Slow Cooked Beef in Red Wine
An easy one pot meal that can be scaled up for parties.
Ingredients
2tbs plain flour
Salt and black pepper
1kg casserole steak, diced
1tbs light olive or vegetable oil
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
500ml Eisberg Cabernet Sauvignon
1 beef stock cube plus 300ml boiling water
1tsp dried thyme
2-3 bay leaves
1tbs tomato puree
10 shallots, peeled and left whole
200g baby button mushrooms
100g smoked streaky bacon, chopped, or lardons
Serves: 6
Method
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: Approx. 6 hours in a slow cooker
Place the flour in a bowl and season with a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper, then add the beef and toss well to coat all the pieces of meat.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a large frying pan and add about a third of the beef. Cook quickly just to seal on all sides, then tip into a slow cooker. Repeat this process with the remaining meat.
Add the carrots and garlic to the frying pan and fry for one minute then add to the slow cooker.
Pour over the Eisberg wine and stir then add the stock, thyme, bay leaves and tomato purée. Cover with the lid and cook on low heat for 4-5 hours.
Turn the heat to a high setting then add the shallots and mushrooms. Fry the bacon in a small pan then tip into the cooker and cook for a further hour.
Check that the meat is tender and add a little more black pepper if desired (but no salt as the bacon is salty).
Garnish with fresh thyme and serve with mashed potato and green beans.
Note: If you don’t have a slow cooker, use a casserole with a tight fitting lid and cook in the oven at 150ºC for about 3 hours, ensuring that there is enough liquid in the dish. Once you have added the shallots and mushrooms, turn up the heat to 180ºC for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
