As we approach the winter months food cravings are shifting from light salads, BBQs and ice creams to comforting soups, stews and slow cooked meals. Beef stew has always been a comfort food for me. Growing up in Scotland we had a lot of casseroles type dishes and this beef stew recipe of my Mums just screams my childhood.

The Le Creuset 3-ply Stainless Steel Casserole pan is perfect for making this heart-warming dish. As well as being the perfect size, it is also suitable to use on all hobs, including induction, and is also oven proof to 200C. This stew involves sealing and bringing to the boil, on the stove top, before transferring to an oven, for a slow cook. It is preferable to have a pan that can be used in the oven so you don’t have to transfer to an ovenproof dish.

Le Creuset 3-ply pans are made using a high technology triple layer system. An aluminum core is sandwiched between two layers of premium quality stainless steel and as the multi layering continues through the pan, excellent heat conduction performance is guaranteed from base to rim. The pans are energy-saving and only low to medium heats are needed, in fact it is recommended not to use the high setting as the material will not cool quickly and may cause sticking and over browning of the food. In this recipe, therefore, only medium heat is used when heating the oil before browning the meat.

Le Creuset is a common household name in France for kitchenware and throughout the world. It has a reputation for manufacturing top of the range French Ovens for over 90 years in bold and bright colours. In recent years the company has expanded into toughened non-stick cookware, stoneware, kitchen tools and even barware.

Click here to view the entire Le Creuset range of cookware

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Hearty Winter Warmer Beef Stew

This stew is delicious served with dumplings or potatoes prepared in any way.

Ingredients

• 1kg Shin of Beef cut into big pieces. (see picture)
• 2 tbsp plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 5 shallots (peeled)
• 400g carrots (peel and cut into large chunks)
• 1 tsp English Mustard
• 350ml Good quality Stock
• 250 ml Red wine
• 3 bay leaves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 130C
2. Coat the beef in the seasoned flour. Add 2 tbsp of oil to the pan and heat over medium heat. Add the beef and seal. Remove from pan.
3. Add the remaining oil (1 tbsp) to the pan and again heat over medium heat. Add the vegetables and cook for approx. 10 mins
4. Add the beef back to the pan with the vegetables. Add the wine and bring to a boil.
5. Stir the mustard into the stock and then add to the pan. Bring to the boil, cover and then transfer to the oven.
6. Cook for around 3 hours. It is ready when the meat falls apart.

About the author: Amy is the recipe developer, photographer and voice behind the blog Healthy Little Foodies. She has a BSc(Hons) Food Science and Marketing and has, in the past, worked as a food development technologist, developing products for the UK's leading supermarkets. She now lives in Sydney and is a Mum to two young boys age 5 & 2