Beef & Guinness Stew

Ingredients

350g piece smoked speck, skin on
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
500g chuck steak, cut into 3 cm chunks
440ml Guinness
250ml beef stock
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp flour
creamy mashed potatoes, to serve

This dish exemplifies the alchemy of slow cooking. There aren’t many ingredients, and your shopping list is about as basic it can get. Speck is basically a smoked slab of the tail end of bacon. If you can’t find speck, just leave it out — the recipe will still hit the spot. And so will a stout. Serves 4.

Remove the skin from the speck, leaving some of the fat on. Cut the meat into large dice. Heat a heavy-based frying pan over high heat, add the speck and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring to brown all over and render the fat.
Add the onion and cook for 2–3 minutes, stirring to separate all the slices. Add the carrot and celery and stir-fry for a couple of minutes, so that all the ingredients are combined and coated in the tasty bacon fat.
Add the beef and stir it around in the pan until it just starts to colour. Pour in 375ml of the Guinness and let the beer simmer for 4–5 minutes, stirring to remove any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Add the stock, bay leaf and parsley. Reduce the heat to low, so the liquid is gently simmering. Cover and cook for 1½ hours, stirring after about 1 hour.
Remove the lid and increase the heat to high, allowing the sauce to boil. Mix the remaining Guinness with the flour to make a smooth paste, then stir it into the stew and cook until the sauce thickens. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with mashed potatoes.