This slow cooked beef shin stew (beef shank) is rich and flavoursome. It is the perfect comfort food served with fluffy stilton dumplings and creamy mash potatoes.

• 500-600gms of beef shin or beef skirt sliced into 2-3 cm slices
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 stick of celery finely chopped
• 1 carrot peeled and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 tsp of dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 springs of rosemary
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 200ml of red wine
• 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 400ml of beef stock
• 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper

• 200 gms of self raising flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tbsp of butter
• chunk of Stilton cheese
• water

to make the stew, season the beef. Add a splash of oil and brown with the onion, celery and carrots.

add the garlic and herbs and fry for 30 seconds

Pour in the chopped tomatoes, sugar, wine, vinegar and enough stock to cover the meat. Bring to the boil and simmer. Then either cover and leave on the hob, put in a slow oven or oven for 160c for a couple of hours. Check every 30 minutes and top up with beef stock if getting a bit dry.

To make the dumplings place all the ingredients in a bowl and make into a breadcrumb mixture using your fingers or food processor. Pour in the water slowly until you get a dough consistency.

Remove and form dumplings. Place the dumplings in the stew for the last 20 minutes with the lid on. If you want the dumplings crispy on top take the lid off for a further 10 minutes.