Pearl Barley Stew

A fantastic winter warmer, very filling, delicious with potatoes and broccoli - and freezes brilliantly, so make a batch and save it for a lazy evening.

• 1 pack lean braising steak
• 2 oz pearl barley
• 1.5 - 2 beef stock cubes in 1 pint water
• 1 large white onion, finely chopped
• 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1-2 sticks celery (optional), sliced
• dried thyme
• plain flour
• salt, pepper to taste
• cooking oil (sunflower or vegetable oil)

Firstly - apologies for the slightly arbitrary ingredients - this one is inherited off my mother, and is mostly a matter of putting in "the right amount".

Preheat oven to 180 degC (slightly less for a fan oven). You will need a large casserole dish.

Trim fat and gristle from beef, cut into cubes. Sieve some flour onto a plate and season with salt and pepper. Coat the beef in the flour. Heat some oil in a frying pan until very hot and sear the beef cubes until brown and the juices are sealed in. Transfer to the casserole dish.

Reduce the heat and gently fry the onion until soft. Transfer to the casserole. Add the carrot and pearl barley to the dish. The next stage is optional - you can either add the stock to the casserole directly, in which case it sometimes doesn't thicken quite so easily; or you can make a roux (see below) and essentially make gravy before adding it to the casserole dish.

To make the "gravy" - add a tablespoon or so of the left-over seasoned flour to just enough oil to moisten it, in the frying pan. Cook until the mixture goes grainy. VERY SLOWLY add the stock, making sure each addition is thorougly mixed in before adding any more. Once all the stock has been added the mixture can be transferred to the casserole.

Add thyme to the casserole to taste, place in the oven. Be sure to check regularly that there is enough liquid, as the pearl barley soaks it up rather - add more boiling water if it looks a bit dry. If using celery, add this half to 3/4 hour before the end of cooking time. Cook for 1.5-2 hours in total, until the pearl barley is thoroughly cooked and the meat is tender. Season and skim off any excess fat.

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