simple provençal red wine & beef stew

cooler months call for nourishing stews, red wine, fresh bread, lots of butter, cosy sweaters and a good playlist. a typical wintery sunday for me starts with an early farmers market trip, stocking up on all the beautiful fresh seasonal produce for the week and relaxing in the sun with coffee. then heading home to cook something exactly… like THIS.

INGREDIENTS

• 1kg of organic diced beef (something like chuck or brisket)

• 2 finely chopped onions

• 3 cloves of garlic

• a big glug of olive oil

• 1 tbsp butter

• 1kg of carrots cut into small pieces

• 1 bottle of red wine

• handful of fresh rosemary and thyme

• 2 bay leaves

• 2 cloves

• 2 cups of water or stock

• 1 punnet of blackberries

• salt and pepper

METHOD

in a cast iron pot brown beef in butter, olive oil, salt and pepper in batches. once golden brown, remove from pot and and set aside. then add onion, garlic and carrots into the pot stirring for a minute or two. add beef back in and pour in the whole bottle of wine and stock. add fresh herbs, bayleaf, cloves, salt, pepper and blackberries. cover with lid and let simmer on very very low heat for at least 4 hours.

serve with a simple green salad and fresh bread with butter (for mopping)

bon appetit!

N x