Beef Scouse with a twist

The twist being Brussel sprouts and button mushrooms.

We were watching an episode of come dine with me that was based in Liverpool and it featured one of the contestants making scouse, this is something I have never tasted but I do love slow cooked stews so after some research on recipes I came up with this one.

Scouse can be made with either lamb and beef and almost every recipe has some variants on method and ingredients so I added Brussel sprouts and button mushrooms as we love stews with loads of veggies in it.

Ingredients

600 g beef chuck cut into

chunky pieces

1 tbsp flour

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

5 carrots, cut into chunks

2 cloves garlic, crushed

10-12 whole brussel sprouts

10-12 whole button mushrooms

500 ml chicken stock

2 beef or chicken stock cubes

1 tsp browning essence

dash of Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp dried thyme

2 bay leaves

6 potatoes, peeled, 

cut into chunks

Method

1.  Toss beef chunks into season flour, coating well. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pan over a high heat. Brown meat all over. Transfer to slow cooker cooking pot.

2.  Combine stock, browning essence and Worcestershire sauce in a jug, crumble in stock cubes. Stir to combine.

3.  Add 1 tbsp oil to same pan, reduce heat to medium. Add onion, carrot and garlic, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and cook for 6-8 minutes or until slightly softened. Add these to the meat in the slow cooker cooking pot along with the mushrooms, brussel sprouts, stock, thyme and bay leaves, stir to combine. Add potatoes on top of the stew mix, season well. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 7-8 hours.

It is traditionally served with pickled red cabbage, as much as I do like pickled cabbage I didn't quite fancy it with the stew so we had ours with a chuck of crusty bread.