Rich Beef, Jack Daniel’s, Apple & Cider, Silky Rich Sauce.. A Perfect Filling

Worth a mention here, tried this first time over the weekend, yes Jack Daniel’s, cider, plenty of fresh herbs, beef and there you have a flavoursome, rich, deep stew, that can be used as a pie filling, with rice or with some mash. A winner!

We added our beef pieces (stewing beef) into a bag, then added the marinade of some chopped garlic, a good slug of Jack Daniels and quality cider, fresh thyme and rosemary sprigs and left to sit and soak up that goodness. You can leave to marinade for a couple of hours, in our case less because we were starving!

In a bowl take out the beef pieces, dust in flour to coat and reserve the marinade. Fry these pieces in some olive oil, to brown them all over. We then added in some chopped carrots and chunks of apple (you got to have some veg/fruit in there!) and caramelized them with the beef, at this point there are all those brown bits at the bottom of the pan with concentrated piquancy so we deglazed with a dash of more Jack Daniels and cider, after a minute or so then added in the rest of marinade liquid in there.

Finished off with some salt, pepper and a beef stock cube mixed in, then covered and left to simmer for about 45 minutes-1 hour slowly…

Once cooked all that sauce is thickened, intensified, herbs, seasonings and those chunks of beef soaking up the meaty, apple hinted sweetness. We had it with a mash potato and broccoli smash, basically boiling broccoli with the potato for an extra dimension to the mash!

A great idea to try out, its indulgent and belly-warming, you can add as a pie filling topped with pastry or a shepherds pie type filling.