Beef, Potato & Carrot Stew

When I placed my last meat order online I bought a kilo of beef cubes, not necessarily with any plan in mind other than that I thought it might do well in a stew or casserole.  Given that we are packing to move, it would be so much easier if there was less fridge/freezer items that I need to transport and out it came.  Today is my last day that my mini-mart is closed as a result of Chinese New Year so one more meal I needed to produce with whatever was available in the fridge.

Giving my fridge a good vegie clean-out, most of the stuff ended up in the stew.  I had some wine leftover from last night's dinner and although I dropped some in the stew, I wasn't willing to sacrifice the whole glass (after 5 hours of packing I needed that glass and a sit, lucky the stew doesn't require my constant attention).

I have this magical little cookbook, barely 80 pages and A5 format, called Women's Weekly Casseroles & Curries  with a terrific collection of about 70 recipes.  So far whatever I have cooked from it, has turned out quite delicious.   Once again I relied on it for a beef stew which I had to adapt to allow for ingredients that I had in my fridge.

The stew is a wonderful winter delight but living in a tropical environment we generally lean towards lighter meals.  However, every now and then I want something comforting and deep in flavour like a good beef stew.  It's also terrific for anyone working out in a gym as the protein from the beef aids in muscle growth.  My brother went off for a workout and promptly had two bowls of the stew.  His muscles will be working overtime overnight.

Ingredients

1kg beef cubes
0.5 cup plain flour
5 small red onion, peeled and quartered
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
4 rindless bacon slices, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
500ml beef stock
250ml red wine (shiraz would be nice for a deep flavour)
410g can crushed tomatoes
2 tomatoes, chopped
30ml light soy sauce
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 sticks celery, trimmed and chopped
0.5 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

Method

Cut the beef cubes to 2cm pieces and coat in flour.  Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan (non-stick would be preferable) and brown half the beef, set aside then heat the second tablespoon of oil and brown the second half of the beef.  Remove from saucepan.

In the same saucepan add the bacon, onion and garlic and fry until bacon is crispy.  Return the beef to the saucepan and add the tomato paste.  Cook for a minute stirring, then add the stock, tomato, chopped parsley and tomato can.  Bring to boil and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.

Add the potato, carrots and celery and simmer for 30 minutes or until beef is tender.  Stir occasionally. 

Serve stew with warm crusty bread, a dollop of plain yoghurt and a bottle of red wine.