Catalan Beef Stew.

A Catalan sheep dog rushing with his bowl for the left overs of this lovely stew.  We can all live in hope, you know.

• ¼ cup, 60 ml, 2 fl oz olive oil
• 2 lbs, 1 kg stewing beef in cubes.  Shin is excellent.
• 1 tbspn some sort of flour – chickpea; potato; rice etc.
• 8 oz, 1 cup, 240ml red wine
• 2 cloves of garlic, halved
• 2 chopped onions
• 2 chopped tomatoes
• 1 sliced carrot
• 1 chopped stick of celery
• 1 chopped leek
• 1 oz, 25 gm unsweetened baking chocolate – or as dark as possible.
• ¼ tspn cinnamon
• Celtic sea salt (don’t be mean with it, read the salt blog) and pepper
• 1½ cups, 360 ml, 12 fl oz beef stock, home made, of course.
• Serves 4.

1. Pour the oil into a large cooking pot, heat it and add the meat.
2. Brown meat for 3-4 mins, add the flour and stir it all about.
3. Add the wine, stir and cook for 1 minute
4. Add all the other ingredients except the stock.  More stirring.
5. Add the stock.  Final stirring whilst bringing to the boil
6. Partially cover and simmer for about 1½ hours until the meat is tender.