Beef Bourguignon with Star Anise and Cloves

This beef bourguignon is made even more soul warming through the addition of star anise and cloves. The resulting dish has just the right dash of these spices to liven up what can be a rather heavy dish. Great winter staple. The smell of this cooking will get everyone salivating.

Prep time: 30 minutes  Cooking time: 2.5-3 hours
Ingredients:
1.5 kg chuck steak diced into medium size chunks
200g thick cut bacon with fat cut into strips
2 tbspns Vegetable oil
6 tbspns butter
12 eschallots or baby onions
12-14 button mushrooms
1 onion finely chopped
1 carrot diced
3 cloves of garlic crushed into paste
2 tbspns plain flour
750ml red wine
1.5 tbspns tomato paste
Bouquet garni
3 star anise
4 cloves
3 cups chicken or beef stock
Salt and pepper
Fresh parsley chopped to garnish

Method:
In a large casserole dish cook bacon over medium heat until golden brown and fat has melted.

Brown beef in small batches, adding oil in between batches if needed. Keep browned beef aside.

In a separate frying pan melt 2tbspns butter and fry baby onions until golden and set aside

Then fry mushrooms with another 2 tbspns butter and fry until golden and set aside

Add rest of butter to casserole pot, melt and then add star anise, cloves, onions, carrots and garlic and cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes

Add the flour and stir through, then add wine, tomato paste, bouquet garni and bring to the boil, scraping bottom of pan

Add beef and bacon to the casserole and add the stock, bring to boil then simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 2-2.5 hours until meat is very tender

Add salt and black pepper to taste

Add the mushrooms and onions and cook covered for another half an hour

Remove the bouquet garni and star anise

Garnish with parsley and serve with mashed potatoes, green salad and crispy bread rolls to help mop up the sauce