Beef and Red Wine Stew

In the cooler months, there is nothing nicer than a delicious beef and red wine stew. This is an old family favourite. The quality of the finished product does depend on the quality of the wine though. Don’t put into the pot anything that you wouldn’t serve in a wine glass to your guests. Today I opened a bottle of Tulloch Cabernet Sauvignon from the Hunter Valley where I live in Australia. Supporting the locals is what it is all about. One glass for me while I cook of course – just to make sure that the wine is okay and give me fortitude while cooking.

The blade beef cut is the best for flavour and just falls apart with cooking. Make sure that you keep some of the fat on the meat to add to the dish's flavour. Get your butcher to bone out the blade and it’s cheaper if you cube it yourself.

I love the smell it leaves in the house when you arrive back home after a day at work and the electric crock pot is no fuss.

Ingredients:

• 2kg blade roast, cubed

• 1 ½ cups of Tulloch Cabernet Sauvignon

• 2 brown onions – cut Julianne

• 4 medium carrots

• 6 cloves of garlic

• 2 tbsps olive oil

• 3 cups of water

• 2 tbsps. Plain flour

• 2 tbsps of Caramelised Balsamic Vinegar

• Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

1. In a pan on high heat, brown the onions and whole garlic in the olive oil.

2. Don’t burn the onions but get them quite brown. This adds a lovely caramelised flavour.

3. Tip onions and garlic into a medium crock pot. In small portions, add the cubed meat to the pan and brown the meat.

4. Add meat to the crock pot and continue until all meat has been browned. Add the water to the pan, stir in the flour, and bring to a boil. Add to the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients. Salt and pepper to your preference.

5. I cook the stew for approx—6 hours of cooking on automatic setting. The meat should be falling apart and the gravy shouldn’t need any further thickening. I served this stew with sweet potato mash and baby broccoli.

6. Serves 8 good-sized portions. Freezes well