Ingredients
2kg of beef
50 g plain flour
Salt and pepper
Six tablespoons vegetable oil
10 small shallots, peeled
Six sticks celery, roughly sliced
Eight carrots, roughly chopped
25g dried porcini mushrooms
600ml red wine or stout
300ml
Beef stock
Three sprigs thyme
500g button mushrooms
Two tablespoons redcurrant jelly
Method
With your ingredients all weighed out, start by cutting the beef into one-inch chunks and trim off any excess fat.
Place the flour on a plate or in a plastic bag with plenty of salt and black pepper and toss the meat in it until well coated.
Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole and add the beef and fry until browned on all sides – you may need to do this in batches, as you don’t want to overcrowd the pan as that will result in stewing the beef rather than browning it.
The next step is to remove the meat from the pan using a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add the shallots, celery and carrots to the pan and fry for five minutes, or until softened a little.
In the meantime, soak the mushrooms in a bowl of 300ml of boiling water until softened before draining. Reserve the soaking liquid and chop the mushrooms into smaller pieces.
Return the meat to the pan and add the wine before bringing it to a boil for four to five minutes, or until the volume of liquid has reduced by about a third. At this point add the stock, soaked mushrooms, their soaking liquid and the thyme.
Bring this all to a boil and then cover and simmer on low heat for about two and a half hours or until tender.
If you prefer you can cook it in a preheated oven at 150C/300F/Gas 3 for the same time.
The final step is to add the button mushrooms and the redcurrant jelly and cook for a further 30 minutes.
If you want to thicken the sauce further, mix one tablespoon of plain flour with two to three tablespoons of cold water to make a thin paste and add gradually to the boiling sauce until thickened to your liking.
