Beef Shin Stew in the Wonderbag™

To our great big #RoyalFamily,

This recipe comes to you from a very chilly Palace in Cape Town. For anyone who thinks that slow-cooking a delicious, warming meal is best kept for the weekend, this dish may encourage you to think again. With the wonderful Wonderbag™, it is possible to slow-cook our recipe for beef shin stew with basil pesto scones to perfection while you are out and about or even at work.

Embrace Winter! It really is a glorious time of year where you should grab every opportunity to stay in, invite friends over, warm your toes near a roaring fire and breathe in the aromas of a slow-cooked meal.

Stay warm,
HRH Kathleen

You will need

For the stew:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1kg beef shin, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 leek, washed and chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped into chunks
1 onion, peeled and cut into chunks
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
½ jar Pesto Princess Red Pesto
250ml red wine
500ml beef stock
5 Tbsp tomato purée
1 Tbsp salt and pepper

For the basil pesto scones*:

250g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
½ jar Pesto Princess Basil & Lemon Pesto
150g Cheddar cheese, grated
1 free-range egg, beaten
±150ml full fat milk
Extra flour for dusting
Parsley and Parmesan to garnish

*Scone recipe adapted from Paul Hollywood

How to

1. In a medium-sized, heavy-based pot, heat the olive oil. Add the beef shin, bit-by-bit and let it brown. Then add the chopped carrot, leek, celery, onion and garlic and stir.

2. Add the Pesto Princess Red Pesto, wine, stock, tomato purée and seasoning and stir to combine. Let this come to a gentle simmer and cook for about 20 minutes before transferring the pot, with the lid on, to your Wonderbag™. Cover and leave for 3-4 hours (or the whole day if you are out at work). If you are not using a Wonderbag™, let this simmer over a gentle heat for about 1.5–2 hours.

3. Once the meat is tender, check the seasoning and adjust as necessary. You can also check that the sauce is thick enough. If you need to thicken the sauce a little, mix one tablespoon of flour into three tablespoons of the cooking liquid and stir that back into the sauce.

4. To make your savoury scones, heat the oven to 220°C. In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, Pesto Princess Basil & Lemon Pesto, and 100g of the cheese. Add the egg and combine. Slowly add the milk and bring the mixture together. You might not need all of the milk. Try not to overwork the mixture as this will toughen the end result.

5. Tip the mixture onto a floured surface and bring together to form a soft dough. Form the dough into a rough circle keeping it quite thick, about 2.5cm. Cut the dough into 6-8 equal sized pieces and roll into balls, flatten and place on top of the stew. Brush the tops of the scones with beaten egg/milk and sprinkle over the remaining cheese.

6. Whether or not you have used a Wonderbag™, your stew will now need to be put in the oven, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes until the scones are golden-brown.

Serve with freshly grated Parmesan and parsley and good glass of wine.

Feeds 4

Recipe and food styling by Michelle Parkin.

Michael Olivier’s Choice

Belfield Magnifica 2013 

The Belfield Magnifica 2013 is an Elgin Cabernet Sauvignon (86%), blended with 7% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc, which is in fact one of Cabernet Sauvignon’s parents. Belfield is owned by Mike and Mel Kreft and has lovely cottages on the farm available for short term rent. They have two other reds in their range.

It looks like Elegantly bottled under cork in a Bordeaux shaped bottle with a sash shaped label. In the glass, a classical dark satsuma plum at the core which pales out to ruby garnet at the edges.

It smells like Dark berries supported by dark chocolate, cigar box notes.

It tastes like The dark berries in the nose are joined by plums and a touch of cassis. Rich from entry through a broad mid-palate into a velvety smooth and gently waning aftertaste. Blood plums linger.

www.michaelolivier.co.za