1. Heat a glug of olive oil in a wide heavy based frying pan, over a medium to high heat. Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. Don’t overcrowd the pan, as the meat will sweat, rather than sear to a dark brown (this is flavour). You may need to do this in a few batches, so that you get nice, charred edges
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2. Add the meat to a casserole pot, or crock pot if you’re using a slow cooker.
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3. Next, add the onion, garlic and tomato to the pan, cook for 5 minutes and add to the meat.
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4. Deglaze the pan with wine and stock and pour over meat, to cover.
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5. Add the bay and season with salt and pepper
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6. Bring to the boil and simmer for at least 2 and half hours. The longer, the better. If using a crockpot, cook overnight or during the day.
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7. At the end of cooking, if the stew seems thin, or there’s too much liquid, bring to the boil and reduce so that the liquid thickens (no need for flour!)
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8. Adjust the seasoning and garnish with parsley.
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9. Serve with some fresh greens and a creamy spoon of cauliflower mash
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Top Tip :
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Try to source higher welfare meat that has been properly aged. As always, we recommend building a relationship with your butcher, so that they can source the best meat possible for you.
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Seek out dry aged meat, as this will have the most flavour and less moisture. Avoid ‘wet’ beef that is pale in colour. In the supermarket, at the meat counter, you might be lucky enough to come across the dark, dried up meat that’s marked right down — I’m letting you in on a secret, this is the good stuff! Waitrose are one of the best for selling dry aged meat, and you can buy great value off-cuts for stews— if it’s not available in your store, ask them about it.
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If you can’t get your hands on dry aged meat, use the best you can and dry it in the fridge at home. Simply dry the meat off and place it on a rack, in a shallow dish to catch any blood. Put it in the fridge, away from other food and make sure air can circulate (don’t overfill the fridge). After a few days, the meat will become dark and dry.
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Bon app! R