500 g chuck bottom blade steak or roast

500 g button mushrooms* – left whole if small, otherwise halved

1 medium onion, diced

8 cloves of garlic, left whole

3/4 cups beef broth or chicken stock

1/4 cup dry red wine (or more stock)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seed, whole

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaf

Salt (adjust according to the broth)

1 - 2 bayleaves – fresh or dried

Hearty dash of worcestershire sauce

Hearty dash of Tabasco sauce

splash of vermouth or wine for deglazing
 
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour - for thickening the gravy
1/2 cup water
 
1/2 recipe of biscuits – or 1 full recipe, if you want a thick crust

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cube the steak into bite-sized pieces, and trim away any excess fat.  Heat up a heavy frying pan until it is very hot, and sear (in batches!) on at least 2 or 3 sides until a nice dark colour is achieved.  Remove steak pieces to an ovenproof dish as they are done.

When all the steak has been browned, dump the onions into the pan and stir madly.  Deglaze by splashing a little vermouth (or water, or stock) into the pan, and scrape up the lovely dark brown fond that has hopefully accumulated on your pan.  Add the broth, tomato paste, mushrooms, and garlic cloves and bring to a nice rolling boil.  As soon as it boils, take it off the heat and pour over your steak cubes.  Sprinkle the remaining herbs over that, cover, and place in the oven to bake for a minimum of one hour – one and a half is better.  The liquid won’t seem like much, but the mushrooms will give off a little juice, too.  If necessary, you can add more stock, wine or water later, but you probably won’t have to.

Taste the liquid and adjust the seasoning as necessary.  Mix up a thickening slurry by adding the flour to about ½ cup of cold water and shaking vigorously in a tightly sealed container.  Pour the slurry into the stew mixture and stir gently until incorporated.  Place back in the oven while you make up the biscuit topping** and increase the heat to 400 F.

Press or roll out the biscuit dough into the shape of your casserole dish.  Using a fork, stab the dough vigorously enough to produce some steam-vents.  Lift the dough (use a knife to “slice” it off the counter if it sticks) and drape it over the stew – the edge of the biscuit should be inside the edges of the pot.  Leave the dish uncovered and bake for 20 – 25 minutes (depending of if you use a half-recipe or full recipe of biscuit dough) at 400 F, or until the biscuit top is nicely golden.  Serve up with a big salad.

* Can’t stand mushrooms?  Use carrots.