A Rather Overdue But Scenic Daring Cooks Boeuf Bourguingnon

So, the 14th of each month is the Daring Cooks challenge reveal date. However this 14th, I was on a ferry from the tiny island of Colonsay, off the West Coast of Scotland, back towards the mainland, then on towards Aviemore to camp at the Rothiemurchus estate on our camping tour of the North of Scotland. So not really ideal blogging conditions.

I did however do the cooking bit of the challenge on time, whilst on our travels, and took advantage of the well equipped (not to mention scenic) kitchen in Tongue Youth Hostel, coupled with a stainless steel vacuum food flask to make a very passable Beef Bourginon.

Our May 2012 Daring Cooks' hostess was Fabi of fabsfood. Fabi challenged us to make Boeuf Bourguignon, a classic French stew originating from the Burgundy region of France.

A word of forewarning to any Bourguignon purists out there - this is by no means authentic! But I am very proud of it - and of the village shop in Tongue that managed to supply the key ingredient.

Boeuf Bourguignon a la Tongue Youth Hostel

Here are my ingredients... Round steak (thank you Tongue village shop), Rosemary (taken from home, still doing OK after 5 days on the road), Chorizo (the last little bit, after two other chorizo based meals!), a carton of chopped tomatoes, olive oil, mushrooms, an onion and 3 small carrots (taken from home and definitely starting to suffer from the travelling), and some red wine, from a bountiful wine box :o) Plus the important steel vacuum flask.

Not exactly mise en place!

And the method... chop and brown the onion in oil, then dice the beef and add it, stirring until browned. I cut the beef into fairly small pieces, just in case the vacuum flask cooking didn't go so well! Then I added the chopped carrot, mushrooms, tomato puree, a sprig or two of rosemary and the wine and brought it to the boil. In the meantime I put some boiling water into the vacuum flask to warm it. As soon as it was boiling, I poured the water our of the flask, poured the beef in, sealed the lid and then.... crossed my fingers and left it for 24hrs.

Ready to go into the flask

This has to be one of the most scenic dish washing views I've ever seen

Fast forward 24hrs, and dinner time sees us sitting in the car, in Scourie, in the rain. With a sense of trepidation, we opened the flask and decanted the contents into a very glamorous transparent green plastic bowl. There was still steam - which was a good sign - and when we tasted it, the veg was cooked, the meat tender, and it was a delicious, tasty, meal - win!