Rainy day beef, vegetable and bean stew

06 January 2023

Miranda Gore Browne, finalist on the first series of BBC's The Great British Bake Off, shares her comforting and nutritious slow-cooked British beef stew, packed with vegetable and beans. It's just the winter warmer you need on a damp February day.

Ingredients

3 tbsp of rapeseed oil
2 onions, finely chopped
100g smoked bacon, finely chopped
800g beef – skirt, short ribs, braising steak
3-4 tbsp of plain flour
Salt and pepper
4-5 large carrots, peeled and chopped
6 medium-sized potatoes, no need to peel
200g swede, peeled and chopped
Celery, sliced finely
Bay leaves
400ml Guinness or dark beer
300ml of veg stock
2 tbsp of tomato puree
1 tin of cannellini or haricot beans

Ingredients for beef stew: beef, swede, carrots, leeks, potatoes, onions, bacon, beans and beer

Method

Put the oil, celery and chopped onions into a frying pan and cook until softened. Take out the onions and celery and put to one side. Fry the bacon in the same pan, put to one side.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Toss the pieces of beef in the seasoned flour, add a little more oil to the pan, or use your cast iron casserole pot. Brown the meat well. Add the tomato puree and cook a little before pouring in the beer. Simmer a little, then transfer to the cast iron pot (if you haven’t already) add all the vegetables, bacon, onions, the bay leaves and the vegetable stock.
Cover with a lid and put into the oven to bake for an hour. Then turn the temperature down to 160 degrees and bake for another 3 hours.
Lift the pot out of the oven, stir and add more liquid if needed then add the tin of beans, stir well and put back into the oven – without the lid on – for a final 15 minutes to brown a little.

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