I decided to make this stew on a week night… which was a terrible mistake. This was not because of the stew itself but because I massively underestimated how long it was going to take me to make it (almost 2 hours) and we ended up eating at 10pm. So I am putting that out there as a warning. This is a Sunday lunch type of affair not a quick mid-week dinner. It is so incredibly worth ever minute of effort though. This stew is not only gloriously flavoursome, it’s also very wholesome. What are you waiting for?
Tag Archives: stew
Things I have been cooking lately #66: Slow cooked lamb stew
With the weather cold, wet and windy at the moment, comfort food is definitely the name of the game and you can’t go wrong with a hearty stew… especially if you got a slow cooker for Christmas.
Slow cooked lamb stew
1kg lamb shanks (about 4 medium ones)
4 shallots, diced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
Pepper
A little flour
1/2 cup of red wine
2 cups beef or lamb stock
1 tablespoon cornflour
Place the shallots, carrots, garlic, tomato paste, thyme and a good pinch of salt and pepper in your slow cooker. Mix together well.
Pat dry the lamb shanks and season well with salt and pepper. Dust with flour and shake off any excess. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and then brown the lamb shanks on all sides. Leave the pan over the heat. Add the lamb shanks to the slow cooker. Add the wine to the pan to deglaze (or in layman’s terms burn off the alcohol). Add the wine and the stock to the slow cooker. Put the lid on and cook on low for 10 h0urs.
When the time is up remove the shanks and the carrots from the slow cooker and set inside. Scoop the fat off the top of the braising liquid. Remove any onions from the braising liquid using a slotted spoon and add to a small saucepan. Mix a couple of tablespoons of the braising liquid with the cornflour and add to the saucepan. Then pour in about half of the rest of the braising liquid. Put the saucepan over a medium heat, bring to the boil and whisk until the sauce thickens.
Serve the lamb shanks with the carrots and sauce over mashed potatoes.
Serves 4
Things I have been cooking lately #64: Slow cooker beef bourguignon
Mr Osbiston and I were lucky enough to get a slow-cooker as a sort of late Christmas present and I’ve been having a great time experimenting with recipes. I love the fact that you can buy a cheap cut of meat, sling it in the slow cooker in the morning and then come home to a beautiful meal in the evening. My favourite recipe that I have tried so far has got to be this beef bourguinon that I adapted from hidden ponies. Absolutely perfect winter fare.
Slow cooker beef bourguignon
7g dried porcini mushrooms
600g stewing steak, cut into 2.5cm cubes, any fat removed
100g pancetta lardons
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt
Pepper
200ml red wine
1/4 cup beef stock
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups baby button mushrooms, sliced
1.5 tablespoon cornflour
Add the dried porcini mushrooms to a quarter cup of boiling water and set aside for half an hour. In the meantime brown the beef in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. If your pan doesn’t fit all the meat you can do it in batches. Add the beef to the slow cooker and drain any fat from the pan. Add the pancetta to the pan and fry until crispy. Add to the slow cooker and drain any fat from the pan. Add the olive oil to the pan and then add the onion, garlic and carrot to the pain with a good sprinkling of salt and pepper and cook until it starts to soften, 3 – 4 minutes. Remove the porcini mushrooms from the soaking liquid and chop (reserve the soaking liquid) Add the mushrooms and soaking liquid to the onions and carrots along with the wine, stock parsley and thyme. Bring to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes to burn off the alcohol.
Add the wine mixture to the slow cooker, close the lid and cook on low for 10 hours or until the beef is very tender.
Now cook the sliced button mushrooms in the butter until brown and add to the slow cooker. Mix the cornflour with a couple of tablespoons of water and stir into the mixture in the slow cooker. Replace the lid, turn the slow cooker to high and give it another 10 – 15 minutes to thicken a bit before serving.
Serve with mashed potatoes.
Serves 4
Please excuse the less than sterling picture effort. I am not a skilled enough photographer to make stew look pretty.
Things I have been cooking lately #12: Easy Beef Stew
All this very cold weather has made me want is comfort food, so I decided to attempt a stew. I’ve never made a stew before. I don’t normally have the patience, but I’m glad to say that I managed this very easy stew below and it was quite delicious. My advice, if you’re going to do this is to start about 3 ½ hours before you actually want to eat it.
Easy Beef Stew
Adapted from BBC Good Food
Olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely diced
2 sticks of celery, sliced
450g braising steak, cut into chunks.
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
1 beef stock cube
500ml boiling water
2 teaspoons of dried parsley (or a handful of fresh leaves)
1kg of sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
Knob of butter
Couple of handfuls of grated cheddar cheese
Heat a little olive oil in a large, thick based pot with a lid. Add the onions and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the carrots and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, until the veg has started to soften.
Add the braising steak to the pot and fry off until browned. Add the garlic and cinnamon and cook for a couple of minutes. In the meantime melt the stock cube in the boiling water. Add the stock and parsley and bring to the boil.
Put the lid on the pot and turn it down really slow so that it is just bubbling. Simmer for an hour.
Remove the lid and simmer for an hour and a half with the lid off, stirring occasionally. It should be bubbling constantly, so you might have to turn up the temperature ever so slightly when you take off the lid.
In the meantime, boil the sweet potatoes in salted water for about 15 minutes, until you can easily push a fork through one of the chunks. Then mash it up with the butter, to make a thick stiff mash.
By this point the meat should be very tender. Pour the beef mixture into a baking dish and then spread the mash mixture over the top. Sprinkle with the cheese and at 180 C for about 20 minutes.
Delicious! Serves 4.
abbiosbiston 