Slow Braise and Short Days

With the winter solstice just past the days will be getting longer and we can look forward to all the fresh fruit and vegetables that come with the spring and summer season. In the meantime we will have to make due with the wide array of root vegetables readily available this time of year. One of my favourite cook books I received last year was Michael Smith’s Chef atHome. His simple recipes are easy to follow and have a good base of knowledge that you can apply to other recipes. It was from this cookbook that I started checking on his website quite frequently and one of his recipes of the day last week was Beef Stew. This incited a craving for the slow braised beef and rich red wine and tomato sauce that accompany it. It also has a wide variety of vegetables, of which we have been lacking lately.

Recipe @ http://chefmichaelsmith.com/Recipe/beef-stew/

 I altered this recipe in a few a ways. First I removed all of the vegetables that Katie isn’t a fan of: Peas, Parsnip and pickled baby onions. Second, I found that the sauce did not thicken naturally over the cooking time, so at the end I mixed 2 tbsp corn starch with ¼ cup red wine and added this to the stew to have a thick gravy like sauce.