Beef Stew

Normally I will make a beef stew when I see that the weather is getting a bit bleak and we need to be cheered up, as stew and dumplings has to be one of my husbands all time favourite dishes. The recipe below is a general guide as I chop and change it depending on what I have to hand. My one note will be that the quality of a stew depends on the quality of the ingredients. With every day ingredients you could make a nice stew but push the boat out a little and you can have beef bourguignon.

This time I served my stew in medium sized Yorkshire puddings with green beans as I ran out of suet to make dumplings but the versatility of this dish means you can also use it as a filling for a pie by transferring it to a pie dish and giving it a flaky crust or if you cut the pieces small you can also make pasties with it.

Ingredients

Serves 4 – 6

• 600g chuck beef steak – chopped and trimmed.
• 4 Tbsp Olive oil.
• 2 Tbsp plain flour
• Ground salt and pepper
• 2 Onions chopped (1cm pieces)
• 2 Carrots
• 2 Garlic cloves chopped
• 1 Litre beef stock
• 350ml Red wine
• 1 Tbsp Worcester sauce
• 1 Tbsp Tomato puree
• 2 Tsp Provençal herbs or mixed herbs

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C.
2. Place the plain flour in a ziplock bag with some salt and pepper. Add the chopped up, trimmed beef. Close the bag and then shake until the beef is evenly coated in flour.
3. Using your stove top heat a tablespoon of oil either in your casserole dish or in a frying pan then brown off pieces of the flour covered beef. Do this is batches to give your beef space then put it aside on a plate.
4. Using the same pan add a little oil and fry off your onions until soft and then add the garlic, cook for two minutes then add the stock, tomato puree and the Worcester sauce. Stir to combine before adding back the beef and the carrots and the Provençal herbs.
5. Bring to the boil on the stove then place a lid on the dish or use foil to cover and then transfer it to the oven for 2-3 hours and let the ingredients work their magic.