ABSENT!! Food question

Some of us (annika and I) are wondering. We're not really shouting .

Bags You don't hang about do you you got here before me

In the absence of Absent (!), here's the most likely information I found on the internet:

www.ochef.com/782.htm

Thanks, anagram. That would explain why my gravy is always so fantastic! I make it from the meat juices that have hit the hot roasting pan. It explains why gravy goes so well with roast meat. It explains why fried meat (e.g. steak) is tasty on its own (especially with a bit of salt added; think Cordelia from ^King Lear^). It explains why adding vegetables and herbs and spices and sauces to casseroles and then, after you've cooked it, letting it sit for a day before you eat it (to let the bacteria that bring out all the lovely flavours start to do their job).

So, I'll carry on as I am doing and be blowed to searing meat!

Browning meat helps to bring out the flavour and also looks attractive. It does not "seal in" the juices as is sometimes suggested. That's about it.

Browning hardly matters for a stew then, since the meat takes on the colour of the gravy.

It does bring out the flavour of the meat which is important. If meat were just stewed without browning first, it would taste fairly bland even though lots of herbs and other flavourings might have been added.

Mmm...that's what I thought, Absent.

I wonder if making the stew up on the hotplate of the Rayburn does enough. I start with onions and spices, then the meat (so it does get browned a bit) then vegetables, liquid, etc. Once it comes to the boil I shove it in the oven, turn that down to low and walkaway for the rest of the day. Works a treat every time so I must be doing something right.

Probably, Bags - it's not as though you just pile everything into the pot and shove it in the oven. Is the hotplate very hot?

Bags Clearly, you're doing it all right. The meat just needs browning before simmering not cooking all the way through.

A further thought about colour: you really do need to brown the sausages for cassoulet. They won't take on the colour of the cooking liquid and will look deeply unappetising if just bunged straight into the stew.

I just throw it all in!

jeni I am a firm believer in what is called "cooking in a bucket" in my family (bless their little hearts).

Delia always browns - little miss perfect, she would, wouldn't she. If I brown the meat, it does make a bit of difference to the finished product, but then I have to clean the top of the cooker, the workshops and the affected bit of kitchen floor to get rid of all the greasy splashes. One of the joys of living alone is that you don't have to bother if you don't feel like it. These days, I bung everything in the pressure cooker, then just let it mature a while in the oven. As long as plenty of red wine goes in (both to the stew and me) it all seems to be fine.

Ooh meant to say worktops! Not been at the wine yet, honest.

vega At one time I was in negotiation about making a tv cookery programme that was to be called "The Messy Kitchen". Sadly (for me, but not necessarily for the general public) it never happened although it would have been nice to make some tv money and also nice to show people who want to know about cooking that you don't have to be cheffy or glamorous.

For the record, turn the heat down or stick a lid on the pan to limit the splashes. I use lots of red wine – isn't it great?

Never thought of the obvious - bunging a lid on - that's the story of my life! What a shame The Messy Kitchen never made it onto our screens. It sounds like my kind of programme.

Jamie says dont bother!