Our oven got a workout today. Not a hard core workout. But rather a slow all day 80 degrees affair. The other thing in our house getting a workout is our mushrooms. They have been growing incredibly fast, I can not pick them quick enough.

Can you see them growing?

They looked delicious, so I decided to make a mushroom stew.

More accurately a Mushroom & Beef Stew.

Whilst this Mushroom & Beef stew took 8 hours to cook, it certainly is not as difficult Julia Child’s recipes. Ms Child’s famous Boeuf Bourguignon recipe is the only stew I have ever made. Normally I will pour my heart in the kitchen attempting to recreate one of the classics from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, reading and flicking between pages of recipes to make one stew. I have pots and pans everywhere. Butter is everywhere. Wine is everywhere.

Today I made a simple, healthier stew.

However, I must go back, and say Merci Beaucoup to Julia Child, for she has taught me to cook a stew.  Simply by meticulously following her  Boeuf Bourguignon recipe on countless occasions I have learnt how to construct the perfect stew.

 Mushroom & Beef Stew

You will need…

2 x grass feed eye fillets (chopped in half), Shallot / Onions, Clove of Garlic, 30g Butter, Corn flour, Large Carrot, Potato, Mushrooms (as many as your can collect from the garden or the brown paper bag in the fridge), Fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, parsley), 1L Chicken stock.

One pot…& an oven.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  In a large cast iron pot, melt the butter with the onion, garlic & herbs. Wait until you can smell the delicious mix of melted butter and all of the herbs. Put the meat in the pot and carmalise, the add about a tablespoon of corn flour, making sure to coat the meat in the corn flour and butter. Place the pot in the oven, keeping the lid off for about 5 minutes. Chop the carrot and the potato in chunky pieces and leave the mushrooms whole. Add carrot, potato & mushrooms to the pot. Pour all the chicken stock over the vegetables and the meat.  Bring to the boil in the oven for about 10 minutes and then turn oven down to 80 degrees. Cover the pot in the over and cook this little beauty for 8 hours.

Pasta, mashed potatoes, gnocchi would all work as a beautiful side.

Tonight I served a rustic side of freshly baked bread. Hubby & I ripped the warm bread into chunks (just like dumplings) and dunked this into our stew. The bread recipe tonight was a new recipe courtesy of Whole Larder Love.  Thank you WLL!

Warm. Doughy. Delicious. Bread. The perfect accompaniment to my Mushroom & Beef Stew.

Made as always with love xox