24/06/2024
Slow Cooked Beef Casserole & Gut Health
Come 6 pm, you always feel like a champion when it comes to plating up the meal you put in the slow cooker that morning, right?
But what if I told you that cooking food for a longer period has a heap of health benefits too? When meat is cooked at a lower temperature for an extended time, it becomes even more digestible. The connective tissue breaks down, leaving behind powerful gut-healing factors like gelatin and digestible amino acids.
Here’s a recipe to give a whirl, with a few of my own tweaks. I made it a few weeks ago and served it with kumara mash - it was delish!
Ingredients.
- 1kg beef chuck steak, cut into 2-3cm pieces
- ¼ cup flour (I used corn flour to make the dish gluten-free)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 onions, roughly peeled and chopped
- 4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
- 225 grams streaky bacon, cut into strips
- 2 stalks celery, sliced into chunks
- 2 carrots, chopped
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 cups red wine
- 2 bay leaves, torn
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 cups good quality beef stock (I used homemade chicken bone broth for extra gut healing benefits)
- 2 cups filtered water
- Salt and pepper to season
Method.
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
2. Toss the beef pieces in the flour to gain a light coating. Dust off the excess.
3. In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat half the olive oil and brown the beef a few pieces at a time, turning once with tongs. Transfer to a large casserole dish.
4. Using the same frying pan, add the remaining olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, bacon, and celery, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to the casserole dish.
5. Deglaze the pan by adding the red wine vinegar and red wine. Bring to a rapid boil for 30 seconds. Pour over the meat and vegetables in the casserole dish.
6. Add the carrots, bay leaves, thyme, cinnamon, stock or bone broth, water, and salt and pepper to the casserole dish.
7. Cover and place in the oven for 4-5 hours, or until the meat is very tender.
Serve with kumara or cauliflower mash and a side of leafy greens. Enjoy your hearty and healthy beef casserole!
