Beef Soaked and Braised in Red Wine
Extract reproduced with permission from Slow Cooked by Allyson Gofton. Published by Penguin NZ, 3 April 2017. RRP $50.00. Text ⓒ Allyson Gofton, 2017; Photography ⓒ Manja Wachsmuth, 2017
Beef Soaked and Braised in Red Wine
Serves: 4–5 Preparation time: 20 minutes Marinating time: 2 hours to overnight
Cooking time: low 5–7 hours, high 3–4 hours
The flavour of this ideal-for-mid-week casserole can be improved by marinating the beef in red wine and herbs for a time before cooking. Marinating relaxes the fibres of tougher cuts, making a pathway for the flavours of the marinade to penetrate. If time does not exist, then skip the step. I’ve cheated the flavour a little bit by using a can of condensed tomato soup – an incredibly useful item to have in your cupboard as it can easily
magic up many casseroles.
750 grams lean chuck or crosscut blade steak
1 cup red wine
2 onions, peeled and quartered
3–4 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
1 small branch rosemary
1 teaspoon freshly ground
black pepper or crushed black peppercorns
¼ cup oil
4 stalks celery, trimmed, washed and sliced
250–400 grams button mushrooms, wiped
1 cup beef stock or water 420-gram can condensed tomato soup
Trim the meat of any excess fat and cut the beef into large 5cm pieces. Place in a sealable bag with the wine, onion, garlic, rosemary and pepper. Seal
and leave to marinate at room temperature for 2 hours or refrigerate up to overnight.
Strain, reserving the red wine, onion, beef and garlic but discarding the rosemary.
Turn the slow cooker on to low to pre-warm while preparing the ingredients.
Heat half the oil in a frying pan and brown the beef well. This is best done in batches. Transfer to the pre-warmed slow cooker.
Add the onion, garlic and celery to the frying pan and brown in the remaining oil until golden. Scatter over the beef.
Stir in the mushrooms, reserved wine, stock or water and tomato soup and cover.
Cook on low for 5–7 hours or on high for 3–4 hours, or until the meat is tender.
Serve this family casserole with mashed potatoes or kumara and garnished with a sprig of rosemary if wished.