Epic Beef Hotpot in a Rich Red Wine Gravy
Melt in the mouth slow-cooked beef in a beautifully rich red wine gravy topped with slices of potato and baked to perfection. The ultimate comfort food!
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
Method
Heat a little butter and 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large oven proof saucepan or casserole, add the diced beef, season with a little salt and pepper and fry until browned.
Remove the beef from the pan along with any of the juices and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of oil and a little more butter and fry the shallots for about 4-5 minutes until nicely browned, then stir in the carrots and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
Stir in 1 tbsp of flour and cook for 30 seconds making sure there are no lumps then gradually pour in the red wine and cook for 4-5 minutes until reduced to a smooth paste.
Add the beef and any juices back to the pan, give it a stir then add the beef stock along with a few sprigs of thyme, 2 bay leaves and a little more salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then turn down the heat to low and cook with the lid on for 1 hour 30 minutes, giving at a stir very 30 minutes or so.
Once the beef is tender turn off the heat, if too much liquid has evaporated you can top it up with a little more water until the beef is just covered. Taste and season with salt until pepper.
Heat your oven to 180C/350F and while it's heating thinly slice your potatoes (about 5mm thick) and arrange on top of your casserole. I like to start from the outside and gradually move towards the middle, then add a second layer until all potatoes are neatly arranged on top and the casserole is completely covered.
You can peel the potatoes if you want, but I like to leave the skin on
Dot the top of the hotpot with around 50g (1/2 stick) of butter cut into small cubes, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Put the lid on and cook in the oven for 45 minutes.
Turn the heat on the oven up to 220C/420F remove the lid from the pot and cook for a further 30-45 minutes until the potatoes are nicely browned.
About Beef Hotpot in Red Wine Sauce
Is there anything better than a beef hot-pot when the days start to draw in? For me this is the perfect Sunday meal (sorry roast), with beautifully tender pieces of beef in a rich red wine gravy topped with potatoes. Don't be put off by the amount of time it takes, most of that is taken up simmering on the top or cooking in the oven, so you won't need to be doing too much work after the initial frying of the ingredients. You can even cook the stew part earlier in the day and finish in the oven when you're ready.
Brown the beef first
You want to get your beef nicely browned before doing anything else, this helps to produce more flavour compounds - known as the Maillard reaction - which in turn enhances the flavour of your gravy.
Brasing or stewing beef can release quite a lot of water so you might want to pat the beef dry with a paper towel first and cook in small batches. It's also important to make sure you're cooking on a high heat as it helps the water evaporate when it hits the hot oil.
Make sure you season well
The ingredients in this beef hotpot are quite simple so seasoning is very important, under-season and this becomes a bland mix of beef and vegetables. You'll see in the recipe that I liberally season the beef with salt and pepper when frying, then I season after the strew has finished cooking; it's really important to keep tasting here until you get the seasoning to your liking. Then finally I like to sprinkle the potatoes with a little salt and pepper before they go in the oven.
If you're not confident with seasoning yet then just add a little salt and pepper at a time, taste the gravy, and if you think it's still a little bland add a little more salt and pepper. Continue tasting and adding little by little until it's perfect - don't taste the raw beef though! Only start tasting when everything is cooked.
Floury potatoes are best
Floury potatoes such as maris piper, russet or Yukon gold crisp up nicely. You can use waxy potatoes if that's all you have, but in that case I would be more tempted to boil them in the stew and cook everything on the hob rather than placing them on the top.
Use a bouquet garni
It can be a bit of a pain to fish out the thyme sprigs and you don't really want to serve them so I recommend using a bouqet garni i.e. tie them together with a piece of string. You can then fish them all out together before you top with your potatoes.
Should you take bay leaves out before putting in the oven?
You don't eat the bay leaves they just impart a subtle warmth, if you're in the US you will want to use dried bay leaves - or European bay leaves - as American bay leaves can impart a strong menthol flavour.
It doesn't matter if you leave them in before putting the hotpot in the oven, I usually do, but just make sure you remove them before serving.
Rosemary vs Thyme
I tend to prefer fresh thyme here - you can use dried if you want - as rosemary can sometimes have a tendency to stay a little too firm and get stuck in your teeth. However, if your rosemary leaves feel nice and soft then they work really well in this hotpot.
Top Tips for The Perfect Beef Hot Pot
- Brown the beef first - This helps produce more flavour compounds making for a tastier gravy. Cook in small batches for better browning.
- Season Well - Seasoning is very important, make sure you taste and season the stew before topping with the potatoes.
- Go for a floury potato - Floury potatoes crisp up best and are larger which makes them easier to arrange on top of the stew.
- Use a bouquet garni - Tying up your herbs - or placing in a muslin bag - before placing them in the stew makes them easier to remove, you don't want to end up chewing on bits of stick.
- Make sure you have enough liquid - Too little liquid and your ingredients will stick to the bottom, too much and you'll end up with a watery gravy. You want just enough liquid to cover the ingredients before topping with potatoes and putting in the oven.
- Don't rush - It takes a long time to make diced beef melt in your mouth tender, so don't rush. Low and slow is the way to go.
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