Melt in the mouth slow-cooked beef in a beautifully rich red wine gravy topped with slices of potato and baked to perfection. The ultimate comfort food!
Heat a little butter and 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large oven proof saucepan or casserole, add the diced beef, season with a little salt and pepper and fry until browned.
Remove the beef from the pan along with any of the juices and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of oil and a little more butter and fry the shallots for about 4-5 minutes until nicely browned, then stir in the carrots and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
Stir in 1 tbsp of flour and cook for 30 seconds making sure there are no lumps then gradually pour in the red wine and cook for 4-5 minutes until reduced to a smooth paste.
Add the beef and any juices back to the pan, give it a stir then add the beef stock along with a few sprigs of thyme, 2 bay leaves and a little more salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then turn down the heat to low and cook with the lid on for 1 hour 30 minutes, giving at a stir very 30 minutes or so.
Once the beef is tender turn off the heat, if too much liquid has evaporated you can top it up with a little more water until the beef is just covered. Taste and season with salt until pepper.
Heat your oven to 180C/350F and while it's heating thinly slice your potatoes (about 5mm thick) and arrange on top of your casserole. I like to start from the outside and gradually move towards the middle, then add a second layer until all potatoes are neatly arranged on top and the casserole is completely covered.
You can peel the potatoes if you want, but I like to leave the skin on
Dot the top of the hotpot with around 50g (1/2 stick) of butter cut into small cubes, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Put the lid on and cook in the oven for 45 minutes.
Turn the heat on the oven up to 220C/420F remove the lid from the pot and cook for a further 30-45 minutes until the potatoes are nicely browned.