chef Graeme Cheevers shares his recipe for a warming stew

AS the days shorten and appetites turn to rustic comfort food, this week’s recipe should feature prominently in your repertoire. The sweet and sour elements of the stew – onion, mustard, stock – call for a beer with a strong bitter flavour, and for taste and authenticity you can’t do better than a good Belgian ale – Chimay and Leffe are among the most widely distributed but you’ll find plenty of good if not better equivalents in independent shops.

While this is a simple dish there’s no room for complacency since any low-quality ingredients will stand out, so try to source the best you can find. You can serve the stew however you prefer, but for the full Belgian experience it should be accompanied by fries and mayonnaise.

FLEMISH STEW

Serves 4

100g unsalted butter 1.5kg diced beef shin 500g onions 50ml vegetable oil 100g flour 800ml dark ale 400g beef stock 20g English mustard 1 sprig of thyme 2 bay leaves

Set the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4.

Add half of the butter to an enamelled cast-iron pan and heat until the butter is foaming. Season the beef with salt and pepper, add half of it to the pan and cook over a medium heat, turning occasionally until browned on all sides. Transfer the meat to a plate and repeat the process with the remaining beef, making sure to reserve the juices as well.

Now peel and cut the onions into large dice and add them to the pan with the oil and cook over a low heat for around 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are golden brown.

Stir in the flour and coat the onions well before gradually adding the beer, followed by the stock, mustard, thyme and bay leaves. Lastly, return the meat and juices to the pan.

Cover the pan with a lid and place it in the oven for two hours until the meat is tender and the sauce reduced. If the sauce is too thin remove the meat from the sauce and place it to one side then reduce the sauce to the desired consistency.

Add the meat to the sauce until warmed through, discarding the bay leaves and thyme before serving.

PHOTOGRAPH: ALAN DONALDSON Graeme Cheevers is head chef at Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond within Cameron House Hotel. Visit mwlochlomond.co.uk or call 01389 722504