Sunday winter warmer

So I was making this last night for dinner. A cold rainy Sunday night after a busy weekend. I wanted something that was going to be easy and to be honest, something which I was not going to have to do much too.

Delicious, easy, warming and flavoursome this is a winner. I am even thinking of popping it on the canapé menu as a substantial canapé item for next winter. I served it with simple mashed potato, however you can serve this amazing stew with pasta, rice or even quinoa if you are feeling super healthy.

Winter warming beef stew:

Serves 2 – 3

Ingredients:

50ml olive oil

500g gravy beef diced into 2cm cubes (beef neck, shoulder or leg also would work perfectly)

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into 2cm cubes

1 x large brown onion quartered

1 tbsp. tomato paste

150ml beer or red wine

1 large Desiree potato, peeled, diced into 1cm cubes

1L beef stock

Salt and pepper

Method:

Heat olive oil on a medium heat, add beef and seal until golden brown.
Add garlic, onion, carrots and tomato paste, and cook on high heat for about 2 minutes.
Add beer or wine (drink the rest) and deglaze the pan.
Add beef stock, adjust heat to low and cook for 1 hour uncovered to reduce and concentrate the flavours.
Add potato and cook for a further 30 minutes or until potato is cooked through and beef is tender.
Season with pepper and salt (if required)
Serve with mashed potato and enjoy.

So there you have it, a delicious, easy winter stew, great for the family for a cold winters night. Just remember, most meat will work, you can use lamb or pork and get a similar (and just as delicious) result. Don’t use chicken for this one as it will take too long to reduce the sauce and dry out the chicken. I threw in some broccoli from dad’s garden about 5 minutes before I finished cooking just to add some freshness and greenery. You could also chop through a few parsley leaves which would go really nicely and liven things up!

Let me know how you go!

Tim.