RACHEL LETT
This is a simple recipe and is only as good as the ingredients you use. There’s no hiding here. It all boils down to choosing the best quality meat and homemade broth. You’ll be richly rewarded with a heart-warming dish that takes minutes to prepare, and the taste will be an everlasting memory.
Beef Bourguignon (stew)
SERVES 6
800g beef, use stewing beef chunks/whole cheek/shin (or a mixture of all)
1 medium onion quartered
2-3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves sliced
2 medium tomatoes
1 litre of meat stock/bone broth
bay leaf
olive oil
salt & pepper
parsley
Ingredients
Heat a knob of ghee in a wide heavy based frying pan, over a medium to high heat. Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. Don’t overcrowd the pan, as the meat will sweat, rather than sear to a dark brown (this is flavour). You may need to do this in a few batches, so that you get nice colour.
Add the meat to a casserole pot, or crock pot if you’re using a slow cooker.
Next, add the onion, carrot garlic and tomato to the pan, cook for 5 minutes and add to the meat.
Add stock/broth to the pan and simmer for a minute to deglaze. Pour the liquid over the meat, to cover.
Add the bay and season with salt and pepper
Bring to the boil and simmer for at least 2 and half hours. The longer, the better. You can also cook overnight in a crockpot on a low heat.
At the end of cooking, if the stew seems thin, or there’s too much liquid, bring to the boil and reduce so that the liquid thickens (no need for flour!)
Adjust the seasoning and garnish with parsley.
Serve with some fresh greens and a creamy spoon of cauliflower mash
Top Tip :
Try to source higher welfare meat that has been properly aged. As always, we recommend building a relationship with your butcher, so that they can source the best meat possible for you.
Seek out dry aged meat, as this will have the most flavour and less moisture. Avoid ‘wet’ beef that is pale in colour.
If you can’t get your hands on dry aged meat, use the best you can and dry it in the fridge at home. Simply dry the meat off and place it on a rack, in a shallow dish to catch any blood. Put it in the fridge, away from other food and make sure air can circulate (don’t overfill the fridge). After a few days, the meat will become dark and dry.