I go to Waitrose for my robust Italian olive oil, which at about £6.50 per litre is the best deal I can find. While there, I also pick up golden linseed which I dry-fry/toast in an open cast iron frying pan before adding to my home made muesli. Their big jars of artichoke hearts in olive oil – youngest loves them on home made pizzas and in sandwiches – are good value as well. Mrs Dad like their dressed anchovy fillets as well. Their three-packs-for-a-tenner meat is quite a good deal; yesterday’s haul included a 4-pack of 1ft sausages and two packs of small topside steaks.
The steaks I put to immediate good use for a rich stew which fed eight – we have a full house at the moment including the au pair and oldest’s lovely boyfriend.
Turn the oven on to a high heat. Then cut the meat into more or less 1″ cubes. I added the cubes to a bowl with several tablespoons of flour seasoned with plenty of salt and FG black pepper and a good sprinkling of dried herbes de provence. Mixed it all around until the meat was well coated; put the meat into a big casserole pan in which two tablespoons of light olive oil and a big knob of butter were ready sizzling. On full heat, stirred the meat around until browned – about 8-10 mins. There was a fair bit of seasoned flour left, so instead of chucking it I added about 2 tablespoons to the browning meat and cooked hot for a few more minutes, constantly turning and stirring. The meat looked mushroom coloured and gunky when I turned it all out into a bowl and set aside.
Two more tablespoons of cooking olive oil brought to sizzling in the same pan: add three medium/large onions, halved lengthways, leaving on a bit of their tops and tails, and then peeled and cut into eight in such a way as to allow them each to have a bit of their top or tail; so allowing them to keep something of their geometric shape while they cook. Toss into the pan and stir as they start to brown. Slice about 8 medium/large carrots into 1″ chunks and throw into the pot with the onions, and stir vigorously. And the same with a whole large head of celery.
Add seasoning – more – salt and FG pepper, four or five bay leaves, and some springs of fresh thyme from your fresh herb enterprise. Keep stirring and turning; put the lid on the pot for five minutes to bring the heat up; then remove and more stirring for another 5 or ten minutes. When you are satisfied that the veg has caught a little and started to brown up nicely (so releasing and developing sugars and thus extra flavour depth), toss in the meat and stir mix evenly among the veg.
Find a half bottle of red wine and pour over the stew. More wine is good, or top up with water to cover the ingredients. Stir again. Put the lid on the pan and bring to the boil. Place the lidded pan into the hot oven and reduce the oven heat to about 180. Leave to stew for a minimum of one hour. 2 or 3 is better. If you are cooking slow, then the oven heat can be reduced to 160.
This method will give a you a suprebly thick and rich sauce and a very full flavoured stew.
I accompanied the stew with Polenta that I’d boiled earlier; I left it to dry out a bit, sliced it into 2″ squares and fried on a black cast iron pancake dish, both sides, until browned. Fantastic combination. Highly recommended.
