Slowcooked Beef Adobo

This is a great recipe for Autumn days. It's really easy to do, but you do need to be organised because of the cooking time. I was frying onions and garlic at 7.30am this morning. I wasn't sure what adobo meant, but I am reliably informed by wikipedia that it is Spanish for marinade. (That same page on wikipedia also taught me what chipotles were ~ smoked jalapeno peppers; Deb had mentioned them in her Fish Taco recipe earlier this week and I was totally flummoxed as to what they might be. The best I came up with was something akin to a chipolata, which is a cocktail sausage!)

Preparation time: 25 minutes, cooking temperature: low, cooking time: 8-10 hours, serves: 4.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon sunflower oil

750g braising beef, cubed and any fat discarded

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tablespoons plain flour

450 ml beef stock

4 tablespoons soy sauce (I used the light version)

4 tablespoons wine vinegar

1 tablespoon caster sugar (very fine sugar)

2 bay leaves

juice of 1 lime

salt & pepper to season

Method:

Preheat slow cooker if necessary. Heat the oil in a large frying pan & add the beef a few pieces at a time until all the meat has been added. Fry over a high heat, turning until evenly browned, lift out of the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate. Add the onion to the pan and fry for 5 minutes or until it is just beginning to brown. Mix in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the flour, then gradually mix in the stock. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, bay leaves and salt & pepper and bring to the boil, stirring. Transfer the beef to the slow cooker, pour over the onion & stock mixture, cover with the lid and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Stir in the lime juice and garnish with carrot sticks, sliced spring onions and coriander leaves (I leave those out: they are the devil's own herb!). Serve with boiled or steamed rice.