A letter to Margaret Fulton

This is a review I wrote for my coworkers of the first use of my crock-pot, aka slow cooker, this winter. Enjoy. The recipe is from the following tome (and the crockpot looks like the one on the cover):

Classics… and some dishes that should be left behind in time.

Dear Margaret

Your “hearty beef stew” was hearty, beef AND stew. This is pleasing. It is awful when a recipe does not describe its outcome.

One could also use the word “sludgy” to describe it, but I can see why you left that off the recipe name.

The Coles Gravy Beef I used to cook it (I know, you’re associated with Woolworths, I hope you forgive me) turned out lusciously tender, so that was a win, as I am reliably informed that it is the meat you buy to feed to your dogs.

I think it needed a bit more flavour but given I tweaked your recipe so it did not feed my family of eight (1.5kg of beef? Honestly Margaret?), and I didn’t have celery, it turned out fine. Perhaps next time I’d put some chilli in it, or mushrooms.

I think I’m ready to try some of the more adventurous recipes in your book now, but I may give pressed ox tongue a miss.

Yours,

Fresh “everyday rewards” Bread blog (obviously I used my real name for my coworkers!)

PS: I garnished with chopped parsley like you said.

The finished dish – to be served on a bed of carbs next time I think

Recipe-as-I-made-it:

500g stewing beef (used gravy), chopped
Two smallish potatoes, chopped
One carrot, chopped
One onion, roughly diced
Fresh lemon thyme, a couple of sprigs
Some dried mixed herbs
A can of diced tomatoes
Salt, pepper, and flour

Combine the flour, salt and pepper then cover the meat in it. Tip all this into the pot (you could brown it if you can be bothered) and then cover with the rest of the ingredients. Give it a stir and cook on low for 8 hours or so. Mine was probably on for about 10. Just before you’re ready to eat it, mix flour and water to a paste (about a tablespoon of flour) and bang it in, give it a stir then cook on high for about half an hour to thicken up the sauce.

The result was basic but hearty. I think it would be improved by the addition of some more flavoursome ingredients. I read somewhere that you really need to pump up the flavours in a crockpot because the long slow cooking process means they all kind of… disintegrate.

 I’m currently slow cooking beef a la bourgignon at home so I shall report back on the success and/or failure of that dish!

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