When it’s cold outside, and I have some time up my sleeve, the urge comes over me to turn on the tunes and make nurturing food, a case in point is this slow cooked beef stew. What I really like is that, I can make a big pot-full, so it can go on for days!!! AND the flavour just keeps improving. Ooh and I’m also fond of sticking the mouli in after a few days and making it into a soup! Just remember to remove your bouquet garni if you make yours like I do, BEFORE you serve it and/or mouli it!
I often have additional bits and pieces of veg that I want to use up – either from my fridge, or his garden. Because of that, I tend to think it’s perfectly fine to toss them in here … well that’s what stew’s all about, right?! At a gentle slow simmer, even if some veg get a little on the soft side after a few hours, they still miraculously hold their shape & the nutrients are contained in the pot, nothing gets wasted. However some super soft/quick cooking veg, like say broccoli, I would throw in nearer the end of the cooking process. Your stew can simmer away on the stove top, be transferred to the slow cooker, or as I’ve done here, transferred to the oven in it’s simmering pot. I set my timer to ‘stop cook’ after 4 hours and then I can relax and get on with my day.
Here’s what I used for this stew:
Ingredients:
- 1.2 kilos quality grass fed stewing/chuck steak, cut into 5cm pieces
- 1 knob butter
- olive oil
- 1-2 onions, peeled & chopped
- 1 handful fresh sage leaves
- celtic sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- flour to dust the beef (I use gluten free)
- Then I throw in a mix of whatever vegetables are in season/my kitchen ….
- 4 carrots, peeled and halved
- 5/6 celery stalks chopped roughly
- 1 turnip or 2 parsnips, peeled and quartered (fyi: the turnips in Australia are small – NOT the same size as in Ireland! More like a swede)
- 1 sweet potato, or ½ pumpkin/butternut squash, roughly chopped
- 1 handful Jerusalem artichokes, washed, halved (I don’t bother peeling them but you can if you have time)
- 1 1/2 handfuls of small potatoes, washed (I leave the skins on – there’s nutrition in there!))
- 2 tablespoons tomato purée (no added nasties)
- ½ bottle red wine (something you would be perfectly happy to drink – don’t use gone off wine!)
- 2 cups grassfed beef or pure vegetable stock (no added nasties)
- I needed some more liquid to cover my mix, as there are a LOT of veggies here, so I added 2 cups of dried porcini mushroom stock (add hot, OFF the boil, water to 2 tablespoons of dried porcini & leave to steep for approx 20 mins, strain and add to pot). Alternatively, you could just use more stock.
- I make a little bouquet garni of fresh herbs from the garden, usually to include a couple of torn bay leaves, a handful of rosemary, marjoram, oregano, parsley, sometimes a chilli, & I wrap it up in a piece of muslin, knot it & throw it into the pot. I think rosemary and oregano are particularly good with beef.
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
Method
I use a large pot (approx 4 litres) that is suitable to use both on the hob and also in the oven. Preheat the oven to 160ºC/300ºF/gas 2. Put a little olive oil and your knob of butter into a large sized pot or casserole vessel. Heat to a medium heat and add your onion and sage leaves and fry for 3 or 4 minutes – you don’t want to burn the onion so take care the heat’s not too high.
I use a large ziplock bag and add my gf flour, about a teaspoon of each of fresh cracked black pepper and celtic sea salt and shake it up to mix evenly. Then I add the meat and shake it around to coat. (GREEN NOTE: you might like to wash, dry & reuse your ziplock bag). Add the garlic and then the flour-dusted meat to the pan with the onion and sage. 
Then add the vegetables, the tomato purée, wine, beef & porcini stock, and gently stir together. Bring to a gentle boil & place a lid on top.
This is where you have a choice how to slow cook it. I placed mine in the preheated oven for about 4 hours – I guess once the meat is tender then you can take it out, but it’ll be fine for 4 hours as long as it’s not bubbling ferociously. To be certain – test it by carefully removing a chunk of meat and mash it up. If it falls apart easily it’s ready. Taste for seasoning.
If the liquid is a little viscose and you want to thicken it up, remove the lid for the last 30-40 minutes (making sure all the meat and veg are submerged, or else they’ll blacken/burn a bit), or just add a little tapioca flour to thicken. Or just leave it the way it is – nothing wrong with that at all!
Once it’s cooked, you can turn the oven down to about 110°C/225°F/gas ¼ and just hold it there until you’re ready to eat.
TO WHEAT OR NOT TO WHEAT …. 🙂
Well, if it’s required by my inner-foodie, or my man, then I’m going to shove a loaf of Iggy’s organic sourdough into a hot oven for 10 minutes, and serve up the stew with warm crispy, crusty doorsteps of it, slathered with some cultured butter! (I’m all or nothing!).
But it’s not a necessary addition. Deek’s Bakery make a gorgeous grain and gluten free loaf if you feel like something to add but don’t want the wheat, which is what I’ve used here …
The stew looks great in large bowls with a little fresh greenery sprinkled on top! And maybe you’d like to finish that half bottle of red?!
Bon Appetit!
Love Li xo