We’ve had a pretty good summer in the UK. Okay, an entire test (cricket match) was essentially rained off, but in general it’s been good. Plus a couple of weeks of Indian summer in September. But it’s all change now and we’ve gone roaring into autumn – cool, windy, frequently overcast. Time for the first log fires, turning the central heating on and to make some comfort food.

This recipe is an easy low input recipe that uses your slow cooker or a low oven. Fifteen minutes early in the day gets you classic comfort food for your supper. Cooking time is a 6 to 8 hours depending on your cooker. The ingredients are simple and there’s not much special prep required. I make this is big batches, it freezes beautifully. Home cooked portioned meals in the freezer are a gift to yourself.

I use beef shin, on the bone, sliced about two inches thick by my butcher. Any beef suitable for stewing will produce good stew and feel free to substitute it for the beef shin. However, the marrow in the bones gives a lovely unctuous texture to your finished stew. I find it easy to fish the bones out at the end with any sinew or connective tissue that hasn’t fully dissolved.

I don’t brown meat when adding it to a slow cooked stew. What it the point of possibly toughening the meat to make it that little bit browner? Good quality beef stock will take care of that for you. Unusually, this stew has no wine or stout. I add pearl barley to the stew towards the end. It does a lovely job absorbing all the lovely juices. Give this versatile grain a try, lovely in stews.

Let’s get cooking.

Ingredients

• 2 kilos of beef shin (including the weight of the bones) or 1 to 1.25 kilos of stewing beef
• flour for dusting
• olive oil
• 1 large onion, halved and sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine (optional)
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 200 grams (one cup) of dried pearl barley
• 2 bay leaves
• a dozen whole black peppercorns or 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary or 1 tsp of dried rosemary
• 2 litres of beef stock
• salt, to taste

Method

1. Lightly dust the beef in flour. Place in the slow cooker in a single layer. If using the oven, use a large oven proof casserole, preferably deep.
2. Heat olive oil with a small knob of butter in a skillet. Sauté the onions and the garlic until well softened and started to brown. Add to the slow cooker or casserole.
3. Add the beef stock. It should cover or come to the top of your beef pieces.
4. Make a bouquet garni with the bay leaves, peppercorns and rosemary. If using ground pepper and dried rosemary, add all directly to the stew. Just keep an eye out for the bay leaves later.
5. Put your slow cooker on medium, or your casserole into a 140C oven and go about your life.
6. After four hours or so (no need to be precise) add the carrots. Two hours later, add the pearl barley. If you’ve decided against the pearl barley, make up some mashed potatoes or pasta when you’re ready to eat.
7. The sauce may need thickening if you haven’t used pearl barley. An hour or so before serving, either thicken with cornstarch or beurre manié. Beurre manié is one of those things that you won’t trust until you’ve tried it. Good explanation here.

Lovely with a robust red wine, some crusty bread and green vegetables on the side. Thank you for reading, sharing and commenting and for cooking the recipes.