munch mun.ch

I’ve been a self-confessed foodie for years now, and after several suggestions from the usual authors in the past I’ve finally managed to find my way here. I hope that I can provide some interesting recipes and culinary adventures for your general cogitation.

Wanting to branch out from my usual beef stew favourite of Carbonnade à la flamande I found a recipe by Allegra McEvedy that looked to be very much worth a try. It was followed pretty much faithfully and produced incredible results, but in future I will probably stick to making it in my cast iron dutch oven instead of a roasting tin.

Ingredients

• 1kg braising steak
• 100g cubed pancetta
• 1.5pts red wine
• 1.5pts beef stock
• 1 tin of beef consomme
• 10 shallots
• 5 carrots
• A handful of flat leaf parsley
• A small bunch of fresh thyme
• 5 garlic cloves
• 50g butter (optional)
• 1bsp plain flour (optional)

Instructions

• Heat a roasting pan on the hob with a good glug of olive oil
• Add the pancetta and thyme to the pan and turn down to medium heat
• Peel the garlic and shallots, leaving both whole, and add to the pan and sweat for 10-15 minutes until the shallots are going soft and translucent
• Pour in the red wine and scrape the crispy bits from the bottom of the pan, then simmer for 5 minutes
• Cut the braising steak into cubes, season, and add to the pan on top of the shallots
• Pour the beef stock and beef consomme over the beef and bring up to a simmer
• Peel the carrots, cut them into big pieces and add to the pan
• Cover the pan with foil and place into a preheated 170° oven for 2-3 hours or until the beef is tender
• (optional) If you want the sauce to be thicker, drain it off into a separate saucepan, whisk the butter and flour together to make a beurre manié, and whisk into the sauce. It thickens quickly, so add it gradually until you get the desired effect!

I served this up with a a big pillow of buttery mashed potatoes and found it deliciously rich, with a deep flavour to the beef from all the red wine it’d sucked up. Definitely a meal that I’ll be adding to my list of regulars for times when it is particularly cold and windy outside.