Pot au Feu

Ingredients

Basic recipe per portion:

• 230-280g chuck steak
• 90-150ml (½ cup) of cooking liquid (stock, wine or water juice from can of tomatoes)
• 1 oz aromatics (mirepoix or other vegetables, can of tomatoes chopped or whole)
• salt, pepper and other seasonings (bouquet garni or chilli for example)

For my particular version of Pot au feu to feed 4 hungry people you will need:

• 1 kg chuck steak
• 1 onion
• 1 garlic crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 1 tin canned tomatos
• ½ cup of red wine
• 4-5 cups of stock
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Turn oven on to about 150-160°C.

Trim meat of exterior fat, gristle and sinew. Cut meat and vegetables into bite size pieces. Heat the pan (preferably a heavy braising pan with a lid for slow even cooking), heat the oil, and sweat onion and garlic. When they are transparent and glossy, remove from pan and set aside.

Sear the meat evenly on all sides, and season (don’t over-fill the pan; you may have to sear meat in batches).

Add onions with the bayleaf back into the pan with the meat, and add a tablespoon of tomato paste. Cook the paste out for about 1 minute. Add a slosh of wine to deglaze the pan, reduce the wine down until barely there, and then add can of tomatoes and enough stock to just cover the meat.

Check seasoning, cover pan with lid, place into the oven for about 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally, and adding a little more stock if stew is drying out.