900g| 2lb Red Tractor braising steakcut into small cubes
6tbspRed Tractor plain flourseasoned with salt and pepper
rapeseedcanola oil for frying
500ml| 2 cups hot beef stock
250ml| 1 cup dark ale
3Red Tractor onionspeeled and roughly chopped
3large garlic clovespeeled and sliced
2large Red Tractor carrotspeeled and finely diced
2celery sticksfinely diced
2star anise
2tbsptomato paste
1tspmild curry powder
1cinnamon stick
1-2tspfresh thyme leaves
1/2tspWorcestershire sauce
1/2tspground cumin
7large Red Tractor floury potatoes such as Maris Piperpeeled and cubed
125ml| 1/2 cup Red Tractor whole milkor more, as needed
50g| 2 tbsp Red Tractor butter
100g| 3.5oz Red Tractor Stilton cheesecrumbled
salt and freshly ground pepper
buttered peas and green beansto serve
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 150C (300F).
Put the flour into a large plate and season liberally with salt and pepper. Add the beef cubes and toss until they are lightly coated in flour.
Heat a generous glug of rapeseed oil in a large casserole dish (I used my Le Creuset). Add the beef, in batches if necessary, and brown the cubes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
Add a splash of the stock to deglaze the casserole and scrape any sticky brown bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Pour any liquid from the pan in with the beef.
Add more oil to the casserole and fry the onions over medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
Add the curry powder, cumin, garlic, carrots and celery and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, stock and ale.
Add the cinnamon stick, star anise and the browned beef. Bring to the boil, cover the casserole and place in the oven. Cook for 2 hours – checking after 1 hour to give the stew a little stir.
Remove the casserole from the oven and transfer the stew to a large, deep, ovenproof dish to cool slightly. Remove the cinnamon stick and star anise. Check the seasoning and sprinkle with the thyme.
Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Cover the pot and bring to the boil. Lower heat to a rolling simmer and cook until the potatoes are fork tender.
Drain and return to the pot. Add the butter and milk and mash together until smooth. Add a splash more milk if the mash is too dry. Taste and season.
Transfer the mash to a large piping bag and pipe over the stew. Sprinkle with the crumbled cheese.
Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and cook for about 25 minutes until the mash starts to colour a little and the middle is very hot.
Leave the pie to cool for 10-15 minutes and serve with buttered peas and steamed green beans on the side.