Slow cooker beef bourguignon

The great Burgundy stew of beef, red wine, bacon, mushrooms and little shallots, made easy in the slow cooker. Ten minutes of browning in the morning, a rich and glossy dinner by the evening.

Ingredients

• 1000 g Stewing beef, in large chunks
• 30 g Plain flour
• 30 ml Vegetable oil
• 150 g Bacon lardons
• 300 g Shallots, peeled and left whole
• 250 g Mushrooms, halved
• 300 g Carrots, thickly sliced
• 0.3 Garlic, crushed
• 30 g Tomato purée
• 400 ml Red wine
• 1 Beef stock cubes, made up with 300ml hot water
• 2 g Dried thyme
• 0.5 g Bay leaves
• 4 g Salt
• 2 g Black pepper
• 1200 g Potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 40 g Butter
• 100 ml Milk
• 250 g Green beans

Method

1. Toss the beef in the flour with the salt and pepper. Brown it in batches in hot oil in a large frying pan, about 8 minutes in all, and move it to the slow cooker.
2. Fry the lardons, shallots and mushrooms in the same pan for 5 minutes until golden. Stir in the garlic and tomato purée for a minute, then add it all to the slow cooker with the carrots.
3. Pour the wine into the pan and bubble for 2 minutes, scraping up the browned bits. Add the stock and pour it over the beef with the thyme and bay.
4. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours until the beef is tender.
5. Boil the potatoes for 20 minutes until soft, drain and mash with the butter and milk.
6. Boil the green beans for 5 minutes and drain.
7. Fish out the bay leaf, taste and season, then serve the stew with the mash and beans.