Lapskaus — Norwegian Beef & Potato Stew

Ingredients

• 1½ lb Steak, cubed
• 2 lb potatoes — half diced small, half chunked
• 3 Carrot, thick-sliced
• 1 leek or onion, sliced
• 6 cups beef or vegetable stock
• 2 bay leaves + ½ tsp thyme
• 2 tbsp butter
• Flatbread or rye, to serve

Method

1. Brown the Steak in the butter in a heavy pot — proper color, in batches. Gray stew starts here if you rush.
2. Add the leek for 3 minutes, then the stock, bay, and thyme. Simmer covered 45 minutes until the meat begins to relent.
3. Add the potatoes and Carrot — remember the trick: small dice dissolves and thickens, big chunks hold. Norwegian stew engineering.
4. Simmer 25–30 minutes more until the broth has thickened into something between soup and mash, and the meat shreds at a look.
5. Season boldly and serve with buttered flatbread. Lapskaus doesn't photograph well and doesn't care — it's the taste of a Norwegian childhood.