Slow Cooked Beef & Apricot Stew

I cook this in a cast iron casserole dish in the oven on a very low heat but if you would rather you can use a slow cooker. This is a wonderfully Moroccan-ish twist on a regular beef stew, hearty nonetheless but slightly more warming with those spices. I serve it with giant couscous as I prefer the texture but regular couscous works just as well. Similarly lashing of fresh oregano are a suburb finishing touch if you can get you hands on it...if not don't bastardise it with the dried stuff.

This also serves up a juicy amount of your daily zinc and B12 recommended intakes, being required for immune function and red blood cell formation respectively.

Serves 5

Ingredients:

1.5tbsp. oil

1 onion, diced

2tsp. ground cumin

1 cinnamon stick

1/5tsp. ground ginger

1tsp. sea salt

1/2tsp. freshly ground black pepper

220ml red wine

120g dried apricots, roughly chopped

680g braising/chuck beef steak, cut into chunks

1.5tbsp. honey

125ml water

375g couscous

Method:

1). Heat the oil in a large casserole dish. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes. Next add the cumin, cinnamon, ginger, salt and pepper.

2). Add the red wine, bring to boil for one minute. Next add the apricots, beef, honey, water and mix everything together.

3). Pop into the oven on a low heat for about 6-8 hours, until the beef is deliciously tender.

4). Serve with some couscous cooked per packet instructions and fresh oregano.

5). Enjoy!

Nutritional Composition (per serving):

Energy (kcal): 560

Fat (g): 18

Saturates (g): 6.3

Carbohydrates (g): 35

Sugars (g): 17

Protein (g): 52

The Sports Chef