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Braised Shin of Beef with Ale

A slow simmer of beef is the best winter food. Supplemented with mash and piles of roasted root vegetables, a little goes a long way towards feeding a big table of people. Bread brushed with dripping or olive oil and rubbed with garlic, then baked until crisp, can be put in baskets on the table. Make sure you have handfuls of parsley to scatter over the top. If you want to be more adventurous still, grate a little orange zest into the parsley. In February use the zest of blood orange, which is somehow just right with red meat.

Serves 6–8

5–6 tablespoons olive oil or dripping

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 onions, finely chopped

2 celery sticks, finely chopped

2kg/4½lb braising beef, cut into 4cm/1½ inch chunks

1 bay leaf

a pinch of dried thyme

2 parings of orange peel

600mt/1 pint real ale

2 tablespoons plain flour

beef or other meat stock, to cover

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat about a third of the fat in a large, deep pan and gently cook the garlic, onions and celery in it until soft. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add more of the fat to the pan, turn up the heat and brown the beef on all sides, cooking it in batches and setting it aside as soon as it is done. Add more fat as necessary. Add the herbs, orange peel and ale to the pan and bring to the boil, scraping away at the base of the pan with a wooden spoon to deglaze it. Return the meat and vegetables to the pan, sprinkle with the flour and stir well. Add enough stock to cover, then stir and bring to the boil, skimming off any foam that rises to the top. Turn down the heat to a slow bubble and cook, covered, for 1½–2 hours, until the meat is tender. Skim off any fat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.