Ingredients

• Diced beef
• Chopped onion or halved shallotts
• sliced carrots or halved/whole chantery carrots
• halved or whole mushrooms (depending on size)
• beef stock cube
• salt
• Generous amount of black pepper
• generous pinch of mixed herbs
• 2 or 3 bay leaves
• 1 tbs tomato puree
• boiling water
• generous slug of red wine
• soy sauce (optional)

Method
Put beef, onion/shallots, mushrooms & carrots into casserole dish.
Add stock cube, salt, pepper & mixed herbs & mix together.
Add the red wine & hot water (enough so liquid is just short of level with ingredients) tomato puree & dash of soy sauce.
Mix all ingredients together & place bay leaves on the top.
Place lid on dish and put onto middle shelf of oven and cook slowly (about 4 hours) at about 160.
Stir every now and then if/when needed.
Serve with choice of vegetables or fresh crusty bread.
As an alternative, this recipie is also great served up with a puff pastry lid .

©2012 HEAD BLOG. All Rights Reserved.

It doesn't lend itself to high-falutin' presentation but it sure does taste good

Autumn is my favourite season. It’s the time of year when I can start cookinjg up stews and casseroles (what’s the difference between those anyway?) and get thick, crusty bread onto the table and even start thinking of mulled wine. It’s the time of year you eat for comfort and can’t, in all conscience, buy salad.

This weekend I decided to put my feet up and let others do the cooking. My wife searched through the books and came back with this recipe which we ate over two evenings and cried a little when the pot was empty. It’s beef and red pepper and you’ll love it. Unless you are vegetarian.

You will need:

• Beef – enough for however many people you are serving and of a cut good for stewing
• Red peppers – usually 2 or 3 for 2 people
• Mushrooms – a good couple of handfuls
• Red wine – a decent merlot or alcohol-free equivalent
• Shallots – about 10 will do for 2 people
• Stock – beef stock, a pint of
• Flour – about 3 tablespoons of
• Herbs / Spices – thyme, chilli, bay leaf
• Worcestershire sauce
• Potatoes – for roasting

Start be preparing everything – peel the shallots (but leave whole), slice the peppers, slice the mushrooms and cut the beef into one inch cubes (thinking more about presentation on this dish and I may try it by cutting the beef into larger medallions which would place neatly), mix up a pint of stock, open the bottle of wine and place the flour into a bowl along with some salt and the thyme and chilli.

Throw the beef into the flour mix and turn it around in order to cover completely.

Add some oil to a large, heavy pan and heat. Once hot, brown the meat in batches and reserve. Add the shallots (whole) when you are on the last batch of meat.

Chuck in the mushrooms and let them fry a little to colour. Then place all the meat back in, add the peppers and get ready for the last stage.

Add the bottle of red wine, more thyme and a dash of worcestershire sauce. Then pour in the beef stock and add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then cover and either leave on a low heat on the hob or place in the oven for 2-3 hours (170C).

That’s it. I serve with roast potatoes which i do an hour before the whole thing is ready. You may need bread at the end in order to mop up the rich, juicy gravy.

©2012 HEAD BLOG. All Rights Reserved.