The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 4 letter word BAY LEAF
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
B
A
Y
L
E
A
F
More clues leading to the result BAY LEAF
- Something from Laurel and Hardy, finally — a fable recast
- Article in Times left unfinished without a herb used in soups
- Spooner’s to set down meat and herb
- Field behind cove has fine ingredient for a stew
- Part of Laurel and Hardy not hard to find in a fable that’s silly
- Disturbed by a flea or something else floating in soup?
- Horse on meadow close to stiff // bit of laurel
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "ingredient for a stew" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ingredient for a stew = bay leaf.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.