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Alternative(s) for coating meat.

Guzzler

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Sorry if this is in the wrong section, please move if it is.

I have just started preparing my world famous African Stew for my eldest who will arrive for a visit tomorrow. Normally I would coat the cubes of beef in flour before sealing it but as I am making enough to freeze as well I thought it would be quite a bit of flour so does anyone know of an alternative coating. I prefer to coat the meat rather than to seal it without as it can 'catch'.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
 
Ooooooh, sounds yummy, @Guzzler !

I do my stews in the slow-cooker with no flour or anything - some people like to brown the meat beforehand but I just bung it all in raw and come home to effort-free stew. It tends to not be terribly thick unless I put in one of the following:
  • Tomato puree
  • Black pudding - seriously, this is a fantastic ingredient for thickening a stew - perhaps not a terribly authentic addition to your recipe, though....
  • Cooked and pureed cauliflower (I keep a stash of frozen cauli in my freezer - tis my not-so-secret weapon)
@Kristin251 has in the past recommended mushrooms for sauciness/thickening (sorry, 'sauciness' sounds a little, well, sorry Kristin! - you know what I mean) but I haven't tried those for that purpose.

A friend does lovely lamb chops coated with ground almonds and fried. Not sure that would thicken your stew terribly much, though.

So, to cut a very long story short...... I can't think of anything that would have the equivalent effect to flour-coating meat before stewing. But perhaps one of the above might help from a thickening point of view?
 
Never heard to use flour for the stew. Do you soak the meat in the wine before cooing it?
 
Haha. I don't mind being called saucy.

Sautéed and blended mushrooms do make a great thickener but can't think of anything to 'coat' other than almond flour that's not carby. I'm usually pretty good at revising recipes but I'm stumped. If it were me I'd do as snapsy said and just brown the meat in butter or oil ( or use raw) and then use something to thicken it like the mushrooms. Perhaps not the same but experimenting and finding something new is never bad.
 
How about using a nut butter like cashew, almond or peanut to thicken the sauce. You don't need much.
Just have to be carful not to add too much as the carbs can add up with nut butters.
 
@Snapsy
I don't use the flour as a thickening agent, I use it to help seal the meat before it goes into the liquid. For this recipe I use tomato pureé. The tips you gave are handy, though. Thanks.
 
MikeTurin said:
Never heard to use flour for the stew. Do you soak the meat in the wine before cooing it?
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@MikeTurin
This is an African Stew, no wine. When I make Boef Bourgignon I use a Burgundy but still use flour to seal the beef.
 
I never use flour to thicken, I think this is just 'branding' the stew. Tossing the meat in flour and shaking off the excess helps to seal the meat so that is wonderfully tender and juicy and you can taste the meat. I do this with chicken, too. It gives the chicken pieces a lovely roasted look and prevents it becoming dry and stringy.
I have used almonds as an alternative to Panko and it is acceptable but I have to be honest the honey in the Panko adds to the flavour of the chicken.

That should read 'blanding'.
 
Hotpepper20000 said:
I think as long as you brown it well the meat will be fine with out flour.
Click to expand...
@Hotpepper20000
Aye, looks like that is the only alternative. It means keeping a close eye, mind, but I don't cook in batches for the freezer too often so it is no Biggs, I suppose. Thank you.
 
@Guzzler, I have never coated meat in flour, prior to browning, as perhaps I don't know what I'm missing. However, with a good non-stick or ceramic pan, it shouldn't be required.

If I'm then going to cook in my Le Creuset casseroles, I just make sure I deglaze the bottom with some liquid prior to putting it into the oven on on the stoke top to simmer slowly.

Sometimes, if we fancy a bit of extra texture on a chicken breast, we will generously season desiccated coconut and use that. Lemon pepper chicken with a coconut crust is excellent, and, in my view, better than breadcrumbs.

Desiccated coconut is a really excellent thickener, and it absorbs so much liquid, the danger is using too much, rather than too little. I picked that tip up from a Beef Rendang recipe.
 
.I often use Gram flour which is made from chick peas for thickening sauces and casseroles. I don't worry about using it as I am not a very low carber I am more moderate
 
I use 1 table spoon of seasoned flour in a freezer bag then drop the meat in and tie the top then "throw" it all around the bag - thiscmakes the flour go much further and I e actually use one table spoon to cover enough meat for 10 people so carbs are negligible- make sure your meat is fairly dry before you do it
 
Oh I seeeeee, @Guzzler - I've only ever used heat when I 'seal' meat, not flour - I'd missed the point, rather! These days I don't even do that!

Sorry for inadvertent derail towards thickening.

African stew sounds yummy!

 
I use Soya flour or almond flour raises the carbs a bit but but less than normal flour and I find my BG levels don't spike overly because of it.
 
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