Catalan beef stew with chocolate

Catalan Beef Stew with Chocolate (Estofat de Bou amb Xocolata)

This is an authentic recipe from the Catalan Cuisine. I make it again and again and".....again! This has kept my family nourished and warm through the cold winter. What is really satisfying is that when you look into the pan towards the end of cooking time, you think, ‘Mmm, a bit grey and plain looking’ and then you put in the chocolate and cinnamon, and in front of your eyes it turns into a rich, dark, velvety and aromatic sauce. Sometimes I cook the stew without the potatoes, but serve boiled ones on the side; at other times I serve it with rice, or root vegetables. I suggest that you can substitute the botifarra with three good English sausages if necessary.

Serves 4 (easily doubled)

Prep time: 20 mins, Cooking time: 3hrs

Ingredients

60g thick bacon, sliced

750g braising steak, cut into chunks about 4cm

250ml vi ranci, or dry sherry

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 farcellet or bouquet garni (a bay leaf, a sprig each of thyme, marjoram and savory, if you can find it or use sage instead, tied together)

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tbsp flour

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

20g good dark chocolate, finely grated

¼ tsp cinnamon

500g new potatoes

1 tbsp olive oil

1 botifarra sausage, cut into 1cm slices, or substitute with 3 good English pork sausages.

Here we go. To cook this tasty dish,

Sauté the bacon in its own fat in a heavy-based casserole over a low heat until golden brown but still juicy. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep to one side.

Put the beef into the pan of bacon fat and lightly brown on all sides, then return the bacon pieces to the casserole.

Pour in the vi ranci or sherry and bubble up, stirring and scraping all the bits from the base of the casserole. Add the onions, garlic, farecellet, and parsley and stir in the flour. Then pour in 500ml of water and season.

Bring to a simmer, then cover the casserole and cook gently for around 2½ hours, stirring occasionally.

Add the chocolate, cinnamon and potatoes and continue simmering for another 30 mins or so, until the potatoes are tender, adding more water if necessary.

Just towards the end of the cooking time, heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the slices ofbotifarra until golden.

Lift the bouquet garni from the stew and serve, garnished with the fried botifarra slices on top.