Beef Stew

Ingredients

Beef Stew

• 1 1/2 pound stewing beef, diced
• 1 1/4 cups red wine
• slices of orange peel
• 1 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, cut into chunks
• 2 carrots, cut into chunks
• 1 garlic clove crushed
• 2/3 cup beef stock
• 1 Tablespoons cornstarch
• salt and ground black pepper

Potato Crust

• 1 pound potatoes, (about 3-4 potatoes)
• 1 Tablespspoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup mature grated cheddar cheeese
• salt and ground black pepper

Directions

Day 1

1. Place the stewing beef into a non-metallic bowl.
2. Add the wine, orange peel and season with pepper.
3. Stir the ingredients together to cover.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Day 2

1. Drain the marinade from the beef, but reserve the marinade.
2. Heat the olive oil in a stovetop safe cooking pot or large skillet and fry the meat in batches for about 5 minutes per batch to sear the meat.
3. Put all the meat back into the pot or skillet.
4. Add the onions, carrots and garlic. Cover with a lid and cook over very low for 5 minutes.
5. Pour in the reserved marinade stock.
6. Mix the cornstarch into the beefstock to make a smooth paste. Stir into the pot and let simmer on very low heat for one hour.
7. While the stew is simmering prepare the potato crust.
8. Peel and rinse the potatoes. Put into a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil.
9. Cover with a lid, turn the heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes, just long enough to par-boil the potatoes.
10. Drain the water from the potatoes.
11. Let the potatoes cool enough that you can handle them.
12. Slice the potatoes into thin rounds and place the rounds in a flat bottom bowl.
13. Gently fold the oil and grated cheese into the potato rounds.
14. If you used a skillet for the meat, transfer the stew to an oven proof dish.
15. If you used and ovensafe pot you can leave the stew in that.
16. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
17. Layer the sliced potato mixture on top of the beef stew and place into the preheated oven.
18. Bake for 30 minutes until the potatoes are a golden brown. Tent with tin foil if necessary to keep from browning too quickly.
19. Serve right away.