Mushroom and Merlot Stew Recipe

Serves

7-8

Ingredients

6tbsp ghee, butter or olive oil
2 large onions, diced
4 fat garlic cloves, sliced
1 celeriac, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
3 bay leaves
5 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 litres really good veg stock or bone broth
750ml Merlot or other dry red wine
1 small tin of anchovies, drained and chopped
8 big handfuls of wild or regular mushrooms
a few twists of the salt and pepper mill
4tsp grated fresh ginger (optional)
2tbsp kuzu or arrowroot
2tbsp cold water
1 large tub of natural yogurt
1 small lemon, zest only
4tbsp freshly grated horseradish, finely chopped

Method

Heat 2tbsp of your preferred fat in your largest heavy-based saucepan. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté over a low-medium heat until glassy.

Tumble in the chopped celeriac, bay leaves and thyme and cook for 5 minutes on a low heat. Then pour the stock, Merlot and anchovies into the pot. Let the pot gurgle for 1 hour, until the celeriac is tender. Leave the lid off to let the alcohol escape.

Slice the mushrooms into bite-sized chunks or leave whole if small. Heat the remaining ghee, butter or olive oil in a large frying pan, then lower the heat and cook until tender and caramelised. I do this in batches while the stew bubbles. Season the mushrooms and parachute them into the pot as they cook.

At this point, you can grate some ginger into the pot and let it gently simmer until the celeriac is tender. Dissolve the kuzu or arrowroot in the cold water and add to the pot 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time to thicken the broth. That’s it.

Stir the natural yogurt, lemon zest and finely chopped horseradish together, and serve with this fabulously spicy horseradish yogurt. Creamed potatoes or a chickpea mash are also good with this and will help to stretch the pot to 8–10 mouths.

Recipe taken from Clever Batch by Susan Jane White (Gill).

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