Seasonal eating is valuable, I know but here’s a confession… I don’t mind eating soup and stew all year round, even though the dishes are usually associated with autumn and winter.
Can you blame me? Imagine meat and vegetables soaked in lusciously thick and flavoursome sauces, or onions, carrots and celery melded together and used as the basis for the best soup in the world. [Cauliflower cheese soup, since you ask.]
That said, it’s now the tail end of autumn in the UK and I’m digging into beef stews a-plenty. The miracle of carrots and beef is a flavour combination you can’t beat. Cut those carrots in big chunks, nestle them in your stew and leave to bubble away for hours. I could almost fish them out and eat them as a soup with the juices from the stew.
Recently, I adapted a Mary Berry recipe for pot roast. Mary’s method used suede or turnip as we know it in Scotland. I’m not that fond of it (sorry Rabbie*) and I decided to substitute celeriac. It worked a treat.
One of the rules of stews and casseroles is that they improve the day after cooking. This depends on your self-discipline. If you’ve had a pot of stew simmering on your stove for a few hours or cooking away in your slow cooker, your whole home will smell heavenly and resistance will require added steeliness.
Put the oil in a large frying pan or wok and add the beef. Cook over a high heat, turning occasionally until it is browned all over. Place in your slow cooker along with the vegetables tucked all around the meat, and pour the wine around. You might want to add up to 100ml water, but the vegetables will give off a lot of water anyway. Cook on slow for eight hours. Add plenty of salt and pepper and dot with a little butter to serve. The dish goes well with steamed cauliflower or broccoli. Allow about 10-15g carbs per serving.Slow cooker Beef Pot Roast with Winter Vegetables
*Scotland’s national dish is haggis, neeps (turnips) and tatties, and it’s traditionally eaten on January 25 to celebrate Robert Burns’ birthday.
Diabetes Diet 
It looks lovely Emma. As you start looking at winter warming meals, I’m thinking about light airy salads now that summer is nearly upon us.
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Thanks Gary. I don’t mind salads in winter either…
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True, I was eating them in my winter too.
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Sounds like something I do, which I learned from my mother who I think learned it from her mother.
I use red wine though, and add some chopped up bacon, and mushrooms, and whole black peppercorns for little explosions of flavour. Also works with rabbit, venison and the rest of the pheasant after you ate the breasts. Serve with purple sprouting broccoli or Brussels sprouts. Best thing about winter is the food.
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You can’t beat an old-fashioned stew/casserole.
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I love beef, low carb, high flavor and good heat. Yumm, I see all of this in this meal.
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Thank you!
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