Braised Beef with Onions, Rich Gravy & Suet Crust Pastry
# Heat a large casserole pan and add a little oil. Flour the pieces of steak in seasoned flour and then brown them in the casserole pan. Remove from pan once browned. # Add the sliced carrots and onion to the pan and allow to sweat for a few minutes until the onion is soft. Pour in the red wine and scrape up any sticky bits on the bottom of the pan. # Return the browned meat, season add the stock, Soy & Worcester sauce. Bring the pan to the boil, cover and put in an oven set at 180ºC for 30 minutes then reduce the temperature to 150ºC, and leave to cook for another hour or so until the meat is tender. # To make the pastry, simply combine the flour, suet and salt with a little water in a bowl, until you have workable dough. On a floured surface roll this out into a nice big disk that will fit over the stew (not too thin). # Place the pastry crust on top of the stew in the casserole pot, return to a hot oven (200ºC) for 15 minutes, or until golden and the gravy starts to bubble through. # Delicious served with a baked jacket potato and some seasonal vegetables.