Hale and Hearty

I finally found beef short-ribs in a supermarket! I've been wanting to cook with them for ages, since they are the perfect meat for slow-cooking, and are just generally very tasty.  I got a bit overexcited and ended up buying 6, which is enough to last me for almost a week, so there will be another short-rib recipe coming up soon, I expect.

Hearty Beef Short-rib Stew
serves 3-4
1 onion
2 small turnips
2 carrots
about 400g chestnut or other mild mushrooms
3 or 4 beef short-ribs
flour
1 cup red wine
3 cups beef stock
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 star anise

Let's start by preparing some vegetables:

an onion

chopped!

turnips

chopped!

carrots

diced really fine because I don't like cooked carrot!

mushrooms

sliced!

now for the meat:

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm... look at that marbling - this is going to be yummy!

season the short-ribs with salt and pepper

then coat them in flour.

Heat some butter and oil (this stops the butter from burning) in a pan and seal the meat

when they are nice and brown, remove them to a plate

it's at this point I really wish I had one of those le creuset pans

You will be left with all of this yummy stuff!

throw in all the vegetables

don't be like me and throw them all over the cooker.

stir them around in the nice tasty stuff, and let them cook down for a couple of minutes

it's at this point that if I had some red wine, I would put in some of that and some beef stock, but I didn't, so I just added 4 cups (just under a litre) of beef stock

once again, don't be like me and pour half of it on the counter.

then add chili flakes and nutmeg. If I had star anise, I would also throw one in at this point. The spices just add an extra warmth and depth of flavour, they are not at all overpowering.

now, add the beef back in, bring to the boil, then cover and cook over a very low heat (i.e. not even a simmer) for 2 and a half hours. If you want the gravy to be thicker, then at the end throw in a spoonful of flour and boil through for a couple of minutes.

and there we have it! I served mine with mashed potato and kale. The meat was moist and tender, the veggies were melt-in-the mouth and the mushrooms were meaty and flavourful - yum!