This recipe is super easy, absolutely delicious and is something you can pop on in the morning and by dinner time the house will smell incredible and dinner will be ready.
I used chuck steak for this, then a mix of veggie staples, plus a few extras like herbs, stock cubes, and red wine, to build the flavour.
I like to brown the chuck steak in a hot pan with a little bit of oil. It doesn’t need to cook all the way through, but I like to get a bit of colour on it. Then I add the onion and celery to the same pan with a cup of water to collect all the leftover beef flavour.
Then simply dump everything else into the slow cooker, stir, and cook on high for at least 6 hours.
For the red wine, I used the Oakdene Bernards Cabernet. I had this at a restaurant once and really liked it (the winery is based on the surfcoast, just outside of Ocean Grove. I am not a big wine drinker, and in the past I have used the cheapest red wine the bottle shop had. As long as it’s red, it works.
This Cabernet is a blend of 63% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Franc, and 14% Cabernet Sauvignon.
For the beef stock, I use the Massel brand; it’s gluten-free.
After at least 4 hours, when the mixture is bubbling away, I use my stick blender to blitz the sauce together. You can remove the steak, potato, and carrot, but I just move them out of the way. This thickens the gravy, and I think it gives the stew a better overall texture and flavour.
About 20 minutes before serving, combine the cornflour with equal parts water and stir until smooth. Then add to the slow cooker and stir as the stew thickens.
Before serving, remove the rosemary, thyme and bay leaves.
You’ll know the stew is ready when the beef is so tender it falls apart with the back of a spoon.
Serve with mashed potato and enjoy!
Beef Stew
8
servings25
minutes6
hours6
hours25
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
1 Kg 1 Chuck Steak
4 stalks 4 Celery
2 Large 2 Carrots
6 6 Potatos
2 2 Onions
6 cloves 6 Garlic
3 sprigs 3 Rosemary
3 sprigs 3 Thyme
4 4 Bay Leaves
3 3 Beef Stock Cubes
1 Cup 1 Red Wine
280 grams 280 Tomato Paste
5 Cups 5 Water
1.5 Tablespoons 1.5 Corn Flour
- Serve with
Mashed Potato
Directions
- Chop the chuck steak into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper, then brown the beef in a hot pan with a little bit of oil.
- Once browned, transfer the beef to your slow cooker.
- Chop your potatoes and carrots into large bite-sized pieces. We want them to hold their shape. You can chop the onions and celery into smaller pieces.
- Add the celery and onion to the beef pan with 1 cup of the water. Cook for a few minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen all of those delicious browned bits left behind from the beef.
- Transfer the celery, onion and liquid to the slow cooker. Add the carrots, potatoes, garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, beef stock cubes, red wine, tomato paste and remaining water.
- Cook on high for a minimum of 6 hours
- This next step can be done any time after the 4-hour mark. Move the beef, potato, and carrot aside. Using a handheld stick blender, carefully blitz some of the remaining sauce, celery and onion directly in the slow cooker. You don’t need to blend it completely smooth, just enough to help create a thicker, richer sauce.
- Before serving, combine the cornflour with an equal amount of cold water (1.5 tablespoons cornflour to 1.5 tablespoons water) to create a smooth slurry. Stir it through the stew and cook for another 10 minutes, allowing the sauce to thicken further.
- Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Remove the bay leaves and rosemary/thyme stems before serving.
- Serve on its own or over creamy mashed potato. Enjoy!
