Cooking, Slings and Nappies

Yesterday was a wonderful day at home. I spent most of the day cooking and cleaning - basically just nesting. I also did some online ordering for bubs and got a great sling from Etsy from babeagogo, 24 fitted nappies and 6 inserts from a seller on ebay, and some bamboo fitted nappies, PUL covers and wool covers from babybeehinds. I can't wait for all of my purchases to arrive :).

Now to the recipe from today, my french inspired meal...

Beef Braised in Red Wine

Serves 6

1.5kg beef casserole steak, diced

2 brown onions, chopped

2 carrots, peeled, cut into 1cm thick slices

2 celery sticks, cut into 1cm thick slices

6 garlic cloves, crushed

3 cloves

1 bay leaf

6 sprigs thyme

8cm strip orange peel

750ml dry red wine

2 tsp olive oil

4 bacon rashers, chopped

4 cups beef stock

400g can chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Place the beef, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, cloves, bay leaf, thyme, orange peel and red wine in a large glass bowl, stir to combine. Cover and marinated in the fridge overnight.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the beef to a plate. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the onion, carrot and celery to a bowl, reserve the marinade. Preheat the oven to 140 degrees. Heat the oil in a large casserole dish over medium-high heat, add the bacon and cook until lightly golden. Transfer the bacon to a heatproof bowl.

Brown the beef in 4 batches and transfer to the bowl. Add the marinade to the pan, bring to the boil and then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes, skimming the surface occasionally. Add the stock and bring to the boil, simmer for 12 minutes.

Return the bacon, beef, onion, carrot and celery to the pan, season with salt and pepper. Cover and bake in the oven for 2.5 hours. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the solids to a heatproof bowl and bring the marinade to the boil. Boil for 10 minutes to reduce the marinade by half. Return the bacon, beef, onion, carrot and celery, add the tomato and parsley and stir to combine.

We had this with some nice home made bread - very tasty!