Lobscouse - with beef!

Ah yes, its a theme thing. . .

I feel like that kid in 'The Castle' - "Dad, I made another stew".

This time it is beef, with a warm smokey flavour and loaded with winter vegetables.

"It is one of the oldest Forecastle dishes, and eats very savoury when it is well made" - The Far Side of the World

Ingredients:

• 1 Large Onion - diced
  
• 1 Leek - chopped
  
• 1 Swede - diced
  
• 1 Parsnip - sliced
  
• 3 large carrots - sliced
  
• 3 large potatoes - diced
  
• 450g Diced beef
  
• 500g Pumpkin - diced
  
• 1 cup of peas
  
• 400g of Borlotti beans
  
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
  
• 3 cloves of garlic - chopped
  
• 2 tablespoons of oil
  
• 200ml of dry white wine
  
• ground pepper
  
• salt
  
• 2 teaspoons of paprika (or smoked paprika)
  
• pinch of ground cloves
  
• pinch of nutmeg
  
• water
  

Method:

Fry the onion and leeks together in a tablespoon of oil till translucent then remove.

Add the beef with remaining oil and brown. Return the leeks and onions to the beef and add the garlic. Stir and pour in the white wine.

Simmer for a few minutes before adding the tomato paste and seasonings. Add enough water to cover the meat the simmer for 30 minutes.

Top up with water as required. At 30 minutes add the borlotti beans - if using dried beans you'll need to have soaked them for 12-24 hours before use, otherwise tinned beans will do to substitute.

Simmer for a further 30 minutes then add the vegetables. Simmer for one hour stirring occasionally and topping up with water as required. The lobscouse should thicken quite well over this time - and will indeed"eat quite savoury" when done.

Makes 8 large serves or 14 small serves. One small serve is about 140 calories.