COWBOY COFFEE BEEF

For 4–6 people 

When our son Louis was very small he bypassed the usual first word stage and went straight to sentences. Every morning he would sit on our bed and say, ‘Corffee? No tank you corffee,’ which has always confounded us. Not because he spoke in sentences, but neither of us could think of a single occasion when offered a cup of coffee in bed that we would have said ‘no’. Especially when camping, it is the greatest of small luxuries.

Hang on to the rest of the pot for this beef, a curiosity, though by the end there isn’t the slightest hint of what lies behind the copious rich beef broth, it just has a delicious cowboyish savour. This is more liquid than I would normally start off with, allowing for cooking over a slightly higher heat than normal – very low flames have a habit of blowing out. The gravy won’t go to waste with some buttery spuds, while noodles and macaroni are also fine sops. 

about 1kg braising beef, cut into pieces, ideally the size of a plum

1½ tin mugs of coffee 

1½ tin mugs of red wine 

1 head of garlic, top cut off, papery skin removed 

a couple of bay leaves 

sea salt 

a large pinch of dried chilli flakes or black pepper 

4 large carrots, peeled and thickly sliced 

a couple of handfuls of shallots, peeled 

Place the beef in a large saucepan or casserole with the coffee, wine, garlic, bay leaves, salt and chilli or black pepper. Bring to the boil, skim off any 

foam and simmer covered for 2 hours, adding the carrots and shallots halfway through. Everything should be meltingly tender by the end. The insides of the garlic can be squeezed out and mashed into the juices. 

To eat 

Buttered macaroni or spuds. 

Kit Stove or tripod, saucepan or casserole, sharp knife 

This recipe is from The Camping Cookbook by Annie Bell

If you liked this recipe, why not try this Bean Stew from Cook Slow: Light & Healthy: 90 easy recipes for both slow cookers & conventional ovens by Dean Edwards!