Been away from home for quite some time and these my mouth watering,honey balsamic beef Mshikaki was my way of welcoming myself back into the kitchen. I was feeling tired,jet lagged and starving.8 hours seated on a plane has never been a cup of tea,we all know how disappointing plane food can be. Long story […]
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
Arrived in New York after 26 hours of travelling from Sydney at 4.30pm on St Patrick’s Day.
We were staying at The Roger, a boutique hotel on the Corner of Madison and East 31st, in the area still known as Nomad(north of Madison park). I remember staying in mid-town years back when I visited New York and it is certainly changing with many more trendy bars and restaurants and a much more vibrant and a far less grungy atmosphere.
The rooms are very spacious by New York standards and ours even had a seperate walk in wardrobe. Anyway, impressed as we were with our digs, we wanted a true New York Irish experience to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. After some quick online research, Adrian suggested Molly’s Bar about 15 minutes walk down in Gramercy, on 287 3rd Avenue just down from East 23rd st.
The tiny bar,established in 1960 and known to be New York’s most authentic Irish bar in New York, with sawdust on the floor and a log fire, was packed to the rafters with New Yorkers of Irish descent and every other descent celebrating St Pat’s Day – raucously! As loud as it was, we got there around 8.30pm and managed to avoid any queues and even to get a booth. Somehow the noise seemed to diminish when we sat down and it was still fine to talk and enjoy our delicious meal of Irish favourites – corned beef served with cabbage, vegetables and mash and of course, Irish Lamb Stew.
We knew we were in the US of A when the gigantic main courses arrived, but just like the noise, the size of the dishes diminished when we tucked in! Both meals were delicious and served with complimentary traditional Irish Soda Bread. (Excuse the poor quality of the food pics but it was pretty dark in the booth!) Accompanied by Irish Harp Lager and a delicious glass of red wine from Washington State. Prices for meals and drinks are reasonable and tallied up to about $80 including tip for 2 of us, without an entree(appetiser) or dessert, but including more than 1 round of drinks!
Great green atmosphere on St Pats Day but I think it would be just as much, or even more fun, on a normal evening.