Hearty Irish Beef, Potato & Veggie Stew

Place the potato into a medium saucepan. Pour over the boiling water from the kettle and season generously with salt and pepper. Bring the water to the boil and cook for 15 minutes, or until soft when pierced with a knife. Drain and return to the saucepan.

While the potato is cooking, heat a dash of olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add the diced beef, tossing regularly for 2-3 minutes, or until just browned. Add the butter and continue to cook for a further 1-2 minutes until browned and cooked through. Add the plain flour and cook for 1 minute, or until the beef is coated. Set aside in a bowl.

Adding the butter when the beef is almost cooked means the butter won’t burn and, instead, will turn fragrant and nutty and help caramelise the outside of the meat.

Return the large saucepan to a medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, brown onion, garlic, carrot and celery. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until softened.

While the veggies cook, combine the hot water, tomato paste, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce (if using) and the beef stock cube in a jug.

Add the beef stock mixture to the vegetables and bring to the boil. Once boiled, reduce the heat to low and add the cooked beef and cooked potato. Simmer for 5-10 minutes to heat through. Remove from the heat. Now it’s time to season! Add a pinch of salt and taste the stew. If you can't taste all the flavours add a little more until you can.