Ma's red wine baked beef

Yes, another beef recipe, but this one is really special - the beef drops to pieces and is really infused with the flavour of the red wine. I suggest using a really dry meaty wine, like a burgundy. And as Ina Garten advises, drink the same wine when you eat the dish. My Ma invented this recipe this year and it's already become a family classic!

Ingredients
  • 2 onions
  • 1 teaspoonful of olive oil
  • 1.5 kg of beef - a topside joint
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • Ground salt, to taste
  • Ground pepper, to taste
  • 1 beef stock cube
  • 1 bottle of red wine
  • 10 or more chestnut mushrooms
Method
  1. Start the day before to get really tender meat... preheat the oven to 170°C.
  2. Chop the onions finely and crush the garlic.
  3. Put the oil in a big pan, heat and brown the meat on all sides to seal in the juices.
  4. Take the meat out and set it aside to rest a little.
  5. Put the onions and garlic into the pan (you may need a little more oil) and cook them slowly until softened.
  6. Cut the joint into thick slices and arrange in a baking dish or casserole.
  7. Season the meat with salt and pepper, then cover it with the cooked onion and garlic.
  8. Crumble the stock cube over the top.
  9. Pour over the wine.
  10. Cover with either tin foil or the lid and bake in the oven for four or five hours (it smells lovely while it's cooking!)
  11. The next day, slice the mushrooms and add them to the meat.
  12. Reheat for half an hour at 200°C.