Beef in Ale

If using the oven to cook your stew, preheat it to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4 â¢

Trim the ends off your celery and roughly chop the sticks ⢠Peel and roughly chop the onions ⢠Peel the carrots, slice lengthways and roughly chop â¢

Put a casserole pan on a medium heat ⢠Put all the vegetables and the bay leaves into the pan with 2 lugs of olive oil and fry for 10 minutes â¢

Add your meat and flour ⢠Pour in the booze and tinned tomatoes ⢠Give it a good stir, then season with a teaspoon of sea salt (less if using table salt) and a few grinds of pepper â¢

Bring to the boil, put the lid on and either simmer slowly on your hob or cook in an oven for 3 hours ⢠Remove the lid for the final half hour of simmering or cooking â¢

When done, your meat should be tender and delicious ⢠Remember to remove the bay leaves before serving, and taste it to see if it needs a bit more salt and pepper â¢