Dinner for Under £10 – Shin of Beef and a Bottle of Red Wine

Shin of Beef is cut of beef from the lower leg of the cow and it is also known as shank. The shin is a cheap, bony cut and contains a large quantity of connective tissue and costs around £4.25 a pound. It's cooked slowly to tenderize the meat and the fat melts during the cooking process adding to the richness of the gravy. Shin of Beef is also delicious when it is braised or roasted. It's an excellent choice for all stews and casseroles, delivering bags of flavour and a superb texture after several hours' slow cooking.

My favourite recipe using Shin of Beef is a casserole made with brown ale and dumplings. Dumplings are an ancient food – the Ancient Romans enjoyed them and they appear in many cuisines across the globe from: Czech knedliky, Hungarian tesztak, Jewish matzo balls, Russian pel'meni, Chinese wontons and Italian ravioli and gnocchi.

Beef Casserole with Dumplings

2 lbs shin of beef, chopped into chunks
3 tbsp flour
olive oil
3 red onions, peeled, halved and roughly sliced
1 oz bacon, chopped
3 sticks of celery, chopped
1 small handful of rosemary, leaves picked from stem
5 cups Newcastle Brown ale or other dark ale
2 parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

I normally use a dumpling mix but if you want to make your own then here is the recipe for them:

1 cup self-rising flour
½ cup butter
A good pinch of salt and pepper
2 sprigs of rosemary, chopped

Season the beef, sprinkle with the flour and toss around until well coated. Heat up a frying pan until it is good and hot, add a little olive oil and fry the beef in 2 batches until nice and brown. Transfer the meat to a big casserole - one that can be used on the top of the oven - mixing in the flour that was left on the plate after coating it. Put the casserole on a medium heat, add the red onions and bacon, and cook until the onions are translucent. Add the celery and rosemary. Pour in the ale and 1 cup of water, adding your parsnips, carrots, and potatoes. Bring to the boil, put a lid on, turn down the heat and leave it to simmer while you make the dumplings.

Rub the ingredients for the dumplings between your fingers till you have a breadcrumb consistency, then add just enough water to make a dough that is not sticky. Divide it into ping-pong-ball-sized dumplings and put these into the stew, dunking them under. Put the lid back on and leave it to cook for 2 hours.

Montagnac Merlot (£5.37) is a lovely wine to enjoy with your casserole – it's a fruity and intense wine from the Languedoc which is famous for its garagiste wines with dense and complex aromas reflecting the diversity of the terrain. With the mountains on one side and the Mediterranean on the other this is becoming a popular wine growing region. Produced by a small co-operative dating back to the 1930s the vineyards stretch from the banks of Thau Lagoon to the foothills of the mountains on the right bank of the River Hérault. The vines are grown in small parcels on old terraces on limestone and clay slopes.

Montagnac Merlot is a dark garnet colour with lovely perfumed cherry aromas and a hint of dark chocolate. A whiff of grassy flavours mingles well with the ripe black fruit. It's well balanced and not complex – and is outstanding value for money!