Last week was my last at my old work, with a fresh and exciting new adventure to begin for me next week. That means I had this week off, spending each beautiful day at home. Oh all the fun things I did, cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the bathroom, doing the laundry, watching daytime TV. If only there was a some way this could pay the bills, one can only dream…

So I find myself digging through our pantry and discover our seasonally out of favour slow cooker, filled with half open bags of flour, packets of once-used spices and other kitchen goodies which do not belong in the pantry (and yes, the slow cooker doesn’t belong there either). So I dust it off and decide to whip up an easy stew for dinner like a good spouse for the breadwinner of the week

Beef Bourguinon

I chose to use the fattier and tender scotch fillet as opposed to a tougher, meatier cut as I was planning to have it cook for a relatively short amount of time. Plus, it was a super delicious second lunch hot off the pan after the cubes were seared.

After cooking for about 6 hours, the meat became very tender. Most of the surrounding ingredients had softened and added to the thickening broth (which was thick as gravy at this stage). Although the stew was quite salty, it tasted unbelievable. The red wine and bacon really enhanced and enriched the flavours in the stew. Needless to say, it made Ms. Taste very, very happy.

Beef Bourguignon

Ingredients

Ingredients

Small pack of middle bacon
Hunk of scotch fillet (or whatever stewy cut of beef or veal)
Carrots, peeled and sliced
Onions sliced up and one or two peeled onions
Mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup beef stock
2 cups red wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf

Somewhat more prepared and ready for cooking

Method

1. Fry up the bacon, set aside.
2. Brown the beef, set aside.
3. Brown the carrots and onions and then throw it into the slowcooker.
4. Add the flour and stock and mix.
5. Add the bacon and beef and mix.
6. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir and cover.
7. Cook on high for 5-6 hours (or low for 10-12 hours)

Cubes of beef, ready to be browned

Mmm fattyness

Make sure to leave enough for the slow cooker

Beef Bourguinon

Beef Bourguinon