This hearty meat and vegetable stew is a staple of Welsh cooking. Traditionally, the broth from the cawl would be poured out and served separately as a first course, followed by a main course of the meat and cooked vegetables. Cawl is usually made with Welsh lamb but historically beef or salted bacon were used. As Welsh lamb is not available until June, this recipe for St David’s day goes back to the traditional roots of the dish and uses beef. Use chuck steak or skirt, which is ideal for slow cooking. Floury potatoes (like King Edward or Maris Piper) are preferable to the waxy variety to help thicken the stew. If you have the opportunity, make this a day in advance to allow flavours to develop.
Ingredients (for 4 servings):
700g chuck steak 500g beef bones 2 sprigs rosemary 2 sprigs thyme 2 brown onions 4 large floury potatoes ½ swede 2 carrots 2 leeks olive oil for drizzling 25g butter seasoning 1 handful of parsley
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
- Chop the beef into bite-sized pieces and spread out evenly in a large foiled roasting tin with the bones, rosemary and thyme. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
- Roast the beef in the oven for 25-30 minutes to brown, mixing thoroughly after 15 minutes of cooking.
- Peel and finely chop the onions.
- Add the butter and olive oil into a large casserole on a medium heat. Add the chopped onions and fry until the onions are translucent but not browned (2-3 minutes).
- Transfer the beef, bones and residual juices into the casserole. Top up with water to cover the meat and bones.
- Bring up to the boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 2½ hours.
- Skim off any fat at the surface of the stew and remove the bones.
- Peel the potatoes, swede and carrots and chop into bite-sized chunks.
- Add the potatoes, swede and carrots into the stew and allow to simmer for 35-40 minutes until cooked.
- Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
- Wash the leeks and chop into thin rounds (approx. 1cm). Add the leeks to the stew and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Finely chop the parsley.
- Serve up in large bowls and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.