Every party seems to have someone who will leave behind a bottle of dodgy tasting Ale (often low alcohol) that sits in your fridge for all eternity because nobody wants to try it. So here's what to do with it.
You will need:
Stewing beef (can often be found cheap in shit corner) £2.90
Couple of carrots 26p
Celery 12p
Mushrooms 40p
Onion 8p
Garlic 5p
Stock cubes or spoonful of bovril
Bottle of ale or stout (free from friend with questionable taste in alcohol)
Potatoes 30p
Peas 20p
Total cost = under a fiver
Brown the meat in a large pan for a few mins. Add the chopped onion, celery, garlic, mushrooms and carrots. Fry for another couple of mins then add the ale. Top up with a little water and bring to the boil. Add a good dollop of bovril or beef stock. Season with salt and pepper and reduce the heat right down so it's just simmering lightly with the lid on. Cook for around an hour until the beef is so soft you could chew it with your tongue.
Serve with mash and peas.
You can also make this with red wine instead of ale. Add streaky bacon at the start and you've got yourself a boeuf bourguignon.
A handy hint for cheap cooking wine is don't throw away red wine that's been open a couple of days and tastes like vinegar. It may not be any good for drinking but it will be fine to cook with for weeks as long as the lid is on. You can even add the dregs of another bottle to it.
Labels: beef, booze
