In collaboration with Simply Beef & Lamb.
This time of year all I want to do is sit curled up on the couch with my favourite patchwork blanket, candles lit, fireplace belting out heat, and spend time with my family.
The Shetland Islands, where I live, lie at the same latitude as the southern tip of Greenland. I know many of my regular readers know I live quite far north, but unless you’ve visited here personally it’s hard to visualise just how far north we are. Come midwinter we have only six hours of daylight – between the hours of 9 am and 3 pm.
We spend a lot of time indoors, cosied up and helping pass the cold, dark, winter months with the comforting flickers of candlelight, keeping the dark at bay.
The Danish (who Shetland used to belong to) have a name for this: hygge. Pronounced hoo-gah this Danish concept encapsulates the idea of cosiness; it’s all about creating a nice, warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good people around you.
For me, all the good things in life start with good food, like Simply Beef and Lamb’s winter recipes. Their recipes are are not only deliciously warming and comforting, but are also all about inspiring cosy nights in with friends, family and loved ones.
Nothing says hygge more to me than a hearty, warming bowl of slow cooked beef or lamb stew.
As consumers, we want to be sure that we are buying farm assured quality meat, and we can be sure of this if we look for a quality mark like the Red Tractor logo on packs in supermarkets. All beef and lamb carrying the Red Tractor logo can be traced back to the farms the livestock came from and we can be assured that the farmers and suppliers who produce beef and lamb for this scheme meets comprehensive standards covering hygiene, safety, environmental protection and animal welfare at every stage from farm to fork.
This pepperpot stew recipe features many of my favourite ingredients – good quality beef, fresh herbs, and a touch of spice from the inclusion of garlic, ginger root and a fresh chilli. I only used a small chilli as I was feeding this to my younger children, but feel free to up the heat with this using a larger chilli or a pinch of hot chilli flakes.
It’s really simple to make too. The quick & easy version involves chucking the meat, stock and spices into a pot and slow cooking on the stove top for two hours. After that you add the veg and kidney beans, stirring through some lovely winter greens just before serving with a loaf of crusty bread.
My oven version involves dredging and searing the meat first and slow cooking it in a casserole dish in the oven. My version involves no stirring, leaving you time to go out for some hygge shopping!
Sitting on the couch eating a bowl of hearty, warming stew is pretty awesome in itself, but sitting there with a gorgeous new handcrafted pottery bowl – well, that’s even better, no? I picked up this lovely piece of artwork at our local art gallery while my stew slow cooked away. Two hours in the oven meant I had time to go shopping and to go and visit a friend for a cuppa and much needed catch-up chat.
The vegetables for this stew are added during the final half an hour of cooking time. Cubed potatoes, butternut squash (or pumpkin, if you can still get it) and coconut milk are added (the latter ingredient imparts a delicious creaminess to the stew), while kidney beans and some winter greens – either fresh kale or baby spinach leaves, are stirred through in the end.
The ultimate comfort food for a proper hygge experience.
My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this dish as a quiet, child-free late lunch together last weekend when he returned home from work. The kids were all out visiting friends, so my husband and I savoured this time together.
Leftovers reheated very well for the kids’ dinner later on in the evening too.
Beef and lamb are incredibly tasty and versatile ingredients, and Simply Beef & Lamb’s recipes (like this Pepperpot stew), are really easy to make. Slow cooking results in a deliciously tender meat and a very satisfying meal with friends and family.
What’s your favourite winter comfort stew recipe? If you’re looking for inspiration pop on over to the Simply Beef & Lamb website and check out their collection of hygge inspired dishes.
Pepperpot Stew
Ingredients
- 450 grams lean boneless shin, stewing or braising beef cut into 2.5 cm/ 1 inch cubes
- 50 grams plain flour (for the oven version)
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil (for the oven version)
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
- 2 garlic cloves or 1 tsp garlic puree
- 2.5 cm fresh ginger root or 2 tsp ginger puree
- 2 medium onions or 450 g pack chopped onions
- 1 fresh red chilli or a large pinch of dried chilli flakes
- 700 ml good quality beef stock
- Shetland sea salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 450 grams potatoes peeled and cubed
- 225 grams butternut squash peeled and cubed
- 200 ml light coconut milk
- 400 grams tinned kidney beans
- 150 grams Shetland kale or baby spinach
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Instructions
the oven version
- Preheat oven to 150C.
- Place flour into a bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Dredge the beef cubes in the flour and set aside. Reserve the flour.
- Heat half the sunflower oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan, or oven proof casserole dish and brown half the beef on all sides. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon and keep warm as you fry the remaining beef in the remaining oil.
- Gently fry the onion, ginger, garlic and chilli in the same pan (adding more oil if needed), add any leftover dredging flour and cook for one minute.
- Pour over 1/3 of the hot beef stock to deglaze the pan and then add the remaining stock and bring to the boil.
- Place the beef and onion/stock mixture into a lidded casserole dish and bake in the centre of the oven for two hours.
- Add the potatoes, butternut squash and coconut milk and cook, covered, for a further half an hour.
- Five minutes before the end of the cooking time add the beans. Season well to taste.
- Remove from the oven, stir in the kale or spinach and spoon into soup bowls. Serve with warm crusty bread.
the stove top version
- Omit the flour and oil. Place the rest of ingredients except for the potatoes, butternut squash, beans, coconut milk and kale into a 1.7L/3 pint heatproof casserole pot.
- Increase the heat and bring the ingredients to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally.
- Add the potatoes, butternut squash and coconut milk. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.
- Five minutes before the end of the cooking time add the kidney beans. Season well to taste.
- Remove from heat and add the kale or spinach.
The Danish concept of Hygge has become very popular here in the UK, but have you heard of uhygge? It describes the exact opposite of cosy, like that feeling you get that you’re being watched in the woods. Hygge is all about feeling safe and secure, but know that the trolls do watch from the shadows.
Well, they do in our house at least, thanks to the wedding gifts (pictured above) my husband and I received from his Norwegian family.
OTHER BEEF & LAMB RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE
Laal Maas by Greedy Gourmet
Slow Cooked Beef with Gnocchi by Foodie Quine
Lamb Casserole with Ale by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
Mamta Gupta’s Keema Meatball Curry by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
Slow Cooked Shetland Lamb Casserole with Creamy Polenta by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
SHOP THIS POST
Click here to locate your nearest Quality Standard Butcher
Porto Casserole Pot by The White Company
Monogrammed Wooden Chopping Board by I Just Love It
Puckle Loaf from The Waas Bakery
Hand-crafted Handled Soup Bowl by Ken Eardley Ceramics
This is a commissioned recipe post. Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me do to what I love: mess up my kitchen and share recipe stories. For everything you need to know about beef and lamb, more recipe ideas and information about Red Tractor beef and lamb, please visit www.simplybeefandlamb.co.uk
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All looks scrumdiddly n warm…love the pot too…where from and is it a stove top pot?
No oven
This looks very delicious and good for a lazy day. The light coconut milk would be a delightful touch to the dish. Thanks Elizabeth, it’s a great recipe forWinter.
Such an awesome dish. I’m loving all hot food these cold days! Your stew recipe is a great idea that I am putting this on the list to try doing soon, especially this Christmas for my family. But I still hope to have a day tasting this stew right in Shetland. Thank you for sharing!
I love stew, particularly during the colder months, There’s nothing more warming or satisfying.
This looks like such a lovely, home-y dish. Perfect for the winter months 🙂 I love how easy stew is!
That looks like the sort of warm and nourishing food my nan used to cook – delicious.
Wow this looks absolutely delicious! I’m definitely going to attempt this myself!
This sounds the perfect warming winter dinner! Stewing beef is my favourite so this sounds ideal.
Oh what a perfect winter warmer recipe this is! I love this time of year when you can make hearty stews, casseroles and soups and this one looks so tasty. Thank you for the recipe, I will be giving it a try soon xx
This looks so comforting, love that you used coconut milk!
This looks so delicious! I love eating comfort food like this at this time of year x
What a lovely hygge stew! It looks so warming and comforting for your dark winter evenings. Such a beautiful bowl as well, from your local potter. I hadn’t heard of uhygge, and I love that there’s an opposite feeling, which must make hygge feel even more cosy.
The bad bit about winter is definitely the cold and the dark but oh I do love getting cosy and warm inside and good winter cooking like this lovely stew. British beef and lamb are so good, we are so lucky to have such great quality available to us.
Well that just looks like the ultimate bowl of winter comfort food!
This looks absolutely delicious, comforting, and so perfect for this snowy weather I’m having! Love the addition of the butternut squash and the coconut milk. Pinning! 🙂
Oh gosh I’m not sure if I could withstand your winters so far north! But no doubt it would be made a little easier with comforting stews like this one. I’ve never actually added coconut milk to a stew like this before, it’s something I normally associated with Asian curries – mind blown. 😀 Super keen to try!
This looks just so perfect for this weather and I was shocked to see coconut milk as an ingredients but definitely something i now want to add to my next stew x
I love a good stew. Need to start making some as it’s such a good value for money family meal. I’d have never have thought to put some of these flavours into a stew so I’m looking forward to giving this a go x
Lovely lovely recipe Elizabeth, I do like that coconut milk for the creaminess, all those veggies and of course shin of beef is my favourite cut for long slow cooking. So good.
This sounds very tasty. I would love to try it..
Hoogah hoogah! It sounds like something a Disney character would say. Nonetheless, I definitely need more hygge in my life and this stew is a step in the right direction.
This looks like a lovely recipe and very hearty. It’s great that you can leave it and do other things whilst it’s cooking.
I saw your picture on Instagram of stew in the mug and thought it looked incredible. It’s chilly and dark enough here in Edinburgh so I can’t imagine being further North right now. I used to live in Aberdeen and that was bleak enough for me! Stew is just perfect for this weather.
I love everything in this soup! And even though I’m from California, that makes me a wimp in the cold tolerance department, so I still need this a lot. I would love to eat this sitting by the fire or maybe when out camping. It’s so awesome that the Danish have a word that describes a feeling and mood.
Anytime temps dip below 60 here in Atlanta, I need “hoo-gah” in ma life – and this is the perfectly, hearty, cosy soup to enjoy – In fact, I think IT is the definition of hoo-gah as you mention here 🙂
I make similar kind of stews with lots of veggies. Perfect for the weather. Absolutely delicious with home made bread
You have quite a combination of ingredients in this jazzed up stew. the coconut and ginger certainly give it an interesting twist!
OMG love the wedding presents!! And this stew would be perfect here today on this cold rainy day.
I love the look of this. I could let it cook slowly on our wood burning stove.
Oh my goodness my husband would love this, he loves a winter stew!
oh wow this looks and sounds amazing the pictures just make it look mouthwatering. This sounds like a great winter warmer dish
What a delicious stew! Fab ingredients all around, with a great balance of flavours. Today we walked through the fields on the way to school, all the grass was covered with frost. Just the perfect meal for this cold weather.
This is definitely the epitome of hygge and cosiness, stews’ and slow cooked food is great at this time of the year x
My husband is a big meat eater and only buys meat that is British. He would really enjoy this recipe, especially now the days are getting really cold.
This looks so comforting and perfect for the cold weather we have been having. I love adding kale to stews too.
Please come and make me a stew , I am so cold and your stews always look so delectable. Perfect for winter xx
This looks like such a delicious winter dish, thanks so much for sharing! I’ll be sure to add this to my to-make list!
I love casseroles in winter. I have my own recipes, but this one sounds like a winner – I do like the idea of some chilli for extra spice
This looks absolutely delicious, I will be remaking this but with lamb as I dont have any beef at the moment
I keep reading a lot about Hygge, I like that you’ve extended it to food. You’ve made a great stewpot here. x
This looks amazing. My husband loves stew. Not a big fan of kidney beans though, might just try this minus the beans 🙂