Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
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Ingredients
about 900g beef skirt or sliced braising steak
2-3 tbsp olive oil
450ml beef stock
4 large onions
50g unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tbsp chopped thyme, plus extra to garnish
2 tbsp plain flour
300ml white wine
2 bay leaves
For the topping
1 stone-baked white baguette
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp full fat crème fraîche
175g Gruyère, grated finely
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Prepare to the end of step 4, cool, and store in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat on the hob, adding a little extra water, then add the topping and bake.
Cut the beef into 6 equal servings and season well. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a casserole, add half the beef and brown over a high heat for 2 minutes on each side, then remove to a shallow bowl. Add a little stock to the casserole and stir to deglaze then pour into the bowl. Repeat with the rest of the beef, adding more oil if needed.
Meanwhile, thinly slice the onions. Add another tablespoon of oil and most of the butter to the casserole and stir in the onions and a good pinch of salt. Cook over a high heat for 8-10 minutes until starting to brown, stirring so that they don’t catch. Mix in the rest of the butter with the garlic, sugar and thyme then turn the heat right down and cook the onions for at least 30 minutes until meltingly soft and caramelised.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5. Cut 12 slices (about 2cm thick) from the baguette, brush with oil on both sides; season. Bake on a baking tray for about 20 minutes until crisp, turning over halfway. Remove and set aside, and reduce the oven temperature to 140°C, fan 120°C, gas 1.
Set aside a spoonful of onions for the garnish. Increase the heat then stir the flour into the onions in the casserole and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the wine and bubble for 1 minute, then add the rest of the stock, the bay leaves and seasoning. Return the beef to the casserole, submerging it in the sauce. Bring to a simmer, add a lid; transfer to the oven for 2 hours or until tender.
For the gratin topping, combine the eggs, mustard and crème fraîche in a bowl. Season then stir in the Gruyère. When the beef is ready, remove the casserole from the oven and turn the oven up to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6.
Spread the cheesy gratin topping over the crisp croutes then arrange them on top, slightly overlapping. Bake for 20 minutes, uncovered, until the topping looks molten and golden brown. Scatter on the reserved caramelised onions and extra thyme just before serving.
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With more than one town laying claim to this bean-and-meat dish, its exact origins are unclear. But one thing is certain — it's a centuries-old French classic.
The flour helps to thicken a stew as it cooks. Whisk a teaspoon of flour in a little cold water to make a slurry, then stir into the stew as it's cooking. Don't add dry flour directly to the stew as it may clump. After adding the slurry, bring the stew to boil.
Add the wine and tomato paste to the onions and other aromatics in a pan before slow cooking. Plus, this helps to really deglaze any fond that's left. This ingredient is one that your mum and nan would probably use in their stews. It adds a bit of tang, sweetness and savoury spices that give an extra punch of flavour.
The difference between typical beef stew and beef bourguignon has to do with wine. Standard beef stew is normally made with water, broth, and a tomato product for the sauce.However, beef bourguignon is always made with red wine. And for it to truly be considered bourguignon the wine should be a red Burgundy wine.
Chuck meat is your best bet for beef stew, but it's also a pretty tough cut so it needs time to break down and become tender. Rush the cooking process and the beef will be tough and chewy. Follow this tip: For really tender meat, cook the stew low and slow, for approximately two hours.
Cut the potatoes into bite-sized chunks and add to the already cooking stew about 30 minutes before you stop cooking and plate the stew for serving (If the potatoes cook too long, they'll just get mushy or even fall apart and add nothing but a thickening starch to the sew.
If were talking while it's being made; garlic, onion, various herbs, “horse chester sauce” tomato paste, stone ground mustard, or even a small splash of A1 sauce will all “rich up” the broth. So will sauteing the veggies in butter before adding to the stew.
Add spices such as turmeric, coriander and cumin at the early stage of cooking, when you are frying onions and garlic, to enhance the taste of the beef stew. Fresh herbs like coriander and bay leaves also contribute a distinct flavour without making the dish too spicy for the younger members of the family.
If it tastes off-balance, add some finishing flavors to bring it to the next level. Try adding soy sauce or Worcestershire for extra savory (or umami) flavor, a touch of honey or brown sugar for sweetness, lemon zest or vinegar for brightness or chili powder or smoked paprika for spice and depth.
The secret to tender beef stew is to keep the pot at a gentle simmer the entire time so the connective tissues in the beef have a chance to break down and soften.
Add vegetables: After 1 hour 30 minutes, carefully remove pot from oven and use oven mitt to remove lid. Add vegetables and stir gently to combine. Carefully replace lid on pot and return stew to oven to cook for an additional hour.
The most common beef used for stew is chuck steak, also known as gravy beef or braising steak. Beef chuck comes from the forequarter of the animal consisting of parts of the neck, shoulder blade and upper arm.
Pot-au-feu is a slowly simmered meat and vegetable dish that appears on most home tables in France. Pot au Feu, which literally translates to 'pot in the fire', started its life in working-class homes as a way to make less expensive cuts of beef more tender and palatable.
The iconic French dish pot-au-feu, or "pot on the fire," is a stew composed of meat — typically an assortment of beef cuts — along with carrots, potatoes, and an array of other vegetables.
The Oxford Companion to Food calls pot-au-feu "a dish symbolic of French cuisine and a meal in itself"; the chef Raymond Blanc has called it "the quintessence of French family cuisine ... the most celebrated dish in France, [which] honours the tables of the rich and poor alike"; and the American National Geographic ...
Gumbo (Louisiana Creole: Gum-bo) is a stew that is popular in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the official state cuisine. Gumbo consists primarily of a strongly flavored stock, meat or shellfish (or sometimes both), a thickener, and the Creole "holy trinity" – celery, bell peppers, and onions.
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Prep time: 50 mins
