Comfort food Braised beef in stout

NOTHING speaks comfort like a good beef stew, especially at this time of year. Variations of beef stew are found around the world and this one is more of an Irish stew where I have used Guinness stout to slowly cook the beef.

Ingredients: Serves 6

600g braising beef 2 carrots, roughly chopped 2 onions, roughly chopped 2 celery sticks

2 sprigs rosemary

3 cloves of garlic, sliced 350ml stout

Beef stock (to cover) Plain flour

1 tbsp tomato paste Vegetable oil

Salt

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3. Heat a small amount of oil in a medium-sized saucepan. Season the beef well with salt and sear off the meat.

Once coloured, drain off the beef and set aside. In the same pan add the knob of butter and start to cook the vegetables, garlic and rosemary. Cook these for about 5-10 minutes on a medium heat.

Now add the beef back to the pan along with a small amount of flour until all the ingredients pull together. Cook this for a further 2 minutes while stirring to cook out the flour.

Add the stout to the pan and cook on a medium heat until half of the liquid has reduced. Add the tomato paste and cover with the beef stock.

Place this in an ovenproof dish if the one you’re using to start with isn’t and cook in the oven for about 2 hours.

Before serving, ensure that the beef is really tender.

This is a heartwarming dish which is ideal for this time of year.

PHOTOGRAPH: ALAN DONALDSON Gary Townsend is head chef at One Devonshire Gardens by Hotel du Vin, Glasgow. See www.hotelduvin. com