Catherine's tip: Choose the wine carefully for this dish. Poor quality wine will leave a disappointing aftertaste. Use wine that you would be equally as happy to sip from a glass.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg diced beef
  • 1 bottle red wine
  • 2 tblsp cognac
  • oil for frying
  • 150 g streaky bacon
  • 10 large shallots (peeled and quartered)
  • 4 garlic clove (peeled and diced)
  • 225 g carrots (sliced)
  • 4 tblsp plain flour (seasoned)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 stalks of parsley
  • 1 sprig of thyme
  • 2 strips of orange zest
  • 400 g tinned tomatoes
  • 150 g pitted black olives
  • 1 tsp sugar, to taste
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Place the diced beef into a bowl big enough to hold the wine and beef.
  2. Place the red wine in a saucepan, over a medium heat and reduce by one third. Pour the wine over the beef.
  3. Cover and leave the beef to marinate for approximately 20 minutes, turning the meat occasionally.
  4. Strain the marinade from the beef and reserve the marinade.
  5. Dry the pieces of beef with kitchen paper. Place the beef in a bowl and toss in the seasoned flour.
  6. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Fry the beef in batches, taking care not to overcrowd the pan.
  7. Turn the beef once it has browned on one side. Remove from the frying pan and place in a casserole dish.
  8. Add the diced streaky bacon to the pan and cook for approximately 2-3 minutes. Place in the casserole with the beef. Add the shallots to the pan and cook for 3 minutes before adding the garlic and carrots.
  9. Continue to cook for a further 2 minutes and transfer to the casserole dish.
  10. Pour the red wine marinade and cognac into the casserole dish, ensuring that the beef is fully covered. Top up with beef stock, if required. Bring to the boil and skim. Add the orange zest, bay leaf, parsley and thyme.
  11. Place the casserole dish into the oven and cook for approx 2-3 hours until the meat is tender.
  12. 30 minutes before the end of cooking time add in the tinned tomatoes and pitted black olives. Add the sugar and check seasoning and adjust if necessary.
  13. Serve with crusty bread, mashed potato, Potatoes à la Boulangère or pasta.

Tip:

Choose the wine carefully for this dish. Poor quality wine will leave a disappointing aftertaste. Use wine that you would be equally as happy to sip from a glass.