VegBoxBoy: Beef in Stout with Mustard Sauce. VegBoxBoy. Veg Box Boy

I've got a new cookbook, and I'm excited. It's called Comfort Food by Bridget Jones - clearly this Bridget is quite a cook; unlike her big knickered, fictional namesake. The book is big and plastic covered and choc full of very practical recipes - which all seems like it's meant to be used rather than meant to look nice on your shelf. So, notwithstanding my impressedness with the book, I instantly changed Bridget's recipe around.

Here it is before going in the oven, healthily dusted with salt and pepper.

Underneath, this is what went on:

1.5 kilos stewing beef fried off and then put to one side
300gs little round shallots fried until just a little browned, along with 3 cloves garlic (my addition)
400gs carrots, cut into bite sized pieces
500 ml beef stock
A 330ml bottle of stout
A tea-bag of bouqet-garni
And then 2 kilos of potatoes sliced 1/2 a cm thick layered on top

The recipe cooks this on the stove, but I went for oven cooking. I covered this and then plonked it in a medium (150c) oven for 5 1/2 hours. Then because I wanted the top layer to crisp, I took the lid oven for a last hour. After which it looked like.

Returning to the proper recipe again. The sauce underneath here was still quite thin. So, after removing all the lumps ready for serving, the sauce was mixed with a roux to which some mustard had been added. This thickened the remaining sauce to ladle over the great and potatoes.

All of which was served alongside some simple boiled cabbage (which appears to be trying to take over my plate). The meat unsurprisingly enough was lovely and soft and the gravy very flavoursome. Although this took an age in the oven, the preparation time for this was only about 20 minutes.

Rich's wine recommendation for this was a Cotes du Rhone. I didn't have any of that, so I went for a Claret. Which as the label says, was good, complementing the meaty-ness of the dish.