Beef shin hotpot

The cheesecake I described in my last blog post was absolutely delicious!

I enjoy eating beef, but the most well-known cuts are quite expensive. Shin is a less-commonly used cut (you probably won't find it in Sainsbury's), but is still delicious in stews and hotpots as long as you cook it correctly! Ask for it at the butcher or at a farmers' market. Here's a shin hotpot I enjoy making — this recipe serves 4-6.

• 450 g shin of beef, boned and diced
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 6 pork sausages
• 450 g potatoes
• 1 dessert (eating) apple
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 450 ml beef stock

Put the beef and vinegar in a bowl, and cover with clingfilm. Marinate for an hour, stirring occasionally. This softens and tenderises the meat.

Pre-heat the oven to 160 °C. Thinly slice the potatoes, apple, tomatoes and onion, and cut the sausages into chunks.

Drain the beef, and (optionally) pat it dry with paper towels. Toss the sausage and beef pieces in the flour.

In a large casserole dish, start building the hotpot with layers of sliced vegetables and meat:

1. 1/3 of the potatoes
2. 1/2 of the apple, tomato, and onion
3. 1/2 of the sausages and beef
4. 1/3 of the potatoes
5. The rest of the apple, tomato and onion
6. The rest of the meat
7. A top layer of potatoes (make sure you keep enough back from the previous layers to cover the casserole fully!

Give the dish a little shake to help the casserole settle, and add the stock (it should come about halfway up the casserole).

Cover and cook in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. For the last 10-15 minutes, take the lid off and turn the oven up to 200 °C to allow the top layer of potatoes to crisp up.

Serve in bowls, with plenty of the stock. Leftovers keep really well in the fridge!