Old-fashioned beef stew

Ingredients :

• 3 beef cheeks (about 1.2 kg)
• 1 kg of carrots
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 5 sprigs of thyme
• 1 onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 50g butter
• 500 ml of red wine
• 500 ml beef stock (reconstituted with a cube)
• 1 level teaspoon of coarse salt

Instructions :

1. Preparation of ingredients:

   • Peel the onion and cut it into cubes.
   • Peel the carrots and slice them into rounds.
   • Wash the thyme and bay leaf.
   • Cut the beef cheeks into 4 or 5 pieces each.

2. Cooking the onions:

   • Melt the butter in a cast iron casserole dish.
   • Add the chopped onions and brown them over low/medium heat for about 10 minutes.
   • Once the onions have browned, remove them from the casserole using a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the casserole.

3. Cooking the meat:

   • Place the pieces of beef cheeks in the casserole dish and brown them for about 10 minutes over a fairly high heat on all sides.
   • When the meat is nicely browned, sprinkle with flour, mix and cook for another 2 minutes.

4. Simmering:

   • Add the onions, carrots, thyme, bay leaf and coarse salt.
   • Add the wine and the beef stock.
   • Bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently covered for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

5. Finishing the sauce:

   • After 3 hours, check the consistency of the sauce.
   • If it is a little runny, continue cooking uncovered for about 15 minutes, until you obtain the desired thickness.

Service :

• Serve with steamed potatoes.

Enjoy your food !