Falling apart, tender, slow-cooked beef, braised vegetables, and mini new potatoes in an oaky full-bodied red wine, garlic, and thyme stock. An easy one to prep and this will make your entire house smell amazing whilst it's cooking!
Shop smartly and you can make this dish for just under £5 per person! #YouTube video #recipie below!
Ingredients:
500G - 1kg beef shin, skirt, chuck, or brisket (for slow cooking) cut into chunks and excess fat trimmed
3-4 Tbsp Plain Flour Seasoned well
Olive oil for frying
2 x large red onions
2 x large carrots
5 - 6 x shallots
2 x Garlic Cloves crushed
1 x Tbsp Tomato Puree
A packet of fresh Thyme
2 x Bay leafs
400ml oaky full-bodied red wine
300ml beef or chicken stock
Bunch of fresh Flat Leaf Parsley
Bag of new potatoes
Method:
If your beef is not already trimmed, then take the excess fat off it and cut it into chunks for stewing. You want these in a decent size as they will be cooking for 3 hours. Once the beef is cut into chunks, toss with the seasoned flour and set aside. Chop the vegetables down into similar sized chunks, crushing and smashing the garlic cloves.
Pop a glug of olive oil into a large pan or Creuset pot and fry the beef chunks on high heat for 5-6 mins to get some colour on them. Once they are lightly coloured, set aside and drain off the excess fat. Add another glug of oil back to the same pan and add the veg cook these for 10-15 mins on medium heat reducing to low, until they are caramelised.
Once the veg is ready, add the tomato puree for 1 min to cookout, then the red wine, add a bunch of thyme and 2-3 bay leaves. Add the stock and then add back in the beef chunks. Season well, bring up to the boil, then pop into a pre-heated oven @ 150 degrees celsius
Cook this in the bottom of the oven for 3 hours, checking hourly and stirring whilst checking. 40 minutes before the stew is ready. Wash the new potatoes well, pop them in salted boiling water for 20 mins. Take these out after 20 mins, they should be soft to the touch. Pop these into the stew for the final 20 minutes in the oven.
To Plate:
Grab the stew from the oven after 3 hours, take the lid off, give it a little stir, and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Leave it to cool for a few mins, and finish with chopped fresh parsley and a few thyme sprigs. Amazing with fresh crusty bread and butter :)
