Every time l serve this main meal to guests they always ask for the recipe, so the easiest way for me to share it is this way. A stable winter warmer for the French during the long cold winter months, easy to prepare, slow to cook, start in the morning to make sure the meat will be tender for the evening. It’s even better the day after, so if you have time, cook the day before and let the meat rest to be able to soak up all the rich juices.
Ingredients – serves 8
1.8kg diced chuck steak
120ml vegetable oil
2 large onions, sliced and chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 tbsp plain flour
3 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
1 litre Burgundy red wine
1 beef stock cube, dissolved in 500ml boiling water
300g button shallots, peeled
300g smoked streaky bacon, cut into small pieces
200g fresh mushrooms, cut in half
200g sour cream
salt and pepper
Method
- Boil the red wine for 5 minutes to remove the alcohol, p.
- Heat in a heavy based casserole heat 25ml of oil until smoking hot and brown the meat in small batches, adding fresh oil after each batch. Leave all the meat to rest in a bowl.
- Then add the onion and garlic to the casserole and cook for 2 minutes until translucent.
- Add the flour to the onions and garlic and mix until a smooth paste has formed in the fat.
- Add the wine and stock to the onions and stir until smooth, then add the meat and stir.
- Add salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaves to the casserole.
- Cover and place in oven preheated to 140C for 3 hours.
- Meanwhile, brown the shallots and bacon and add to the casserole after 2 hours.
- Add the mushrooms 30 minutes before serving, stir and taste to season.
- Garnish with sour cream and a sprig of thyme.
