Julian's French Beef Stew

We asked for your recipes which made the best of cheaper cuts of meat and here's our first.

The name of this dish came about because it was first made when they were on holiday in France. The beef used is "Shin" we diced this for Julian earlier today!

This is another simple one pot cooking recipe and the ingredients are simple and easy to get.

1lb of beef shin

1/2 lb of potatoes cut into large chunks

500g of tomatoe Passata

1/4 lb mushrooms

1 stick of celery chopped finely

1 large onion chopped finely

3 large carrots cut in large chunks

glass of red wine

1/2 glass water

Teaspoon of ground black pepper

Teaspoon of sea salt (Half a tsp of normal salt)

Teaspoon of mixed herbs

1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds

1 Star Anise

4 cloves of garlic

A bay leaf

This dish is best prepared in a heavy pot suitable for long and slow cooking

Prepare the vegetables adding as much as you may need for your family

Place the meat in a hot pan with olive oil

Brown the meat

Add a glass of red wine and reduce quickly

Add a little water 1/4 a small glass - then the onion, garlic, celery, herbs and spices. Add water to keep moist and heat until boiling. At all points from browning the meat keep the lid on the pan.

Add the passata, stir and bring back to the boil.

Now your kitchen smells amazing! Turn down the heat as low as it will go because this is going to take three hours. Check regularly and top up with water to keep the dish from drying out. This will depend on how low your hob will go.

After around three hours of very slow cooking add the potatoes and carrots cover the pan and leave to cook slowly. Check the potato with a sharp knife after 1/2 hour.