FOOD OF THE WEEK!

Braised Beef Stew With Cranberries Braised Beef Stew with Cranberries

 

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

1 hour 45 mins

Total time

2 hours 5 mins

 

Delicious beef cubes, braised in red wine and flavoured with cranberries. You could also used canned whole berry cranberry sauce in place of the homemade cranberry sauce.

Recipe type: Main Course

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• Cranberry Sauce:
• 1 /2 cup water
• 1/2  cup white sugar
• 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 
  
• For stew:
• Cooking oil
• 2 lbs. stewing beef cubes
• 2 small onions, thinly sliced
• 1 1/4 cups red wine
• 1 1/4 cups stock (beef or chicken)
• 1/4 cup cranberry sauce
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs (or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves)
• 
  
• 1/2 cup cranberry sauce
• 2 tsp. cornstarch, for thickening at end, if necessary
• Fresh chopped parsley, for garnish

Instructions

1. For the cranberry sauce: Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir well. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring regularly, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until most but not all of the cranberries have burst and the sauce has thickened. Remove to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate if not using immediately. (Left-overs can also be frozen).
2. For the stew, cut the stewing beef in to 1-inch chunks if not already that small. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, heat 1 Tbsp. oil over medium heat. Add 1/2 of the beef cubes. Cook, stirring, until evenly browned on all sides. Remove to a plate. Add another 1 Tbsp. oil to the pan and the remaining beef cubes. Cook until browned and remove to the plate.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in same pan. Add the onions and cook, stirring regularly until golden. Return the beef to the pan. Add the wine, stock and 1/4 cup of cranberry sauce. Bring to a boil, stirring well with a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook covered at a gentle simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Remove the cover at 1 1/2 hours and check that meat is tender. If so, add a further 1/2 cup of cranberry sauce. Stir to combine. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed. If the cranberry taste seems too subtle, add a bit more and stir in. Cranberry taste should be present, but not over-powering the beef. Simmer for a further 5 minutes. If sauce needs thickening, spoon out 3 Tbsp. of the stew broth and combine with 2 tsp. cornstarch. Add mixture a bit at a time back in to stew and cook, stirring, until sauce reaches desired thickness.
5. Serve with a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley. Especially nice over mashed potatoes. If desired, flavour mashed potatoes with a few teaspoons of horseradish for a lovely complement to the stew.