Slow Cook Hearty Beef and Vegetable Stew

I am not a fan of cold weather, I prefer warmth and endless summer evenings, I guess since moving from Scotland I have become accustomed to a warmer climate. But as the winter months approach it takes with it a great excuse to snuggle in front of the fire with some hearty comfort food without that guilty feeling, after all, we need some sustenance to get us through the long dreary months ahead.

What better time of year to tuck into a slow cooked winter stew. I love stew, my gran used to make fantastic stew but sadly I never asked for the recipe, so I have had to improvise myself 😐. My family loves this one of mine, tender chunks of meat and veg in a delicious thick rich gravy slathered over a big dollop of creamy mash, just perfect to warm the cockles.

Ingredients

600 g slow cook meat, I used chuck
1/4 cup plain flour
1 1/2 Tsp seasoning salt
1 large onion, chopped
3 big carrots, halved length ways
& thickly chopped
350 g pumpkin, deseeded, peeled 
& thickly chopped
300 g brussel sprouts, left whole
100 g round beans, topped & tailed
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 Tsp dried rosemary
1 Tsp dried thyme
2 Tbsp tomato puree
3-4 cups beef stock
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup red wine

Method

1.  Pre-heat oven to 130 degrees C. 

2.  Place meat together with the flour and season salt in a zip lock bag and shake until meat is evenly coated. Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a heat resistant casserole dish until hot and add meat in batches, don't overcrowd the pan, cook for 2-3 minutes until meat has a nice sear at the bottom, turn and brown other sides, remove seared meat to a plate, repeat with the other batches.

3.  Once all the meat is seared add 1 Tbsp oil to same pan, add onions and cook until soft, add carrots, cook until slightly soft on the outside, make a well in the middle of the veg and add the garlic, cook for about 30 seconds, add the rest of veg, bay leaves and herbs, season with a little salt and pepper, stir to mix through.

4.  Add the wine to start deglazing pan, it will bubble at the start but will then reduce to a simmer, take a wooden spoon and scrape the sticky bits off the base, this gives a great flavour, once deglazed, add tomato paste and stir to combine.

5.  Add meat back into dish and pour over the stock, gently bring to a simmer. Cover with lid and put into oven for 3 hours 45 minutes, stirring a couple of times during cooking.

6.  Take out of oven, remove lid and take out some of the stock from the pot and whisk in 2-3 Tbsp of flour, making sure there are no lumps, then whisk back into the stew. Place back in oven, uncovered for another 15 minutes to thicken up.

Serve over a dollop of creamy mash

OK, so it's not the most photogenic dish in the world but you should have seen my son's face light up when he came home from work to see a big bowl of stew waiting for him 😆😋