Slow-braised beef and root vegetable stew

Minimum effort. Maximum taste…

I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes all I want is a bowl of stew, a spoon and a month off work.

I fired up a pot of said stew at the weekend (this time a beefy one) and although I had plenty of spoons to hand, that month of idling remained tantalisingly out of reach.

However in the absence of four weeks in a secluded villa in the Alps, the stew would have to do and so it was just as well that it turned out to be mighty gear, rich and velvety and completely unpretentious. Me and the spoon went to work with gusto.

There are two types of stew in my world – broadly speaking – the kind that you might make on a Sunday afternoon when you’ve plenty of time on your hands and which requires futtery preparation and oodles of ingredients. And then there’s this stew, which is as basic as stews get and which you can knock up in a jiffy, minus the braising part in the oven of course.

As you’ll also see, this stew is very forgiving when it comes to prep. Everything is unceremoniously dumped into the casserole dish and then the oven does the heavy lifting. All you have to do is hang around with the spoon for a couple of hours until it’s ready to devour.

You can use various types of beef in a beef stew, from braising steak to shin to brisket. Personally, my knowledge of butchery doesn’t stretch as far as identifying what the generic ‘stewing steak’ is but that’s what I’ve used in this instance. It’s the type of meat that needs low, slow cooking so as to coax the best out of it. But long and slow will result in tender and melting and as the old saying goes, good things come to those who wait around with spoons.

On Saturday past, as the oven did the coaxing, I found myself called upon to climb onto the roof of the house (I won’t bore you with the banal details but suffice it to say, I wasn’t looking for Santa Claus). When I then descended from the roof onto terra firma and re-entered Rancho Relaxo, I was hit with such a scent, my breath was whipped away.

I’ve noticed this from time to time; when you’re simmering something or something’s being coaxed in the oven, you’re not as susceptible to the smell at that moment. But if you leave the house for any reason and then return, that smell is all the more stunning.

On Saturday when re-entering the house, the deeply stirring aroma of slowly braising beef, herbs, garlic, red wine and an assortment of root vegetables made me weak at the knees with anticipation.

And of course, when that kind of thing happens, I can’t help myself. Nothing would do but I had to crack open the oven and take a peek (and a taste) of the stew to see how things were progressing. It turned out things were progressing very finely indeed and although the stewing steak wasn’t quite ready, it was definitely on its way to that town called Magnificence – and I was gonna be the mayor.

This is the type of recipe everyone should have in their repertoire. It’s very basic but sometimes very basic is just what you need. This is as simple a recipe is as you’ll find, but with extra mash or in my case a buttered heel of a plain loaf, it is nevertheless wonderfully satisfying – not to mention wholesome.

Spoons at the ready!

INGREDIENTS
• splash of olive oil (and possibly another)
• 500g of stewing steak, or thereabouts
• lots of black pepper
• 2 or 3 carrots, roughly chopped
•  1 or 2 parsnips, roughly chopped
• 1 or 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, bashed but unpeeled
• 200g of baby potatoes (waxy variety so they don’t disintegrate)
• glass of red wine
• 2 litres of stock
• 1 tsp of mixed herbs
• 1 tbsp of plain flour
• chopped flat leaf parsley to serve (optional)

THE PLAN
As I mentioned this stew is very forgiving so unless you fall asleep during the cook time, this is going to be a roaring success.

Pre-heat the oven to 150C and as that’s happening, wash, peel and chop the veg and set aside in a big bowl.

Chop the stewing steak into chunks, if it isn’t chunked up already and set this aside also.

Put a splash of olive oil into your frying pan or flameproof casserole of choice and turn the heat up full. When hot, dump in all of the meat and fry for no longer than one minute to get a bit of caramelisation going, bombarding with lots of black pepper as you go. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon, set aside and then add the veg to the pan, with another splash of oil if it’s a little dry. Stir fry for one minute and then pour in the red wine for a de-glazing. Stir around and scrape any crusty bits from the bottom of the pan and then add the mixed herbs and flour. Stir this about, then return the beef to the pan with all the stock.

Stick a lid on your dish and retire to the oven for two and a half to three hours or until the meat is meltingly tender. Take a peek at the half way stage and take a taste of the gravy for the craic. Maybe give it a stir for good measure, marveling at its aromatic beauty.

Check the seasoning when it’s done (it will probably take a pinch of two of salt) and then ladle into deep bowls, top with some parsley (if using) and grab the nearest spoon.

Don’t forget the well-buttered heel of plain bread.

Climbing onto the roof of the house is optional.