February 2010 - Page 2 of 2

On those cold, snowy nights, the slow cooker must come into play. This was totally simple, but utterly delicious. Soft, flaky beef and sweet little chunks of carrot, in a thick oozy gravy. Total cost? About £3 for two big servings.

Beef casserole:

300g stewing steak, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

200g baby onions, peeled and halved

1 pint beef stock

1 teaspoon thyme

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon butter

Chopped parsley

Coat the beef in half the flour and season liberally. Fry in batches in a large pan, allowing to brown. Set to one side and fry the vegetables in the same pan gently for five minutes.

Place in a slow cooker on low and cover with the beef stock and herbs. Cook for 7 hours or until the beef is tender.

Strain off all the goodies and pour the liquids into a saucepan and boil fast to reduce down. Mix the flour and butter together to make a beurre manié and whisk vigorously into the sauce to thicken. Add the veg / meat back into the pan and serve with parsley, scooping up the debris with plenty of bread.

artichokes a la barigoule

This is a recipe from the Ramsay protege Clare Smyth. It’s an unpretentious and hearty french stew, yet takes only 10 – 15 minutes. Mine is a little toned down from her version, going with what I had in the cupboard. It’s usually made with fresh artichoke but I used a jar of good-quality chokes that I had knocking about. It’s very tasty and very simple – my only slight criticism is that I think this will taste much better in the Spring.

Artichokes a la barigoule:

200g pancetta

200g baby onions, peeled and halved

1 carrot, sliced

1 clove garlic, sliced

4 mushrooms, quartered

100ml cider

200ml vegetable stock

500g jar of artichokes

Chopped parsley

Fry the pancetta and onions in a pan until browned. Add the carrots and mushrooms and stir fry four a couple of minutes.

Add the cider and bubble over a high heat. Add the stock and reduce to a simmer.

When the vegetables are tender increase the heat to high and get the sauce reduced down to a thick glaze. Add the artichokes to warm through.

Serve with parsley and bread for mopping up.

The original recipe can be found here.