Classic Beef Stew

Beef Stew taste of nostalgia (for 4)

This beef stew always makes me think of my Nan, who sadly passed away last December. Many a rainy Sunday afternoon was spent with steaming bowls of stew, a stack of buttered bread and a squeeze of either brown or tomato sauce, followed by stewed apple and custard and either a game of Newmarket or Scrabble. Lots of my favourite early memories are spending time with my Nan, who taught me, above everything else, the most important thing to do in life is to be happy.

So to the recipie, this is as simple as you can get, the quicker you can chop the quicker it is to do, and no nonsense of the beef jumping in and out of the pan :). Oh yeah, you will need a BIG pan!

1lb cubed stewing steak

4 medium potatoes

1 small swede

1 medium white onion

1 parsnip

4 medium carrots

(There's other bits aswell but that's mainly store cupboard stuff)

• Finely dice the onion and cook slowly in a splash of olive oil, untill it's really softened, but don't let it brown.
• sprinkle the cubed beef with flour and salt n pepper and add to the pan, add a beef oxo and crank the heat up. You want to seal the beef and keep stiring untill it's just starting to catch.
• Turn the heat down whilst you add all the chopped veg ( chop into bitesize chunks but make sure the potato is slightly bigger or it will break up to easily) 
• Add boiling water just until the veggies are covered, bring back to the boil and then turn down to a low simmer.
• After an hour, add a teaspoon of marmite, half a teaspoon of mustard (I use dijon but whichever) and sprinkle in gravy granules whilst stirring until the gravy is as thick as you like.
• Leave it a bit longer (30 mins) if you can, stir occasionally so it doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan.

 That's it, serve and enjoy!