Slow cooked beef and vegetables make for a perfect meal on a cold winter night. So easy to make and so flavourful to eat.
Chef's notes
Like all of my recipes this is GLUTEN FREE.
You can use whatever cut of meat you desire but the tastiest for this dish is Osso Bucco or shin beef. They are the same cut of meat but the shin beef doesn't have the bone left in. The bone and marrow give extra flavour.
If you want to spice it up a little add some fresh chili at the start of the cooking or perhaps some gluten free Worcestershire sauce.....or both!
Steps
1
Prepare the Mise en Place.
Ingredients
4-6 Osso Bucco or shin beef cuts.
2 large carrots.
3 x cloves of garlic.
4 x Bay leaves.
2 x medium parsnips.
1 litre dark beef stock.
1 x medium sized Swede turnip.
1 x large onion.
4-6 small washed potatoes.
1 x sprig of Thyme.
Half a large red capsicum.
Place the meat on a suitable clean tray and allow it to come to room temperature.
Peel the garlic and set aside leaving whole.
Cut two cheeks of a large red capsicum and julienne roughly.
Chop the carrots and parsnips roughly. Clean them well but leave unpeeled, just remove the tops and the root tips.
Peel and roughly chop the Swede.
Clean the potatoes but leave entire and unpeeled.
Roughly chop the onion.
Wash the Thyme and Bay and set aside.
2
Sear the meat.
Ingredients
Shin beef or Osso Bucco.
Salt and Pepper.
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil.
Once the meat has reached room temperature season it on both sides with a little salt and a generous grind of fresh black pepper.
Place the oil into a suitable sized heavy based stainless frypan.
Heat the pan until it is quite hot and add the meat in small batches.
Sear the meat on both sides. If the bone is present then you may have to lightly press the meat for a few seconds to prevent it curling up.
When the meat is browned all over it is ready.
3
Slow cooking the dish.
Ingredients
Vegetables, herbs and seared meat from above.
1 litre dark beef stock.
Place a layer of the chopped mixed vegetables on the bottom of a slow cooker or large heavy based boiler.
Add the seared meat to the cooker and layer the rest of the vegetables on the top.
Add the Thyme and Bay leaves.
Deglaze the frying pan with a little of the stock to dissolve the sucs and pour into the cooker.
Pour enough of the stock over the meat and vegetables to just submerge them fully.
Place the lid on.
Turn the cooker to high (about 100 deg C.) or, if on the stove top, low to medium will be ok.
Simmer the ingredients for about three hours or until the meat becomes tender and falls of the bone easily.
4
Reducing and thickening the Sauce.
Ingredients
Cooked hotpot from above.
2 x tablespoons Arrowroot powder.
To thicken the hotpot remove the lid when it is about half to three quaters cooked. Allow the hotpot to reduce down until it suits you.
Mix the Arrowroot with a little water into a thin paste.
Add the Arrowroot a little at a time stirring well to combine.
The sauce will thicken very quickly so don't add too much at once.
5
Serving the dish.
Ingredients
Reduced hotpot.
Salt.
1 teaspoon white pepper.
Add the white pepper to the finished dish.
Add a little salt and taste again.
Add more salt if necessary until you are satisfied with the seasoning.
Ladle the hotpot into bowls and serve whilst nice and hot.
