Melt In Your Mouth Beef Stew

It's still February, and just barely cool enough to pretend like it's still the winter here in Dallas. I wanted beef stew, and because I've been slowly working my way through Jamie Oliver's cookbook, Cook With Jamie. I found his Melt In Your Mouth Shin Stew and decided to work with what I had. Allow yourself plenty of time, as this stew benefits from loads of time in the oven. I served this with my Root Vegetable Mash with Orange Zest and some butter wilted spinach, and my husband claims this is now in his top 5 of dinners we've ever eaten, a huge compliment given how well we've eaten in the past.

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 2 sweet yellow onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 sticks of celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 8 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• a few sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• A small handful of crimini and baby bella mushrooms
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1.5 lb. chuck, cut into 1.5" chunks
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 cans good-quality diced plum tomatoes
• 1.5 cups of a good quality dry red wine
• 1 cup beef stock

Preheat your oven to 350ºF.

In a heavy-bottomed ovenproof saucepan, heat a splash of olive oil and gently fry the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, herbs, mushrooms and cinnamon for 5 minutes until softened slightly.

Meanwhile, toss the pieces of beef in a little seasoned flour, shaking off any excess.

Add the meat to the pan and stir everything together, then add the tomatoes, wine and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Gently bring to the boil, cover with a double-thickness piece of tinfoil and a lid and place in your preheated oven for 3 hours or until the beef is meltingly tender and can be broken up with a spoon.

Taste and check the seasoning, remove the cinnamon stick and rosemary sprigs and serve.