Braised Beef in Copper Dragon Best Bitter with a Blue Cheese Scone

Method

A hearty sustaining dish for cold days, a perfect reward after a long walk on the Bolton Abbey estate.

Serves Four to Six.

Braised Beef

1. Roll your beef in a little flour to coat.
2. Place large pan on high heat add beef dripping or veg oil and brown off all the beef in small quantities. This prevents the beef from stewing in its own juices. Leave the beef to one side then repeat with the vegetables.
3. Once all the vegetables are browned place the beef back into the pan then add the garlic and stir. Add one bottle of the Copper Dragon best and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan, stir well to take deglaze the pan and transfer into a suitably sizes casserole dish with lid.
5. Place in a preheated oven (160c to 170c conventional or 130 to 140c fan assisted) for approximately 3 hours or until the meat is tender.

To make the scones

1. Rub the butter into the flour, baking powder with the salt and pepper until this resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Grate the cheeses into your dry mix, and slowly add milk whilst mixing until you have a soft dough ensuring this is not too wet.
3. Roll out your mix and using a scone cutter or knife cut your desired number of scones, cut some baking parchment to cover your baking tray and place the scones on. Bake in a preheated oven (190c to 200c conventional or 160c fan assisted) for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.

To serve

Once the meat is tender enough for your liking place the scones on top of the beef, hopefully you’ll have bought a case of Copper Dragon so now is the time to share…..

Place in the centre of the table and let everyone tuck in.