Beef and Red Wine Stew

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1kg diced beef

• 2 carrots

• 2 medium onions

• 3 celery stalks

• 1 bottle red wine

• 2 tbsp plain flour

• salt and pepper

• 2 tsp dried basil

• 2 tsp dried thyme

• 2 tsp dried oregano

• 300g chestnut mushrooms

• 250ml water

• 1 beef stock cube

Method

Lets start by chopping the onions, halving them then cutting each half into quarters. Now chop the celery and carrots into 2cm slices. Keeping the veg chunky will give you a bit more texture and bite in the final dish.

Now mix the plain flour and a good season of salt and pepper with the beef before frying it in batches until brown in some vegetable oil in a hob proof casserole dish or large saucepan on a high heat. Doing it in batches allows it to seal properly rather than stewing it early. Once you get a bit of caramelisation remove the beef and set aside.

Next turn down the hob to medium and put in the chopped veg. Frying again for 5 minutes before adding back in the beef then the herbs, wine, stock cube or pot and enough water to bring the level of liquid to just under the top of the beef and veg.

Bring this to a simmer and then either leave simmering on the hob for 3 hours or transfer to the oven at 150c or 300f for the same amount of time.

After 3 hours quarter your mushrooms then add to the pot and continue to cook for 30 minutes more. At this point you can also add in diced potato or any other veg you fancy to make it a proper one pot meal but I like mine with mash to soak up the gravy.

That's it, just remove from the oven or turn off the hob and serve in bowls or with some lovely buttery mash on the side.