Tag: Beef

Categories
Mains Recipes

Slow Cooked Beef in Guinness

They say drinking a pint of Guinness is a little like attempting to solve a crossword: it always feels good to get One Down 🙂

Forever keen to promote our wellbeing here on A Different Kitchen, I’ve chosen to capture that taste in edible form this St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

This is an old family recipe that never fails: chunks of braising steak tenderised through slow cooking for up to 4 hours with some seasonal veg, in an entire bottle of the black stuff. With a tight-fitting lid, all that taste and goodness is sealed in, making for a gravy that is rich, dark, with a slightly bitter tang and the distinctive taste of Guinness.

Ready to give your wellbeing a dropkick? Cook on.

Servings

Enough here for at least 6 servings.

Timings

30 mins to prepare, then 4 hours in the slow cooker.

You Will Need:

  • 700g braising steak
  • 2 – 3 tbsp plain flour
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 parsnip
  • 1 onion
  • 3 celery sticks
  • 8 – 9 chestnut mushrooms
  • 500 ml beef stock
  • 500 ml Guinness
  • a handful of fresh or dried herbs
  • 1 tbsp tomato passata
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp light brown sugar
  • 2 tsp cornflour
  • 2 tsp cold tap water

Method

  1. Switch on the electric slow cooker at the high setting.
  2. Chop the beef into chunks if not already done. Sprinkle the flour across the base of a shallow dish, and twist in some sea salt and black pepper. Roll the beef chunks in the seasoned flour until covered on all sides.
  3. Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan. Place the chunks of beef in the pan and let fry on the underside. After a few minutes, turn them over and fry again, until the chunks are lightly browned and sealed on all sides. Transfer to the slow cooker bowl.
  4. Chop the onion, carrots, celery and parsnip into chunks and tip into the warm frying pan. Halve the mushrooms (or quarter if large) and add in also. Let the veg come to a sizzle and turn over a few times with a spatula until lightly browned and starting to soften. Scrape into the slow cooker bowl on top of the beef.
  5. Add the stock, Guinness, passata, mustard and sugar to the warm pan and gradually bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Tear in the herbs and, when just starting to bubble, add in to the slow cooker bowl.
  6. Get your spatula into the slow cooker bowl and mix up all the contents. Put the lid on and leave on the high setting for around 30 mins. Then turn it down to the medium setting for another 3 and a half hours.
  7. When the cooking is done, mix up a roux in a ramekin, using the cornflour and tap water, until the cornflour is totally dissolved. Pour in to the slow cooker bowl and stir. The beefy, Guinness gravy will start to thicken. Repeat this stage as necessary until the gravy reaches your preferred consistency – you may need to do it 2 or 3 times.
  8. Serve with roast potatoes or boiled rice.

Customise It!

If you don’t have access to an electric slow cooker, you can still cook this in a casserole dish in the oven – start it off at 180C and turn it down to 140C at stage 6 above.

For the herbs, I had fresh thyme, sage and rosemary, but dried mixed herbs will do the job.

For St. Patrick’s Day I am choosing a favourite Irish track for the ADK Playlist. There are so many that I could choose from: The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, U2, The Corrs, Ash, Sinead O’Connor to name a few. I’ve settled on this one – The Divine Comedy, aka Neil Hannon from Enniskillen in County Fermanagh, with Love What You Do.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Steak & Real Ale Hotpot

This week I’ve had the electric slow cooker back in action, delivering another true winter warmer of a Sunday dinner.

For this variation on the Gastropub classic, steak and ale pie, I bought locally reared beef from a farm shop butcher, along with a favourite dark ale from a local craft brewery. Add hot beef stock and seasonal veg, and leave it to bubble away for several hours in the corner of the kitchen, filling the house and whetting the appetite with its satisfying aroma.

What’s more, I heartily recommend buying an additional bottle of the ale, so that the chef can relax with a glass while all that cooking is quietly underway. Preferably while watching the Premier League on Super Sunday. Hey, I earned it!

For the record, my choice was Meon Valley Bitter, brewed by Bowman Ales in the rolling countryside of the South Downs.

Cheers!

Servings

At least 6 adult portions here.

Timings

5 – 6 hours in an electric slow cooker on low. or fan oven at 140C (No slow cooker? See Customise it below).

You Will Need

  • 3 – 4 tbsp of plain flour
  • a few twists of black pepper
  • around 1kg chuck steak
  • a good drizzle of oil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 onion
  • 2 carrots
  • 1/4 of a celeriac
  • 500ml bottle of real ale
  • 500ml beef stock
  • 100ml tomato passata
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • salt, pepper
  • 1 bay leaf
  • sprinkling of fresh herbs – I used rosemary and thyme.
  • 2 tbsp cornflour
  • 2 tbsp cold water

Method

  1. Turn the electric slow cooker on at the high setting, and leave to warm up. Sprinkle the flour into a shallow dish and season with the black pepper.
  2. Chop the steak into bite-sized chunks. Roll the chunks in the flour and pepper mix until they are coated all over.
  3. Warm some oil in a large frying pan on the hob. Transfer the chunks of steak over and sizzle until the outsides are sealed. Place in the slow cooker bowl.
  4. Top up the oil in the frying pan if necessary, then crush in the garlic. Roughly chop the onion, carrots and celeriac into chunks a similar size to the steak, and add to the frying pan. Turn over a few times with a spatula to get all the veg warmed through and just beginning to sear at the edges. Transfer to the slow cooker bowl.
  5. Next, add the passata, mustard and sugar to the frying pan. Pour in the ale and stir to mix. Turn up the heat and, as it starts to bubble, transfer to the slow cooker bowl.
  6. Finally, pour the beef stock into the frying pan and bring to the boil, before tipping it into the slow cooker bowl.
  7. Place the bay leaf in the slow cooker bowl. Tear or sprinkle in the herbs, and give it all a good churn with the spatula.
  8. After about 40 mins, turn down to the medium setting and leave to bubble away quietly for 5 – 6 hours.
  9. After that cooking time, make up a roux by mixing the cornflour and water until smooth, then pour into the hotpot. Stir in and watch as the sauce thickens. Repeat this stage a few more times if you like, till the hotpot gravy reaches your preferred consistency. You will then be ready to serve.
  10. I served this with some roasted charlotte potatoes, as shown in my main photo at the top of the post.

Customise It!

Don’t worry if you do not have an electric slow cooker – just replace it with a lidded casserole dish. Start it off at 180C in a fan oven for 40 mins, then turn down to 140C for 5 – 6 hours.

I used celeriac, but you could just as easily use parsnip and a few sticks of celery, roughly chopped. The rosemary and thyme were the fresh herbs I had to hand, but you could replace these with mixed dried herbs.

The choice of beer is a matter of personal taste. My Meon Valley Ale is a locally brewed best bitter, but you can use any other real ale. Make sure it is brown or ruby though, to help provide the taste and the colour – a lager just won’t work as well.

Here’s a classic punk album I’ve been listening to again this week, featuring the inimitable voice of Poly Styrene. I could have chosen many tracks from their debut album, but have settled on this: X-ray Spex with Let’s Submerge.

Categories
Mains Recipes

Slow Cooked Beef and Stilton

I first tasted the combination of beef and stilton cheese some years ago, as a hot filling in a Cornish Pasty. I thought the taste was divine and have been a fan ever since, enjoying it in casseroles as well as pies. Stilton adds a salty sharpness to the beef juices, making a rich and creamy gravy to coat and complement the tender and succulent beef.

What better dish to make, therefore, as the next in my slow cooker season.

Servings

6 adult servings, alongside your choice of veg.

Timings

20 mins to prepare, and 4 – 5 hours bubbling away in an electric slow cooker.

You Will Need

  • 700g braising beef, cut into chunks
  • a few spoonfuls of plain flour
  • salt and pepper
  • oil
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 litre of beef stock
  • 1 large glass of red wine
  • 200g stilton cheese
  • some cornflour and tap water

Method

  1. Turn on the electric slow cooker to the high setting.
  2. Sprinkle the flour, salt and pepper on a dish, then roll the pieces of beef in it till they are coated all over.
  3. Warm some oil in a frying pan and fry the beef until the pieces are seared all over. Transfer to the slow cooker bowl.
  4. Crush the garlic clove and add to the remaining hot oil in the pan. Chop the onion and add also. Stir until softened, then add to the slow cooker bowl.
  5. Pour the stock and wine into the hot pan, and heat until it is bubbling. Pour over the beef and onions in the slow cooker bowl.
  6. Leave the slow cooker on high for around 30 mins, then reduce to the medium setting. Let it bubble away for 4 – 5 hours.
  7. Using a fork, pull out a piece of beef to check that it is cooked. It should be tender and flake apart when pressed with the fork.
  8. Cut the stilton into pieces and then crumble with your fingers into the slow cooker. Stir gently so that the pieces begin to melt into the gravy, thickening it as they go.
  9. If you wish to make the gravy thicker, mix up a couple of teaspoons of cornflour with the same amount of tap water, and stir to dissolve. Add into the gravy. You can repeat this again if necessary, to reach the thickness you desire.
  10. Serve with your choice of roasted, boiled or steamed veg. Mine in the photo is served with roast potatoes, boiled brussels sprouts and carrots.

Customise It!

If you wish, you can add veg directly into the slow cooker, and they will take on the flavours of the beef gravy as they cook. Root veg, such as carrots, swede, parsnips and celeriac will work well. You could also serve the dish with rice instead of roast potatoes, to soak up all that rich, stilton sauce.

Don’t worry if you do not have an electric slow cooker. You can use a casserole dish instead, and cook it in the oven. Start off with the oven at 180C, then reduce it to 160C at step 6 above.

It’s getting to that time when I receive my playlist from Spotify with all my most-played tracks of the year. This is one that will almost certainly feature, as I’ve listened to it many times. It’s by New York band Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Heads Will Roll.