Beef Stew with Guinness

 *for my love*

After making a (very) successful attempt at Harry Eastwood's *skinny* BB -which was über delicious- I decided to try my luck with a variation of this dish, Irish style.  So basically, I followed Harry Eastwood's (low-fat) recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon, but replaced the wine with two pints of smooth black Guinness, so I did :)

My version of Beef Stew with Guinness

Type of cuisine: Irish

Preparation & cooking time: 2 1/2 hours

Ingredients

500 g of lean beef (cut in cubes)

2 pints/cans of Guinness ™  (2 x 400 ml)

2-3 skinned onions

2 skinned tomatoes

1 sliced carrot 

approx 10 brussels sprouts heads

4 garlic cloves 

bouquet garni (mixed dried chips of carrots, celery, lovage, parsley, bay leaves etc)

1 tsp of ground coriander seeds

a pinch of pepper

1 cube of beef stock (optional)/ or salt

olive oil

2 tbs of flour

Method

Cut the beef in (small) cubes and season it with the freshly ground coriander & pepper. If you decide not to use beef stock, salt the meat at this stage. 

Fry the crushed garlic in olive oil and add the meat cubes & let them brown. 

In a different non-stick pan fry some olive oil (1 tbs) and a transfer the meat. Add the flour and stir constantly the cubes over till they get a biscuit-like colour. Pour the natural beef stock that you kept in the first pan and continue mixing. 

In a small bowl dissolve the beef stock cube in warm water (approx half a cup of water) and pour it over the meat. 

Open the 1st can of Guinness and pour it over. Season with 2 tbs of bouquet garni,  add the skinned tomatoes and onions, cover and simmer for 2 h. Stir occasionally, making sure the meat won't stick to the pan. 

45 minutes before the 2 hours are up, add the sliced carrot and brussels sprouts. Add the second can of Guinness and keep on simmering on low fire. 

2 hours later the meat & Guinness sauce will have become thicker and totally delicious as the alcohol and bitterness of the beer will have vanished completely. 

Mop it with Irish Soda bread or serve with baked jacket potatoes, salt, melted butter and fresh parsley.

I have  been dreaming of this stew since I went to Ireland in May. So when I found Guinness at the supermarket, I knew that I had to use it to the fullest. I am not a beer drinker, but I must say I like the smooth velvety consistency of Guinness.  

Traditionally, lamb is used for Irish stew, but I went for tender beef instead (in lieu of lamb) and soaked it in Guinness. That brought back some wonderful memories of Ireland and its people. 

typical traditional Irish cottage

Pot-au-Feu

My first Pot-au-Feu was so delicious that it is definitely worthy of a mention on Lemon Love Notes, Facebook, Twitter and other media outlets. :)

Generally defined as "un plat traditionnel de la cuisine française, à base de viande de boeuf et de légumes [...] is un bouillon aromatisé par des herbes (thym, persil, laurier…) et des légumes." In a nutshell, it's a traditional French beef & vegetable slow-food dish imbued with herbs, cooked in a pot (hence the name), and served hot. 

Another worthy-to-be-mentioned detail is that there isn't a strict recipe for Pot-au-Feu, though some vegetables suit this dish better than others. 

Traditionally, carrots, leek, turnips, mushrooms, onions, potatoes, celery, cabbage, garlic go into the marmite (aka cooking pot) where they meet with the lean and fatty parts of the beef or veal: shoulder, marrow, flank, rump, knuckle, topside, sirloin, shin, rasher, or ribs.

source: www.akstoddart.co.uk

The concept of pot-au-feu is rather simple- so simple that it's amazing that so few people cook it on a regular basis. I guess that one of the major challenges this dish has to face is the sheer competition with fast food and living life on the fast lane. Pot-au-feu requires our full attention and it is basically a meal cooked and concocted with LOVE. Yes, the big L- love, as in passion, dedication, tenderness, ardour, agape. It's funny how a dish as old as the dawn of our civilization, has become a gastronomic curiosity with a rather strange  name.

Our ancestors did use the cauldron more often than we do today and they cooked their food slowly. In Food in History, Reay Tannahill mentions that "in the fifth century BC, according to Herodotus, the nomad Scythians 'put all the flash into an animal's paunch, mix water with it and boil it like that over the bone-fire. The bones burn well, and the paunch easily contains all the meat once it has been stripped off'. In this way an ox, or any other sacrificial beast, is ingeniously made to boil itself". pages 16/17

If the dish was tasty, packed with flavours and contained a bouquet garni as the Pot-au-Feu does, little do we know.  Apparently the earliest recipes for pot-au-feu emerged in the first half of the 19th century and one of the earliest names of pot-au-feu was pot pourri, according to hertzmann.com. And what an inspired name! Pot-au-feu is indeed a pot pourri, a delicious sweet soup with tender beef pieces and herbs. 

Pot-au-Feu

Type of cuisine: French/Cuisine des Terroirs/Low Fat

Preparation time: 10 minutes (to wash, peel, cut all the vegetables)

Cooking time: 2 hours  (there is no rush, is there?)

Adapted from Harry Eastwood's The Skinny French Kitchen

Ingredients

beef (sirloin, leg, marrow & shin)

4 baby carrots

4 baby new potatoes

4 cherry tomatoes

4 asparagus shoots

1 stem of leek

1 big white onion

2 spring onions 

2 green garlic stems

3 or 4 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp of crushed cloves

coriander seeds

1 branch of rosemary

thyme

2 tsp of dehydrated bio vegetables (don't contain salt nor other preservatives)

a small bunch of parsley

a pinch of Camargue salt (fleur de sel)

sumac or ground pepper or crushed mustard seeds for decoration (I used sumac)

Preparation 

Wash all the veggies and put the chunks of beef  in a large saucepan. Add water just enough to cover the meaty bones and the lean beef cubes. Add the bay leaves, 1 tsp of coriander seeds, 1 tsp of dehydrated vegetables and the cinnamon stick. Cover with a lid and let them simmer for an hour. Although not in the original recipe, I took the liberty of adding a cinnamon stick (I love cinnamon and I use it often with beef) and to my relief, it gave the broth an interesting flavour. 

I chopped and diced some of the vegetables (the leek, the parsley and the white onion) but because I used mainly baby veggies, I kept the rest intact. 

Method

Watch over the beef as you need to scoop the scum that rises at the surface of the water. After 40 minutes of simmering add the chopped white onion (cut in quarters) and let it infuse its sweetness for 40 minutes or so. 

Have a different pot ready and after approx 1.20 hours of simmering, remove the beef bones and set them aside to cool down. Sieve the soup in the new deep saucepan. Discard the bay leaves and the cinnamon stick. 

This way, you will filter the soup and no sharp shards of bone will find their way through the broth. 

Carve the meat off the bones, keep the lean parts and dump the fatty collagen-looking bits. Put them back  into the clear soup and add the baby potatoes, the carrots, the cherry tomatoes, 1 tsp of dehydrated vegetables, and a small branch of rosemary. Return the saucepan to the cooker and continue simmering.

30  minutes before the end, add all the green vegetables: the leek, the green garlic, the spring onions, the asparagus shoots. 

Taste and season with crushed cloves, fleur de sel, and thyme.  

Decorate with finely chopped parsley and sumac. Sumac is lemony and I love the blend of flavours and textures. The baby carrots and the white onion taste so sweet,while the meat is so tender that it basically melts in your mouth. The soup is clear, but the tiny specks of dehydrated vegetables (onion, carrot, parsley root, parsnip, celery & tomato flakes) have now expanded and formed a delicious kaleidoscope within the soup.

It's strange to think that once upon a time Pot-au-Feu was regarded as "le repas du pauvre", a meal fit for the paupers, for the most unfortunate ones. We are pretty fortunate today to know the recipe of this simple, yet delicate and delicious dish and cook it with love for ourselves and the people we love. 

Harry Eastwood says that this dish is one of her father's favourites and that she wrote this dish for him. Actually, her father "is insistent (and right) about making it a day before you want to eat it, so the flavours literally double in intensity and depth after cooking it". 

...True. If you can't wait till the following lunch, have it on the day with a slice of baguette, ciabatta, or fresh brown bread with cereal crust, then store it in the fridge overnight. 

"The only other imperative with Pot au Feu is to serve it boiling hot".

Trivia

Maybe I should mention under 'trivia' that there "might be occasional aberrations, such as the adoption of meat cooked a l'anglaise- rostbif, for example and even that interesting variation rostbif d'agneau- but, overall, no Frenchman had the slightest doubt that in matters of taste France was superior to all other nations."  Reay Tannahill, Food in History (page 239).
In a way, it's kind of unfair because recently in Ireland Mike had this beef stew cooked in Guinness and it was AMAZING! I was thinking at the time that once I find good quality dark beer in Romania, I will cook it myself.

However, the Pot-au-Feu frenzy is pretty infectious and I've recently discovered this Vietnamese variation on www.vietworldkitchen.com which is called Sup Thit Bo.

At the end of the day, no matter where you live, what you do and where you come from, the classic Pot-au-Feu will be always adapted to the local culture, the seasonal ingredients, and your own unique personality.

Red Marmite with Orach, Lovage & Wild Garlic

I have started paying heed to the weather forecast, constantly hoping that "next week will be better". There is nothing wrong in hoping, but lately the sun has been playing hide and seek with me. In the meantime, I am making the most of what I can (feebly) call a spring: everything is brand new, green, and fresh.

Anyway, this is my first spring in three years. Saudi Arabia doesn't have a spring in European terms, strictly speaking. March/April marks the sandstorm season, with sudden showers, and temperature is quite high at this time of year. I was pining for spring when I was living in Riyadh. 

So I am still eagerly waiting for the perfect spring to come. I love the (normally) mild weather of April with its sunny days, when happy kids ride their bikes in the park, and beautiful cherry trees are in bloom.

As you know by now, my beloved blog is bursting at the seams with these wonderful seasonal plants: wild garlic (ramson), parsley, nettle, spinach, orach, spring onions... Mixed and combined, they offer an explosion of tastes and textures. Over the weekend I was made to drool over a traditional Romanian soup that I stumbled upon in foodie.ro. I discovered a Transylvanian Orach Broth, soured with vinegar. And so I went down memory lane and suddenly remembered my mother's Orach soup with cream. Oh, memories! Funnily enough, as I was making my own marmite, my mother called me to ask us over for dinner. She was making orach soup as well :)

 Marmite with Orach, Lovage, Wild Garlic and Beef Cubes

a big piece of beef bone with some meat on it (to make the stock)

1 carrot

2 small red onions

..........................................

2 small bunches of orach

2 bunches of ramson (wild garlic)

1 small bunch of lovage

1 small tomato (diced) or 2 tsb of diced canned tomato

1 extra cube of beef stock (optional) or salt

the juice of 1/4 of a lemon 

Type of cuisine: (new) Romanian

Preparation time: 2 hours (blame it on the beef stock)

Difficulty: easy

Preparation

To make the stock, boil the bone for at least 1 hr 45 mins. Drain and discard the veggies. By now they should have become a mush. Scoop the lean meat off the bone and cut it in small cubes. 

Wash the orach, lovage and wild garlic. For nice layers, chop the wild garlic Asian style, tear the orach leaves off their stem leaf by leaf, and cut the lovage finely. (Lovage is vaguely similar to parsley, but has a distinctive taste.)

          tomato, beef & spring yummies

Method

Once you drain the soup in a separate pot, work on your marmite. Add the beef cubes and the diced tomato, season with salt or, for a richer taste, a cube of beef stock. Work in the orach, lovage and wild garlic and let simmer for 10 minutes before serving. Sour the soup with some lemon juice. 

The combination of lovage and lemon juice is a killer :) - it wowed me and Mike, who thought at first that he was tasting miso. 

The orach will turn the soup dark pink bordering on crimson. It's a delicious and appetizing colour.

In Romania people make orach borscht with single cream. My version is much lighter so I didn't pour it over the simmering marmite. 

It was such a great dish that I hope that tomorrow when I go to the farmer's market, I'll be able to find more lovage and ramson, and that their season isn't over. (Isn't spring wonderful?)

                                                                                                                          xoxo

beautiful cherry tree in bloom

Cheat's Maultaschen

It's been more than two weeks since I posted anything. I have been down with a bad cold :( and I couldn't focus on cooking nor on taking photos. It seemed as if time flew, but how many things have happened in that space of time: a merciless earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan and a war in Libya. 

On a brighter note, spring has finally arrived, so, with new-found strength, I went to the market and bought a bagful of spinach, orach, ramson, celendine, radishes, spring onions, parsley, and beetroot. Isn't spring wonderful? Yesterday, I made a delicious spinach and ramson salad with oranges and toasted nuts, which I'll post here some time soon. 

I have been thinking about Maultaschen for a while (yes, I miss Germany), but since my baking skills are pretty bad at the moment and the dough didn't come out as smooth as I wanted, I decided that I had to cheat with my Maultaschen! Hmmm.... 

Maultaschen is a traditional Swabian dish which is similar to Italian ravioli or Chinese dumplings. It consists of dough pockets filled with minced beef and spinach. I first had Maultaschen in Stuttgart three years ago and I love it so much that I just can't imagine visiting Bavaria and not having this exquisite dish, cooked either in a clear broth or with steamed cabbage.

Cheat's Maultaschen with Beef Cubes and Fresh Baby Spinach

Type of cuisine: German/European


Cooking time: 2 hours (1.45 h for the beef stock, 15 minutes to put everything together)

For the beef  soup, you will need

2 beef bones with some meat on them

1 carrot

2 small onions

1 small cube of beef stock (for extra flavour) - optional

2 spoons of tomato paste

1 small diced tomato

a pinch of nutmeg

20 spinach leaves (the smallest in the bunch- they are sweeter)

1 small packet of fresh tortellini or ravioli (250 gr)

Method

Boil the bones, the carrot and the onions in 2 liters of water for at least 1 hour 45 mins. Drain the soup into another pot. Discard the carrot and the onions, as well as the bones. If the bones have some meat on them, scoop and cut it into small cubes, and put them back in the soup. Add a small beef stock cube for extra beef taste, the tomato paste, the diced tomato and the nutmeg.

Open the packet of tortellini and boil the pasta in the beef soup. Cut the spinach leaves lengthwise and boil them with the tortellini for 5 minutes before you serve the dish. 

tortellini filled with ricotta and spinach and small beef cubes

Even though it wasn't the real thing (no ready-made pasta can compare to home-made pasta), the beef soup and the fresh spinach certainly make up for this. I loved the rich taste of beef zest, the small bits of tender meat and the baby spinach that brought the sunshine and the spring onto my plate.

People who know me know that Germany is one of my favourite countries in Europe. What a great people! I love German hospitality and the wonderful German specialities: the cakes, the bread, the soups and the earthy dishes.

shopping street in Reutlingen, BW

downtown Stuttgart

a small hidden restaurant, pour les connaisseurs :)

Maultaschen in a tiny family-run restaurant in Filderstadt, BW

Chilli con Carne (y con mucho, mucho amor)

I haven't posted anything this week. If it looked like laziness on my part, I want to assure you it was not. I've been very busy and we all know, time flies. I was looking at the stats and I noticed that you've been checking me out even though the blog was frozen still. I really appreciate your reading the outpourings of my heart. This week I have cooked some delicious bites for Mike and me, for my father and for guests, and on Wednesday we ate out in a Japanese restaurant. 

A couple of days ago I made Chilli con Carne, and I should add ... con mucho, mucho amor. Making Chilli con Carne must be a deliberate act of love. Love for this amazing combination of herbs and spices, meat and fresh veggies, and passion for a country whose language, history, people, and music I love. In a nutshell,  Mexico Lindo Y Querido. 

This amazing and ridiculously easy dish won't take you longer than 20-25 minutes, if you have everything cleaned, washed, pealed, cut, chopped, diced and you are ready to rock :)

Chilly con Carne 

Type of cuisine: Mexican/Low-Fat

Difficulty: easy

Time: preparation time- 15 minutes, cooking time- 25 minutes max

chilly con carne with guacamole, salad and tortilla chips

You will need

half a kilo of minced lean beef

half a can of diced tomatoes or 4 tomatoes

a 450g can of kidney beans

spring onions

1 red onion

1 red pepper

1 tsp paprika

 a tiny pinch of cinnamon

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

a pinch of sugar (to sprinkle over the tomatoes)

a pinch of hot chilli (or more, if you can handle it) :)

4 cloves of garlic (crushed)


a pinch of salt

Method

In a wok fry the red onion in a spoonful of olive oil. Add the crushed garlic and the minced meat and let them brown. Work in the spices (cinnamon, cumin, paprika). Open a can of diced tomatoes and add half a can with a tablespoon of brown sugar. Sprinkle some oregano. 

Cut the red pepper finely (I hate large chunks of vegetables when I cook Mexican) and add it to the meat.

Season with salt.  Add chilli powder to taste.

5 minutes before the meat is cooked, open the can of kidney beans, drain the water and mix with the beef.

Chop the spring onion and incorporate gradually. 

There are many reasons why I love this dish. Here are just a few.

• I am all for any low-fat meal. I cook Chilli con Carne  mainly in the evening, so I feel guilt-free having a second helping (if I wish to do so)

• I am not always in the mood for slow-cooking. This dish is done in the blink of an eye. 

• It gives me another reason to make guacamole! 

• Because I love mariachi, traditional Mexican music and Alejandro Fernandez, and I hum along the songs (but only when I'm certain nobody can hear me) *embarrassed*

the heart of an avocado

A Labour of Love: Beef Sharhat & 1001 Nights

Behind each dish there is a story. Either they are fascinating, mundane, personal, old, new, vintage, made-up or based on true facts, stories must live on and be told for the enjoyment of others or for reflective purposes as though stories we learn. 

I had Beef Sharhat some years ago in a beautiful restaurant here in Bucharest, El Bacha. It is there I discovered and fell in love with Middle Eastern food. Little did I know at the time about the variety of Middle Eastern cuisine, but in time, reading about it and living for two years in Saudi Arabia, I have perfected my skills and now I make lots of Lebanese dishes in a short time. I remember the first time I cooked Middle Eastern it took me six hours! Yes, practice makes perfect, so if you want to start cooking Middle Eastern, take things step by step, start with some dips (labneh, moutabal, hummus), then take your time in marinating the meat, and learn about herbs and spices. 

You will be amazed to see how easy (and healthy) it is to sample Middle Eastern dishes and how many people you can make happy :) Cooking is a labour of love: preparing the dishes with passion, sharing them with the people you love, sitting around the table and telling stories. 

Type of cuisine: Middle Eastern/Lebanese


Cooking time: 30 minutes, but 3-6 hours for the marinade. 


Availability of ingredients: it would be nice if you could find fresh mint, if not, use dry leaves.

Preparation 

(the dish is for 2 people)

To make this dish you need a fillet of beef (the meat must be tender).

Cut the meat into thin slices & marinade it in crushed garlic, (fresh or dry) mint, cinnamon, sweet paprika, coriander seeds, cumin. The meat should marinate for at least three hours in the fridge to let all the spices blend and come together. 

Method

Fry the meat in olive oil until it browns.  

In a separate bowl dissolve a cube of beef stock and add 4-5 diced tomatoes. If it's summer, use fresh ripe tomatoes; if it's winter, use tomatoes from a can (I used half a can). 

Pour the beef and tomato mix over the meat and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Add some more spices, to taste: extra mint, extra coriander seeds, more cinnamon.  The water will reduce, making the sauce a bit thicker.

I am sure you will just love it :) Looking at the photograph above makes me want to do it again, but I don't fancy eating beef today...

This recipe is my own. I have reconstructed it out of my recollections of the dish I almost always have in El Bacha. 

As a side dish, I have mujardarra - lentil and rice with red onion marmalade, or Lebanese potato salad - boiled potatoes with spices, and labneh - rich yoghurt with mint, garlic and lemon juice.

About all this, I'll blog some other time. I hope you enjoy both cooking and eating this dish. If you do, drop me a line and tell me all about it.

Traditionals shop in Granada Mall, Riyadh

Boeuf Bourguignon, the non-alcoholic alternative

A friend from Saudi was asking if there is a possibility to make BB without using alcohol, namely wine.  

This is the "sober" alternative :) of Boeuf Bourguignon. All joking aside, the quantity of wine you use in the stew will not make you tipsy by any means - by having the BB simmer, the alcohol contained in wine will evaporate. However, some people do not consume alcohol at all, so they could use this substitute.

Bouef Bourguignon 

   Non-alcoholic alternative

  

Instead of

·         2 cups of wine

Use

·         1 cup of red grape juice (two cups would make the dish too ‘fruity’)

·         1 extra cup of stock (for body)

·         2 tbsp of red wine vinegar (for sharpness)

·         A little more tomato paste (optional)

·         1 tbsp rich soy sauce (optional)

this particular BB had wine in it

In my opinion, if you have ever tasted the original BB, i.e.with wine, the substitution doesn't quite taste the same.   

Tomorrow (hopefully) I will post my favourite Lebanese beef recipe- Beef Sharhat: tender bits of beef with tomato sauce, spices and lots and lots of mint. A M A Z I N G!!! I am sure you will fall in love with it.

I noticed myself that lately I haven't posted that much on Indian, Lebanese and Asian dishes, which is strange because this is what I love most and mainly what cook. I will have to write about the most addictive apple chutney, my biryani, my spiced cauliflower soup with turmeric or my tarka dhal. 

So expect a feast in the next coming days/weeks. :)

Boeuf Bourguignon & La Joie de Vivre

After Julie and Julia, the whole blogosphere exploded with countless versions of Boeuf Bourguignon, which proves that we food bloggers are not here to reinvent the wheel, but to bring forward delicious recipes that make us happy. Blogging is about sharing and every dish has a story of its own.
I was reading the other day that BB started as a rustic, bucolic dish that French peasants used to eat. They would boil the tougher bits of beef for hours, add red wine and have it with boiled potatoes. 


Making BB could be a little intimidating, even its name is a challenge with all the vowels and the silent second "g" :), but basically it's a wholesome, delicious family-binding dish that is relatively easy to make.

Type of cuisine: French/traditional "cuisine des terroirs"

Difficulty: medium

Time: 2- 2.5 hours

As I only made the mashed potatoes and boiled the sprouts, and Mike cooked the most delicious BB, I asked him to write today's entry, as a guest writer. 


Mike is my husband, BTW (and he taught me how to cook) :)


About the (perfect) mashed potatoes you can possibly make and have without feeling guilty, I will blog some other time. 

BOEUF BOURGUIGNON

Michael Waters

guest writer

Boeuf Bourguignon is, as we might expect, French.  Especially delicious on cold winter’s evenings, this stew of tender beef braised in red wine with onions and carrots can be served either as a special family dish or as a main course for a dinner party.  Apart from its tastiness, it offers a number of advantages: it can easily be prepared in advance, all the ingredients are readily available in most places, it actually improves over time, and it can be easily reheated without any loss of quality or taste whatsoever.

There is no one definitive recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon, and every cook has his or her own particular favourite variation.   The essential elements remain the same, however, and basically involve cubes of lean beef slow-cooked in wine for about two hours, some vegetables added, and flavoured with herbs such as sage and thyme.

This is my own favourite way of cooking BB, and the following quantity serves four.   I find the cooking to be as savoury an experience as the eating.  And drinking the accompanying wine, of course!

Ingredients

·         1 tbsp oil (I use olive oil, but grapeseed or sunflower oil are equally good)

·         1 small onion, finely chopped

·         2 large (or 3 small) cloves garlic, crushed or finely grated

·         2 thin slices of cooked bacon or ham, cut into narrow strips of 2.5cm

·         1kg of lean beef, cut into cubes of 3 cm

·         1/2 tbsp chopped thyme

·         1/4 tbsp chopped sage

·         1 tbsp flour

·         1 tbsp concentrated tomato paste (diluted in about 2 tbsp water)

·         2 cups red wine

·         2 cups beef stock (or warm water with a beef-stock cube added to each cup)

·         Large pinch salt

·         ¼ tsp of ground black pepper

·         12 shallots, cut in half (or a large onion, sliced)

·          1 fresh carrot, chopped

·         1 knob butter (preferably unsalted)

In a large saucepan, fry the finely chopped onion, garlic and bacon in oil until slightly browned.  Stir in the beef cubes, sage and thyme, and fry until the beef is slightly browned.  Add the flour and stir until beef has become lightly coated all over.  Reduce the heat.

Stir in the tomato paste.  Gradually pour in the wine, stirring to make sure that any lumps formed by the flour are broken down.   Add beef stock, salt and pepper, and stir well.  Increase heat and bring to boil, keeping a close eye.

As soon as the mixture starts to boil, reduce the heat immediately, and cover the pan tightly.  Simmer on low heat for approx one hour. 

Add sliced carrots, and stir gently.  If the liquid has reduced below the level of the meat cubes, top up with some water and stir lightly.  Replace cover.

After another half hour, stir in the shallots (or onion slices), replace the lid, and leave to simmer for another 20-30- minutes. Add the knob of butter just before serving.

Serves 4  

Total cooking time: 2 hours 15 minutes approx

Notes

Many questions have been asked about which wine to use for cooking.  In fact, it really doesn’t matter as long as it is red, and dry or medium dry.   It makes no difference to the overall flavour. Sherry or dessert wine (apart, possibly, from the cost) is usually too sweet and can ruin the dish.

If you wish, a cupful of lightly sautéed mushrooms (halved or sliced, depending on size) can be added to the dish about 15 minutes before serving.  I have also, on occasion, added sliced red pepper, about 20-25 minutes before serving.

To serve

This dish is traditionally eaten with boiled potatoes, but it also goes well with mashed potato or rice.  Camargue rice is especially delicious.  If this is not available, a mixture of regular long grain (you can also use Basmati) and wild rice makes an excellent accompaniment.  Vegetables ideal for serving are sweet green peas or chopped green beans.  Asparagus, when in season, is likewise a good accompaniment.

 Suitable wine accompaniment

This is a hearty dish, and the wine to go with it should be likewise.  

A full-bodied red with good depth is strongly suggested.  I live in 

Romania, where there is very good choice of quality local wines at 

most affordable prices.  My choice with this dish would be a 

Prahova Valley Feteasca Negra from Cramele Halewood, or a 

La Cetate Cabernet Sauvignon from Mehedinti.  For a special 

occasion, Prince Matei Merlot from Dealu Mare goes down very 

well.   Romanian wines are still pretty hard to get outside of 

Romania (I don’t understand why…maybe lack of marketing...or 

prejudice?) but there’s no shortage of choice in the word!  I would 

recommend a big wine from Bordeaux, Barolo (Italy), Navarra 

(Spain) or, a lovely red which I tasted recently, a Trapiche Malbec 

from Argentina

I hope this amazing dish will inspire you to try it over the weekend. It's a wintery classic that will soon become your piece de resistence and will remind you that life is beautiful.


xx Yolanda