Braised Beef with Guinness

Ingredients

400g of cubed braising steak or slow cook beef (even cubes make even cooking)
2 white onions chopped
300g Chestnut mushrooms
1 500ml bottle of Guinness
2 Bay leaves
Small bunch of Thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme
2 cloves of Garlic
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of Dijon Mustard
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 tablespoons cranberry sauce
2 teaspoons of ground all spice
Splash of Soy sauce
Salt and pepper


Method

Preheat your oven to 130 C/ Gas mark 1

Take the cubed steak and coat it in the flour, salt and pepper. Heat the oil and 2 knobs of butter in a heavy cast iron casserole dish on a medium heat then take the steak in small batches and brown on all sides being careful not to crowd the pan. This stage improves the flavour by caremelising the steak pieces, remove the beef to a side plate for now.

Now add the onion, mushrooms and garlic to the pan and allow to soften for a few minutes before adding all of the remaining ingredients starting with the Guinness. Use only the leaves from the fresh Thyme and also return the meat to the pot. Do not worry at this point if your gravy looks pale it will deepen in colour and flavour during cooking. Add the lid and place the dish in the oven for 2.5 hours.

This method of slow cooking will leave the meat falling apart with a soft as butter texture. Once 2.5 hours have passed remove the lid for a further 30  minutes cooking in the oven to thicken the sauce. Now remove the dish and take one piece of meat from the dish to a sideplate. Apply a small amount of pressure to the piece with the back of a spoon. If it flakes your meat is done. If not then just pop back in the oven with the lid on and check the meat using the same method every 30 minutes until done.

At this point season your sauce with salt and pepper and check its balance. As the stout is bitter it will depend on the sweetness released from your onions and meat for the overall balance, if the sauce is still too bitter for your palette add a teaspoon of black treacle or 2 squares of dark chocolate. Both ingredients don't just add sweetness but also add to the rich dark depth of the sauce.

I like this served with crusty bread and butter but mashed potatoes or even a substantial pasta like papparadelle would work too.

Lulu x