It has been a while since I did any sort of cooking/recipe type posts on here, but as this seemed to go down well with my Facebook chums, and I’d bothered to scribble down what I’d done for some of them thought I may as well share it here too.

Also it’s worth mentioning here, that as it was never intended for publication, the photographs featured are hardly describable as informative…apologies for that.

Anyway here goes, the ingredients are approximate but not far off, serves about three people or two if you like a good munch, but just double up to feed a bigger group, it’s a really hearty cockle-warmer.

Ingedients:

500g lean steak (this would work even better with something fattier like shin beef but we were trying to be healthy)

1 carton of passata (sieved tomatoes)

2 medium onions cut into chunky wedges

3 cloves garlic (peeled but not chopped)

Tspn Italian herbs (or fresh) & to taste.

2 bay leaves

2 heaped tspn plain flour

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper (about a tspn each)

Glass of port or red wine (or more to taste)

Beef stock cube with about 400ml boiling water.

Handful of mushrooms quartered

Mix the flour salt and pepper in a bowl, throw in the steak and toss in the seasoned flour to coat the meat and until all the dryness has gone.

In a wok/large frying pan/skillet, throw in a splash of olive oil, when hot add the onions and garlic, frying on a medium heat for 1 minute.

Add the steak and cook until all the meat is sealed and starting to brown.

Pour in the passata and beef stock, stirring well to get all that lovely meaty coating off the bottom of the pan.

Finally mix in the port, herbs and bay leaves, stirring further whilst bringing to a simmer.

Then, transfer to a covered casserole pot and cook on a med to low oven at about 150-160 for approximately 3 hours. Keep checking to make sure the sauce is thickening but not drying out.

At that point I added the mushrooms and a touch more seasoning to my personal taste and put it back in the oven (lid on still) for a further hour.

Note: You can add the mushrooms at the beginning if you wish, but I prefer them to retain a bit of firmness which is lost if slow cooked in my opinion. Also, I am sure this would be even better if a slow cooker was used and it cooked all day, so is perfect to put in before work and have a lovely home cooked meal to look forward to.

I served this fresh with gnocchi (supermarket bought), it only takes about 3 to four minutes to cook. Once the gnocchi is cooked through, add at the last 5 minute before serving mark and stir in to coat with that indulgent velvety sauce. It could be served with pasta or creamy mash for a similar effect though.

Tip: If it is getting too thick whilst cooking, add a bit more stock or port (not Stockport) & lower the heat slightly, remember though, that sauce needs to be thick and velvety to coat the gnocchi and just be generally lush..

For a beer to pair with recommendation, I thought back to a Mark Dredge FABPOW post from several years ago, where he went for Rochefort 8 to go with Spaghetti Bolognese. Although a very different sauce of course I am sure these would still compliment each other really well, or maybe go even heavier with perhaps a Chimay Blue (Grande Réserve) which is often available in supermarkets or even better, Rochefort 10…enjoy

Tryanuary Support your brewers, breweries, beer retailers, pubs and bars by sampling something new this January, follow #Tryanuary on Twitter for updates.