A public holiday and Beef Bourguinon

So in addition to a vesak day day-off, I was also homebound yesterday due to a frightful eye allergy (an annual one it seems). I attributed last year’s allergy to a hay fever, not sure what I can call it now when I am back in Singapore. On a separate note, if anyone knows where I can get my hands on some preservative free contact lens solution, my eyes will be eternally grateful!

So, home bound, rained in, stash in the fridge. What do I do? Cleared out the freezer, tipped out the drawer of vegetables, examined the mountain of onions we had in the basket, spied half a bottle of red wine in the fridge. A trip to the market for some chuck beef and three hours later  -- a really rich and sterling looking beef bourguinon.  I was happy. Mr Mo was happy. Now we have a pot of it left, and you are all welcome to it! Minimum utensils, one pot, one chopping board, one bowl.

This feeds four people

-          600 g stewing beef cubes

-          3 carrots

-          2 yellow onions and 1 red onion

-          4 cloves of garlic

-          About 10 brown mushrooms

-          4 rashers of back / streaky bacon

-          400 ml red wine

-          50 ml water

-          2 beef stock cubes

-          2 bay leaves

-          1 Bouquet Garni / 1.5 tablespoons Herbes de Provence, failing which, I used mixed herbs which turned out pretty well

-          Sprig of fresh rosemary

-          Black pepper

Pre-heat oven at 160 degrees.

Sweat Bacon pieces in a ribbon of olive oil (1/2 tablespoon) a high sided casserole pot over medium heat till brown, set aside.

Turn up heat on pot, toss beef pieces in plain flour till well coated, and slide them into casserole pot (with bacon fat) and sear till brown (not burning!) on all sides. Remove from pot. By now, the bottom of your pot would have lots of brown bits sticking to it but fret not.

Drop in onions, garlic and carrots (roughly chopped) and drizzle a little more olive oil (1 tablespoon) if your pan is already dry. Turn down heat and let veges sweat for 8-10 minutes.

Tip in beef and bacon, and stir about for 2-3 minutes. Scatter herbs into the pot. If you are using the bouquet garni, hang on to it for now.

Glug wine into the pot and bring heat down to gentle simmer. Dissolve the stock cubes into the water and add to the pot. Now, herbs go in – bouquet garni, bay leaves and rosemary. Give it a stir and shut the lid.

Place pot in the oven (please make sure your pot is oven proof!) and leave to cook for 3 hours. I had to run some errands, so I cooked it for 1.5 hrs, shut off the oven, came home and turned the oven back on for another 2 hrs while I busied myself making some mashed potatoes to go with.

15 minutes before the oven goes off, slice mushroom into slivers, and brown them in some melted butter over medium heat. This means, toss a tablespoon of butter into a frying pan, and let it sizzle, tip mushrooms in and toss them for about 5 minutes. Add that to your casserole pot.

By now, the stew would have turned a rich deep brown colour. Season with black pepper, and top with another sprig of rosemary to freshen its look.

Plate and serve with semoule, mashed potatoes, or sourdough bread.

Note: There are many types of dutch ovens, and I find the le creuset and staubbs retain liquid and heat insanely well. Corning ware works well as well, I am told.

Bon appetit!