The Bear is consistently the most true to life representation of the service industry on TV. They nail the fast paced nature of it so well, even if things are slightly dramatized. To me, it’s obvious that the team behind the show knew what they were doing. To support this, the food they show off is not only amazing looking, it’s also pretty well thought out and involves a lot of onscreen talent knowing how to cook. How does it taste though? Here's how to make Syd's family meal from the show. She makes a beef stew, rice, plantains, and a fennel salad.
Spicy Beef Stew
1lb stew meat
1 red bell pepper
1 habanero or scotch bonnet
1 small hot pepper (optional)
1 carrot
1/2 yellow onion
Nutmeg
10-15ml browning sauce
2 cloves garlic
Beef stock to cover
Ketchup
2 bay leaves
Soy sauce
Grated ginger
Salt
Pepper
Thyme
Fried Plantains
2 ripe plantains
Oil for frying
Coconut Rice
300g long grain rice
400ml coconut milk
Bay leaf
Salt
Fennel Salad
1 fennel bulb (reserve the fronds)
1 orange
Salt, pepper, olive oil
Step 1: Prep The Stew
The base of the stew is going to be a beautiful mix of diced bell pepper, diced yellow hot pepper, which is a little sweet and a little spicy, and a few other veggies for body. Unfortunately, I still can’t find scotch bonnet’s so I just used a habanero, I know it’s not the same, but it’s better than nothing. Poke a few holes in the habanero and add it to the mix. Roughly chop a peeled carrot for sweetness and body, and dice half a yellow onion. Most of these veggies are going to cook down completely into the sauce. Seasoning/ marinading the beef and veggies before cooking is a common practice in dishes like braised oxtail, and it works really well here too. Add all your veggies into a large bowl along with a pound of stew meat. Grate in 2 cloves of garlic and a knob of ginger. Seasoning for this is gonna come in the form of some fresh thyme, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and an all purpose seasoning blend if you have it. Now a key ingredient is browning, which is a dark caramel colored liquid that adds a ton of color and a little deep flavor. Add enough for the whole bowl to turn darker. This can sit while you bring a dutch oven up to temp.
Once hot, add a squeeze of oil and pour the meat and veg in. Let this achieve some color, but the browning pretty much gives you free color anyways. Pour in enough beef stock to almost completely cover the ingredients, and season this with ketchup, bay leaves and soy sauce. Bring this to a simmer and cover for about 2 hours; let this ride on low so the meat can become super tender.
At the 2 hour mark, the meat should be tender but the sauce still needs to reduce. Turn the heat up to medium and keep an eye on how the sauce is reducing. This should be saucy enough to coat the rice, but no too liquid-y. Taste this for seasoning, remove the habanero and keep this warm on the stove.
Step 2: Make The Rice
Wash your rice until the water runs clear and then add it to a rice cooker along with your coconut milk. Season this with salt and bay leaf then let the cooker run until you've got perfectly fluffy rice.
Step 3: Fennel Salad/ Plantains
We see Syd preparing a fennel salad as well, so start by thinly slicing the bulb of fennel and pulling off the fronds to serve on top. Supreme an orange by removing the peel and then cutting the sections off where the pith lines are (see video for instruction). Add this to a large bowl along with the fennel. Squeeze the leftover orange center over the bowl and season this with salt, pepper, the fronds from earlier, and olive oil.
Peel a few ripe plantains and slice them into coins on the bias. Heat a layer of oil in a skillet until you can see bubbles form on a wooden spoon, and then gently slide in your plantains. They need around 2-3 minutes a side, but they can be a little sticky so be sure to move the pan to keep them from sticking the plantain next to it. Flip them once browned so they can get nice and caramelized on the second side. Remove them from the pan and hit them with salt. These can cool on a paper towel or wire rack to wick off any oil.
Step 4: Serving
At this point, each component should be ready to go. Syd serves these with my favorite plating of the whole show, in deli pints. It’s amazing, it’s spot on, and it really works for the purpose of a scrappy family meal. The stew itself is tender and perfectly spiced, but the rice is sweet and fragrant to balance the heat. The plantains are a really nice pairing for the salad and stew. The whole dish is amazing. Cheers!
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