder chopped into 3 inch steaks
2 Onions finely diced
3 Carrots peeled chopped
4 stalks of Celery finely chopped
2 tins plum tomatoes
2 handfuls cherry tomatoes
500ml Red Wine
1 Bulb Garlic peeled, left whole and smashed
4 Bay Leaves washed
8 Thyme Sprigs washed
1 Sprig of Rosemary washed
Handful of finely chopped parsley
Method
Pat dry and season your mini steaks of pork shoulder with plenty of salt and pepper.
On a medium-high heat, heat up a large steel or cast iron frying pan with a good glug of olive oil, enough to completely cover the base of the pan.
In batches, sear off the steaks in the pan, you're looking for a golden brown colour on most of the exterior. Make sure to leave space between the steaks so they caramelise rather than steam. Place the seared steaks from the pan into your largest ovenproof dish. Once all the pork is seared and removed, add your onions, carrots, celery and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and sauté on medium-low heat, releasing all of the caramelised pork on the bottom of the pan.
Continue to cook until the vegetables are just softened. Tip the vegetables into your dish, combining them with the pork.
Place your pan back on the heat and add the red wine, cherry tomatoes, tinned tomatoes, thyme, parsley and rosemary and lightly reduce for 5-10 mins.
Add the pork and vegetables, and thoroughly combine, the meat should be just covered, and add a little water if necessary.
Cover with lid or tin foil and place in a 180-degree oven for one hour, take out after one hour and stir. Reduce the oven to 160 degrees and continue to cook for a further hour, checking every 25 mins and giving it a stir.
It’s ready when the pork is tender. You can also add a few peeled and chopped potatoes for the last 40 minutes of cooking if you want to serve the stew as a stand-alone meal.
Remove the sprigs of rosemary, thyme and bay leaves.
Check and adjust seasoning. Great as a sauce for pasta or lasagne, as a stew with polenta, big chunks of bread or mashed potatoes.
MANJIT’S KITCHEN
Purveyors of banging Punjabi street food. All the veggie and vegan delights you could ask for in Kirkgate Market, Leeds. A local eatery with a big, and well deserved, reputation
Keralan Veg Stew
Serves 4
Ingredients
Coconut Oil (or any light cooking oil)
2 cloves
½ cinnamon stick (or 1 tsp)
3 green cardamom pods
10 - 15 curry leaves (fresh if possible)
1 chopped onion
3 - 4 cloves of garlic
½ a green chilli
1 inch of fresh ginger
1 chopped potato
1 chopped sweet potato
2 chopped carrots
A handful of green beans
A handful of peas
1 tin of coconut milk
500ml veg stock
Method
Heat a teaspoon of coconut oil in a heavy-bottomed pan
Once the oil is hot add in your spices and gently heat for 5 minutes
Add the onion, garlic, chilli and ginger and gently cook for another 5 minutes
Now add the potato, sweet potato and carrot and saute for another 5 minutes.
Add a tin of coconut milk and your veg stock (just enough to cover the veg) and simmer until the potatoes are tender, chuck in your greens, season with salt and pepper and serve with some rice and bread
TIP. You can use any veg for this one, I often use the coconut gravy as a fridge clearer!
EAT YOUR GREENS
Your favourite organic restaurant in Leeds city centre! Eat Your Greens offers a seasonal menu which changes each week, and is chock full of mouthwatering treats.
SCOTCH BROTH
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 litre of stock
500g diced lamb (any stewing meat will do)
1 chopped onion
2 chop carrots
2 stalks of chopped celery
1 x turnip (or another root vegetable)
1 500g pack of soup or broth mix (we use Hodmedods Mix #1)
2 Bay leaves, small bunch of thyme & parsley all tied together (bouquet garni)
Method
In a heavy-bottomed pan (a Dutch Pot is ideal) season, then sear your meat in a bit of fat or oil until browned all over.
Drain off any excess fat in the pan, add your chopped veg and sweat for 5 or 10 minutes on low to medium heat until the onions are soft and there's a bit of colour on the veg.
Add your broth mix and sweat down for another couple of minutes.
Add your stock, and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook the stew until the meat is soft and tender. Roughly an hour to an hour and a half. You can pretty much leave it alone at this stage but keep stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick. Top up with a little water if needed.
We serve ours with a little sunflower seed pesto and a chunk of buttered bread.
TIP: This also works well as a veggie stew, just skip the meat out. The grains and peas from the broth mix make a lovely tasty stock.
Stewing GOODS FROM GREENSGROCERSLEEDS.cO.UK
