Beef Stew

This is a great recipe for when you have friends or family over. The long cooking time means the flavours are well combined and the beef is tender. The potatoes and carrots can take a lot of heat without turning mushy and therefore add a great textural contrast to the beef.

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

• 500g beef
• 2 medium sized potatoes
• ½ large onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• ½ celery stalk
• 2 medium sized carrots
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup beef broth (we dissolved a beef stock cube in 1 cup water)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 ½ cup water
• 1 tsp sugar

Instructions:

1. Cut the beef into roughly 1 ½ inch cubes

2. Cut the carrots and potatoes into 1 ½  inch chunks and the celery into 1 inch pieces

3. Slice the onions into 1/2 inch pieces and mince the garlic

4. In a large bowl mix the flour, salt and pepper

5. Make sure the beef is dry and coat them with the flour mixture

6. Heat olive oil in a large pot, keep the heat on medium

7. Fry the beef until golden brown

8. Change heat to minimum

9. To the beef, add all other ingredients and stir to combine them well

10. Cook covered for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring it occasionally

Note: If you don’t have worcestershire sauce you can squeeze ½ a lime. The stew can be served with plain rice, mashed potatoes or bread. Cooking times may vary depending on the type of stove; the idea is to cook it on low heat for as long a time as possible without burning the ingredients or evaporating all its liquid content. Also, how about going all out fancy by making a pavlova to serve as dessert?