Ingredients

• 400g diced stewing steak
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 3 fresh bay leaves
• 8 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken
• 1 tbsp freshly chopped oregano leaves, plus extra to serve
• 150ml red wine
• 4 tbsp red wine vinegar
• FOS Sea Salt Flakes and freshly ground pepper
• ½ mug plain white flour
• A few glosses of FOS 1704 Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 small swede or ½ larger swede
• 1 parsnips
• 2 carrots
• 2 onions
• 400g tinned tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• Greek nuts and FOS Organic Goat Cheese

Preparation Instructions:

1.Unwrap your meat. Drain. Pop it into a large tub with a lid along with the sliced garlic, fresh bay, whole cloves, a broken cinnamon stick, oregano, red wine and vinegar, as well as a good pinch of freshly ground pepper.
2. Marinate overnight. If there’s no time, get a fork and pierce the meat all over whilst in the marinade. Then massage everything together for a couple of mins and that’ll do a quick fix – not as good but it gets you there faster.
3. Once the meat’s mingled in the marinade, set a sieve over a pan or bowl. Drain the meat from the marinade and keep all those spice winey juices for later.
4. Dust the meat with a good coating of flour. Season. Get a large frying pan hot. Add a gloss of oil. Brown your meat in the hot oil till it forms a nice golden crust. Spoon the meat into a large lidded pot.
5. Add the marinade to the frying pan and use it to help unstick and scrape off all those lovely cooked bits stuck to the pan. Scrape all of it and the marinade in with the meat. Pour in enough water to cover the beef. Bring to a gentle simmer.
6. Peel and finely dice your roots and onions (it works great with any root veg, so feel free to experiment with different combinations), aim for 1cm cubes or thereabouts. Give your frying pan a wash. Put it back on the heat. Add a fresh gloss of oil. Sizzle your veg till nicely coloured.
7. Add the tinned tomatoes and tomato puree to veg. Cook for a couple of mins to reduce down a bit. Then scrape all the veg into the pot with the beef. Pour in a little more water, if need, to keep everything just covered.
8. Pop a lid on. Simmer for 2 ½ hours, stirring every 30 mins and topping up with water or wine (tasting as you go) as needed.
9. Degrease stew if necessary and carefully correct seasonings; stir in nuts. Sprinkle organic goat cheese over stew, pushing it gently into top of liquid with a wooden spoon. Cover and simmer to melt cheese (about 5 minutes longer), and finally serve stew in deep soup bowls.