As you may, or may not, know, slow cooked beef is one of my favourite foods. Indeed, this is my second such recipe of the year, the first being a rather exquisite beef bourguignon. Beef, prepared in this way, has become a regular fixture on my eating calendar for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I have taken the decision to stop eating meat flippantly. Meat is expensive, nowhere near as sustainable as vegetables or pulses and unhealthy if eaten too often. Indeed, the world could do with each and every meat eater indulging in a little less animal. Secondly, when I do decide to give in to my carnivorous tendencies, the best cure for an absence of meat is a rich, deep and delicious beef stew. I don’t mean to preach, this isn’t the Vegetable Church.