{"id":16594,"date":"2015-07-08T13:00:54","date_gmt":"2015-07-08T13:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/?p=16594"},"modified":"2017-01-11T08:31:51","modified_gmt":"2017-01-11T08:31:51","slug":"beef-and-mushroom-stout-stew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/beef-and-mushroom-stout-stew\/","title":{"rendered":"Beef and Mushroom Stout Stew"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever watched an episode of Game of Thrones, you\u2019ve probably heard the ominous phrase, \u201cwinter is coming\u201d. It\u2019s usually muttered by Jon Snow as he stares out at the frozen wasteland beyond the wall. Around this time of year in Cape Town, a similar thing happens as the Cape of Storms begins to muster. Instead of Jon Snow though, we\u2019ve got every single person in Cape Town moaning about winter\u2019s approach. And of course, it\u2019s always going to be the coldest one yet. For me, I love this time of year because it\u2019s the start of stew season.<\/p>\n

Growing up I never really saw the appeal of stew. It just seemed like a bunch of stuff in a pot, but as I\u2019ve gotten older, I\u2019ve gotten wiser. A great stew can turn the toughest piece of meat into a snowflake-on-the-tongue experience. It\u2019s an abyss of rich, meaty gravy with pops of silky veggies. Like any dish there are many ways to make a stew, but there aren\u2019t many as good as a beef shin stew. If there were such a thing as a meat lucky packet, beef shin is it. It\u2019s packed with meat and has a chunky marrow bone centre. It will change the way you look at cows so don\u2019t be surprised, if you find yourself admiring the gentle curve of the next bovine shin you encounter.<\/p>\n

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The shin is cut from the lower leg of the cow and as you can imagine it\u2019s a very active muscle. It has a lot of connective tissue, and the meat is wrapped in a gelatinous membrane.\u00a0 <\/span>During the long cooking required for this cut, the tissue and membrane breakdown to create silky smooth sauce. There\u2019s also the added bonus of bone marrow which adds even more buttery flavour and richness.<\/p>\n

\n

The shin really is the cadillac of slow cooked cuts. It has a massively beefy flavour and it\u2019s still relatively cheap. Back in the day it was considered a cut for the poor, but I bet the poor suckers eating it weren\u2019t complaining.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

For my stew I am going full flavour in everything. I want a stew so full of beefy and umami goodness that my tastebuds moo in satisfaction. To achieve this I\u2019ve got heavy hitters like bacon, mushrooms and anchovies. Bacon because bacon, and mushrooms and anchovies because they contain glutamate, an amino acid that boosts the meaty flavour in food. I\u2019ve also got bone marrow which was aptly labeled, \u2018God\u2019s butter\u2019 by Anthony Bourdain, enough said. For gravy I want a deep, rich sauce, so I\u2019m using a mixture of Guinness stout and beef stock. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Just like onions and Shrek, great stews have layers. Every layer is a flavour opportunity so it pays to put in some effort. Probably the most important layer is searing off the meat to start. Think about it, the best part of a juicy steak is the sear on the outside. The same applies here. Searing the meat off gives the caramelised flavour crust and the best possible start to the stew. Next up is the onions, once again, frying them until golden gives them a sweeter taste, and adding bacon to the mix gives it a salty, porky punch. From there we make a paste from the garlic, anchovies and tomato pur\u00e9e. Instead of adding it raw, we fry it to release the flavours and aromatics. Lastly we roast the marrow bones before tossing them into the pot to simmer and render out. As the layers build so does the overall flavour of your stew.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To go with the meat shin-dig, I\u2019ve whipped up some Irish taters to honour the Guinness gravy. Colcannon is basically mashed potato with spinach, cabbage or kale, and some other odds and ends. It looks sexy and you get to sound all worldly when say to your friends, \u201coh this? it\u2019s just some Colcannon that I whipped up\u201d. That brings us to the end of this meaty adventure. I hope you\u2019ve learnt something new and are planning your stew for the next rainy day. Until we\u00a0meat again, cheers!<\/p>\n

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Beef & Mushroom Stout Stew with Colcannon<\/strong><\/h4>\n

SERVES:<\/strong> 6
\nPREP TIME : <\/strong>60 mins
\n<\/span>COOK TIME : <\/strong>3hrs 30<\/span><\/p>\n

The Stew
\n<\/strong>2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
\n5 anchovies, finely chopped
\n<\/span>2 Tbsp (30 ml)\u00a0 <\/span>tomato pure\u00e9
\n1 large onion, diced
\n250 g diced bacon
\n1 whole beef shin, sliced by your butcher
\n(about 2 kg)
\na splash of oil for frying
\n\u00bc C (60 ml) flour
\n2 C (500 ml) Guinness Stout
\n2 C (500 ml) good quality beef stock
\n5 sprigs of thyme
\n2 bay leaves
\n2 Tbsp (30 ml) chutney
\n12 baby onions, peeled
\n500 g portobello mushrooms, halved
\nsalt and pepper to taste<\/p>\n

The Colcannon
\n<\/strong>6 large potatoes, peeled and diced
\na knob of butter
\n\u00bd C (125 ml) cream
\n2 Tbsp (30 ml) Dijon mustard
\n5 spring onions chopped (only the green tops)
\nsplash of olive oil
\n250 g baby spinach
\nsalt and pepper to taste<\/p>\n

The Stew
\n<\/strong>Combine the chopped garlic, anchovy and tomato pure\u00e9 in small bowl and set aside.<\/p>\n

Fry the onions in a medium sized frying pan over a moderate heat for 5 minutes. Then add the diced bacon and fry until the onions start to get a golden colour and the bacon is cooked. Take the pan off the heat and set aside.<\/p>\n

Carefully cut the meat from the bones and dice into cubes. Trim and discard any large pieces of fat. Set the marrow bones aside for use later. In a large cast iron saucepan (Dutch oven) or casserole dish heat a tablespoon of oil over high heat. Individually place the chunks in the saucepan without touching each other. Sear the meat on all sides until it has a crust. Use a pair of tongs to rotate the meat rather than just stirring it with a spoon. This step is crucial to building flavour in the dish. The crust is what gives the meat flavour, it\u2019s the same principal as cooking a steak. Do this in batches and don\u2019t overcrowd the saucepan.<\/p>\n

Preheat the oven to 230 \u00baC.<\/p>\n

Line a baking tray with foil and place the marrow bones on the tray. Roast in the oven for approximately 15 minutes. (The fat in the marrow bones will start to render slightly, this can be poured into the pot from the tray).<\/p>\n

When the last batch of meat is seared, add the rest of the meat back into the saucepan, along with the onion and bacon mix, and the garlic, anchovy and tomato mixture. Stir fry for 1 minute until fragrant then add the flour. Stir fry for another minute to cook the flour. Add the beer to deglaze the saucepan and stir to scrape off any bits that are stuck to the pot.<\/p>\n

Next add the stock, thyme, bay leaves and marrow bones, ensuring that you add any rendered marrow bone fat from the tray as well. Turn the heat down to a simmer and place the lid on the pot askew. Let the stew simmer for 2 \u00bd hours and stir occasionally. At the 2 \u00bd hour mark, stir in the chutney, and then add the baby onions and mushrooms. Replace the lid askew and simmer for another 30 minutes. Check the onions, if they are still a little firm, continue to simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Season to taste.<\/p>\n

The Colcannon
\n<\/span><\/strong>Boil the peeled potatoes in salted water in a medium size saucepan over high heat for about 15-20 minutes or until soft. Drain well using a colander, and then return the potatoes to the pot over a medium heat for about 3 minutes. Stir the potatoes in the pot with a large spoon to break down. Any remaining water will cook out during this process (water makes for soggy mash and no one likes that).<\/p>\n

Remove from the heat and add the butter, cream and mustard. Mash the potato until the desired consistency is reached. I like mine a little chunky.<\/p>\n

In a large frying pan heat a splash of olive oil and add the spinach leaves. Wilt the spinach for a minute or two and then remove from the heat. Tilt the pan and use a large spoon to compress the spinach to get rid of excess moisture. Fold the wilted spinach and spring onion into the mash then season to taste.<\/p>\n

Serve the colcannon topped with a generous helping of beefy shin and mushroom stew.<\/p>\n

See other recipes in the Meet the Meat series<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever watched an episode of Game of Thrones, you\u2019ve probably heard the ominous phrase, \u201cwinter is coming\u201d. It\u2019s usually muttered by Jon Snow as he stares out at the frozen wasteland beyond the wall. Around this time of year in Cape Town, a similar thing happens as the Cape of Storms begins to muster. Instead of Jon Snow though, we\u2019ve got every single person in Cape Town moaning about winter\u2019s approach. And of course, it\u2019s always going to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4582,4098],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brand-page","category-general"],"acf":[],"brand_slug":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16594\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}