Source video by YouTube on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.
This is a hearty, warming beef stew built around browned chunks of beef, a classic mirepoix, buttery mushrooms, baby potatoes and peas in a rich red wine and tomato broth. The original recipe is simmered on the hob for over an hour, but it adapts beautifully to the slow cooker, where the beef becomes meltingly tender over several hours. Browning the meat and sautéing the vegetables first is essential for depth of flavour, since the slow cooker itself will not caramelise. Serve with crusty bread or buttery mash for a proper cold-weather dinner.
Slow cooker notes: Original recipe simmers on the hob for 1 to 1.5 hours then adds potatoes for a further 20 minutes. Adapted for slow cooker: brown beef, sauté mirepoix and mushrooms (with flour) on the hob as the source instructs, then transfer everything plus liquids to the slow cooker. Potatoes and peas are added later so they do not turn to mush. Beef broth quantity kept as stated (slow cookers retain liquid, but this is a stew with chunky vegetables that absorb it).
Editor's note: Oil quantities for browning the beef, sautéing vegetables and the second pan addition are not stated ('a little bit of oil', 'some more oil'). Butter quantity stated as 'a couple tablespoons'. Worcestershire stated as 'a few tablespoons'. Salt for final seasoning stated as 'about a tablespoon and a half'. Parsley garnish quantity not stated. Italian herb mix composition not provided in transcript (chef references her blog). | Second-pass critique flagged 9 fabricated and 1 quantified issues. See critique.issues for detail.
Ingredients
- 900 gbeef tri-tip or beef roast, cut into 4cm (1.5 inch) chunks
- oil
- salt
- 120 mlwater
- 3 mediumcarrots, diced
- 1 largeonion, diced
- 3 mediumcelery sticks, diced
- 4 clovesgarlic cloves, minced
- butter
- 10 wholemushrooms, thinly sliced
- 2 tbspplain flour
- 240 mlred wine
- 240 mltomato sauce (passata)
- Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tspsmoked paprika
- 0.5 tbspsugar
- 2.5 tspItalian herb mix
- 1.5 tbspsalt
- cracked black pepper
- 960 mlbeef broth
- 2 cupsbaby potatoes (add late)
- 1 cupfrozen sweet peas (add late)
- fresh parsley, freshly chopped (add late)
Method
Cube the beef into 4cm (1.5 inch) chunks. Preheat a large frying pan over medium-high heat with a little oil until the pan is really hot.
~5 minAdd the beef to the hot pan and season generously with salt. Brown for 7 to 10 minutes until well seared all over, then transfer to the slow cooker.
~10 minDeglaze the frying pan with about 120ml of water, scraping up all the caramelised bits, and pour into the slow cooker with the beef.
~2 minAdd a little more oil to the same pan. Add the diced carrots, onion and celery and sauté for 4 to 6 minutes, until the onions soften and turn translucent and the vegetables start to caramelise.
~6 minStir in the minced garlic and cook for 1 more minute, then transfer the mirepoix to the slow cooker.
~1 minMelt a couple of tablespoons of butter in the same pan. Add the sliced mushrooms and brown for 4 to 5 minutes. Season with a little salt, then sprinkle over the flour and toss to coat. Cook for about 1 minute to cook out the flour, then transfer the mushrooms to the slow cooker.
~7 minPour the red wine, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce and beef broth into the slow cooker. Add the smoked paprika, sugar, Italian herb mix, salt and cracked black pepper. Stir well to combine everything.
~3 minCover and cook on Low for 8 hours or High for 4 hours, until the beef is fall-apart tender.
Add the baby potatoes for the final stretch of cooking: roughly the last 1.5 to 2 hours on Low or the last 45 to 60 minutes on High, until fork tender.
Stir in the frozen peas in the final 20 minutes of cooking (10 minutes if using fresh).
~20 minFinish with freshly chopped parsley and serve hot.
~1 min