Rachael's Beef Stew
Introduction
This is a recipe that has come down the generations I think. For reasons that are a complete mystery to me, this stew only gets really good when cooked in a heavy metal casserole. My mother used the cast-iron one provided by the Aga company, I use a Le Creuset enamelled casserole. A beautiful implement! You can use a pottery casserole, but it doesn't seem to work as well.
Ingredients
- 2 kgs chuck steak - cut into 3-4cm cubes. Don't be fussy about trimming it.
- 2 medium onions - chopped
- 1 rasher streaky bacon - finely chopped
- 4-6 cloves garlic - chopped and crushed
- 4 tbsps plain flour
- 1 large glass of decent red wine (eg $12 Aussie shiraz)
- 4 large brown flat mushrooms - chopped
- 750 mls of beef or chicken stock (see comments below)
- maybe some water
- olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large sprig fresh parsley - leaves and stem
- 1 piece fresh marjoram - leaves and stem
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 120oC. Watch the temperature, you may need to adjust it up or down as the stew cooks.
Put the casserole over a moderate heat and add about 3 tbps olive oil and heat until it's just starting to smoke.
Put the seasoned flour (I use a smoked garlic salt sometimes) in a strong plastic bag and add the cut up meat. Shake. Add the meat one piece at a time to the hot oil until the floor of the casserole is covered but there is a space between each piece. Cook until thoroughly browned. Remove and set aside. Repeat this until all the cubed meat is browned and set aside. You may need to add a little more oil with each batch.
Turn down the heat a little and add the onions and the bacon to the oil and cook for a few minutes, then add the garlic and the mushrooms. The mushrooms will absorb all the oil, continue to cook until the mushrooms have re-released their oil.
Deglaze the pan with red wine. Return the meat to the casserole. Add the stock and enough water to just cover the meat. Add the bay leaves and other herbs. Bring the mixture to the boil and then immediately cover closely and put into the preheated oven. Slow cook for at least three hours.
Remove the bayleaves and any stems left in the stew.
If you are going to serve the stew immediately you can add peas and sliced carrots about fifteen minutes before you stop cooking. Also parsley dumplings are good.
The stew improves with keeping. It freezes beautifully.
Variations
Source: My Mum and my sister Judy.
Comments
The stew will be thick and almost creamy. All the fat and gristle will have cooked out of the meat and it thickens the stew as well as the flour.
If you are using a commercial stock like Campbells, be careful because it's salt content is incredibly high. You may want to cut it with water.