Casserole of beef with pickled walnuts and prunes

Lady Claire MacDonald: Chef

Ingredients: serves 6

2 - 2½lb or 900g - 1.25kg beef, trimmed and cut into cubes about 1 inch / 2.5cm in size
2tbsps plain flour sieved with ½tsp salt and plenty of ground black pepper
3 - 4 tbsps sunflower oil
2 onions, skinned and finely sliced
1½ pints / 850ml stock
¼pt / 140ml red wine
Contents of 1 x 15 oz / 420g jar of pickled walnuts drained of their preserving liquid, and the walnuts chopped
4oz / 112g soaked and de-stoned prunes, chopped

Method:

Toss the cut-up meat in the seasoned flour.
Heat the oil in a heavy casserole and brown the floured pieces of meat, a small amount at a time, removing the meat to a warm dish as it becomes browned.
When all the meat has browned, lower the heat a bit under the casserole and add the sliced onions, cooking them until they are soft and transparent-looking.
Add the chopped garlic, replace the browned meat in the casserole.
Stir in the stock and wine, and the chopped pickled walnuts and prunes.
Stir till the liquid comes to simmering point, then cover the casserole with its lid and cook it in a moderate oven at 350°F / 180°C / Gas Mark 4 for 45 minutes.
Take it out of the oven and let it cool completely before storing the casserole in the fridge.
Before serving, take the casserole out of the fridge and into room temperature for an hour, then re-cook it in a moderate oven, as above, for a further 45 minutes. By cooking it twice, as with all casseroles and stewed dishes, the flavour is so much better than if it has only had one cooking.
Stick a fork into a piece of meat to check that it is tender.