This is a recipe that conjures up immediate happy memories for me. My Grandma Pat, a woman I love dearly, makes this every time I go to hers. We don’t see each other very often as she’s over two hours away, and when we see each other it’s amazing. This recipe comes from a book my grandma has, from the 1930s I think. The book is all battered and loved very much by my grandma. This is the first time I’ve made this and it brings up very happy memories. 

Serves 4

Ingredients 

700g beef stewing steak

2 onions, sliced

4 rashers of streaky bacon, chopped

1 1/2 tbsp flour

2 cups of ale or beer (we use Newcastle brown ale)

1 Small bay leaf

1 Clove of garlic

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vinegar

Method 

Fry the bacon until crisp in a saucepan. Transfer to a casserole dish. 

Sauté the onions lightly in the bacon fat and add to the casserole dish. 

Cut the beef into 1 inch cubes and brown in the frying pan. 

Sprinkle flour over the browned meat and stir until it is absorbed. 

Turn off the heat and add the beer gradually, stirring constantly until blended. 

Add this to the casserole dish with a Bay leaf, time, sugar, vinegar and the garlic clove stuck on toothpick. 

Stir and put in a preheated oven at 160°C for two hours, or until meat is tender.

Remove the bay leaf and garlic clove 

Serve with mashed potatoes 

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