Slow-Cooked Beef Stew with Wine

Preheat the oven to 180C /gas mark 4. Bring the meat up to room temperature, and then when you are ready to cook, dust it lightly in the flour and shake off any excess. Season with salt and pepper. Use a medium-sized, heavy-based, flameproof casserole that has a lid. Heat a knob of butter (keeping some back for the potatoes and the vegetables) and half the olive oil in the casserole. As it starts to sizzle, brown the beef in batches all over, then remove to a plate. Add a little more olive oil and another knob of butter to the pot and throw in the carrots, celery and onion. Cook on a low to medium heat for 15–20 minutes until they soften but do not colour or fry. Add the lardons or bacon and the garlic and cook for a few minutes until golden.

Return the meat and any juices to the pot with the vegetables, turn up the heat and add the wine, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute, then add the hot stock – it should not quite cover or submerge the beef. Turn the heat down to a simmer, then cover with a piece of greaseproof paper and a lid set slightly askew and place in the oven for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, score the tomatoes at the stem end, then blanch them in boiling water for 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a bowl of cold water and leave to cool down. Peel off the skins, keeping the tomatoes whole.

After the 45 minutes, take the stew out of the oven and decrease the temperature to 170C/gas mark 3. Add the tomatoes to the stew, squashing them in your hands to help them collapse, then return the casserole to the oven for another 45 minutes. After the beef has been cooking for 1½ hours, take it out of the oven and baste with the juices. Check there is enough liquid and, if necessary, add more stock or water from the kettle – the juices should gradually reduce and thicken, but there needs to be enough to not quite cover the beef. Lay the slices of potato over the top, a layer at a time, seasoning each layer with a little salt and pepper, a little blob of butter here and there and a light drizzle of olive oil – I aim for about three layers, so that the potatoes take on the flavour of the stew and can become crisp and golden. You may have some left over depending on the size of the pot. Lightly grease the lid with butter to prevent the potatoes from sticking. Increase the oven temperature to 180C/gas mark 4.

Return to the oven with the lid on and cook for a further 45 minutes, then remove the lid, turn up the oven to 200C /gas mark 6 and cook for a further 30 minutes until the potatoes are golden on top.

Serve with English mustard and salad.