One pot beef stew

Preheat the oven to 500F.

Remove the hard band of fat running between the two muscles of the chuck, since it does not render down, then cut the muscle groups longwise and across into chunks an inch to an inch and a half.

Toss the beef in a bowl with a long squeezer of olive oil and two generous pinches of salt.

Spread the beef evenly on a half sheet tray and sear it in the oven rather than in a pot; it is faster, cleaner and passive.

Peel the pearl onions by cutting off each end and slicing one layer deep from pole to pole with a paring knife.

Cut the carrots into very chunky pieces and quarter the large button mushrooms.

Pull the beef after about 20 to 25 minutes, when the surface is well browned and crusty golden all over.

Heat a large heavy bottom pot over medium high, add a long squeezer of olive oil, then the mushrooms, carrots and pearl onions and a strong pinch of salt, and stir.

Sweat the vegetables three to five minutes to par cook them and build a base layer of caramelized flavour, until slightly softened with a little glazy caramelization on the bottom of the pot, then tip them into a bowl.

Over medium heat melt a whole stick of butter, 115 g, in the same pot.

Stir in 100 g all purpose flour to make a roux, scraping up the brown bits so they do not burn.

Fry the roux 60 to 90 seconds, until it is no longer lumpy or raw and has taken on a light golden colour.

Combine 1800 g store-bought beef stock, 30 g better than bouillon beef paste, 30 g tomato paste, 30 g wort and four packets of powdered gelatin, and stir that into the pot.

Add one pint, about 450 g, of dark stout beer.

Bring the liquid to a simmer, stirring frequently so the roux stays evenly distributed and scraping the bottom to loosen the glazed brown bits.

Once boiling add all the roasted beef, splashing the boiling liquid over it, then deglaze the sheet tray with a splash of water and scrape that in too.

Turn the oven down to 300F and cook uncovered, low and slow, for two hours, stirring once after an hour; uncovered so it thickens with evaporation and the top roasts.

Peel 500 g of small golden potatoes rustically and cut them in half.

Judge the viscosity of the sauce, since reduction varies in the oven and thickness is easier to add than take away.

Toss the potatoes and the par-cooked vegetables with 25 g all purpose flour so the flour hydrates evenly, then stir them gently into the stew.

Add a few sprigs of thyme and a bay leaf and return the pot to the oven for one more hour, three in total.

Check doneness on a chunk of beef and a chunk of potato: the beef shreddable and tender but not falling apart, the potato cut easily with a fork but not mushy.

Skim as much fat off the top as possible with a small ladle; cooling overnight in the fridge would set the fat and make it easier, and would deepen the flavour.

Taste for salt.

Stir in about 150 g of frozen peas to melt them through.

Serve three to four ladles into a low bowl, top with fresh cracked black pepper and serve with rustic crusty bread.