Beef Shin Stew that will Melt in your Mouth

Beef shin stew was a firm family favourite when I was growing up. My gran used to make the best beef stew, using shin of beef. She would use beef dripping to brown the beef first, and while you can use vegetable oil instead, the dripping does add a layer of depth and melt-in-the-mouth flavour to the stew, so if you can, try and get hold of some (it will last ages in the fridge, and makes amazing chips and roasties too).

This is a very simple and straightforward stew. Most chef recipes involve a lot of ingredients, faff, red wine and vinegars, when it comes to stews, but I don’t remember any of that when I was a kid. Our grandparents generation tended to be more traditional with less fuss, and this stew is no different, it is back to basics cooking. It doesn’t even use a stock, as the shin creates a thick enough liquor without it. You’ll be left with a traditional beef shin stew, that is easy to cook, evokes nostalgia in your tastebuds, is filling and is truly melt in the mouth.

• Preparation Time: 15 minutes
• Cooking Time: 225 minutes
• Total Time: 4 hours
• Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1kg beef shin (or diced steak)
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 30g/1 tbsp beef dripping
• 3 onions, peeled and diced large
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 3-4 chunks each
• 1 swede/turnip, peeled and cubed large
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 500ml water
• Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Method

Cut the shin into large pieces of about 4cm cubes. They don’t need to be uniform, as you are going to cook it until it falls apart, and you can do it smaller, if you are cooking for children as well, but there is something wonderful about big chunks of meat in a stew. You can trim the shin of any fat if you want, but don’t worry too much about it, fat adds to the flavour, so it is fine if you are leaving it on there.

Mix the flour and mustard in a large bowl, and then put the meat in the bowl, and coat the shin with the seasoned flour. If you don’t have mustard powder, you could use a tsp of mustard stirred into the stew itself, but try and get a tin of mustard powder if you can, as it’s really handy for lots of recipes, and it lasts for ages.

Heat the dripping (or oil) in a large pan on a medium heat, and then add the beef and brown it all over, for about 8-10 minutes. You might need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your pan. Add the onion and stir occasionally while they cook until they are nice and soft, which will be about 10 minutes.

Stir in the water, season with salt and pepper, and then bring it up to a nice boil, before turning it down to low, covering the pan and simmering gently for 1 hour. After the hour, you can skim any excess fat from the top if you think there is too much, and then add the carrot, celery, swede and bay leaf, and cook for another two and a half hours (150 minutes), until the meat is completely tender.

After cooking you can let it sit and rest for 10-15 minutes, before serving with either herb dumplings, cooked in the stew for the last 30 minutes, or creamy mashed potatoes, or even both!

So that is it - an easy cook melt in the mouth beef shin stew - order some Beef Shin and give it a go.

Nutritional Info (per serving)

Kcal 273g, Carbs 15g, Fat 8g, Protein 35g, Salt 35g, Sugar 5g