A beef stew with friends

I've been a bit slack on the old blogging.  So many recipes I want to share, never any time to sit and type.  I hope I can change that, maybe get Binks to do more of the cleaning etc...

I decided I wanted to make something simple for a midwinter supper with friends.  I didn't want to spend hours in the kitchen, but it was OK if the food did.  I also discovered Binks had bought a bag of frozen stewing vegetables, and I had no idea what else to do with them than make a stew...after I'd fished a bunch of the carrots out.  What is it with carrots?  They're in everything, loads of them.  I don't mind a few carrots, but carrot overload?  No thank you.

Ingredients
a good dollop of beef dripping
800g stewing steak, cut into bite size pieces
a couple of Tbsp flour (I use Doves farm gluten free)
4 garlic cloves, crushed
either a bag of frozen stewing vegetables (!) or...
200g chopped onions
150g celery, cut into chunks
150g carrots, cut into chunks
2 leeks, chopped
200g swede or turnip, or a mix
a large glass of red wine (250ml)
500 ml beef stock
4 fresh bay leaves
a handful of fresh thyme leaves
a handful of chopped flat leaf parsley
a good glug of worcestershire sauce (I have a gluten free one)
a good glug of balsamic vinegar (to taste)
salt & freshly ground black pepper.

Method
Preheat the oven to about gas mark 2-3, 150-160C.
Shake the beef and flour together in a bag.
Heat the beef dripping in an oven-proof casserole dish.
Brown the meat on all sides, in batches if necessary.  Once it's all browned, tip in any remaining flour to cook for a couple of minutes.
Add all the vegetables and garlic.
Add the wine, stock, herbs, worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar.  Season with salt and pepper.
Bring the mixture to the boil, cover with the lid and then bung in the oven for about 3 hours.

Serve the scrumptious stew with mashed potatoes.  I also had steamed savoy cabbage too. We definitely got our five-a-day yesterday.

This amount of stew will easily serve six, and probably serve eight, if they're not as greedy as Binks, who ate at least two portions.