Windsor Farmers Market Stew

On the first Saturday of every month St Leonards Road in Windsor becomes home to the Windsor Farmers Market. It's organised by the Thames Valley Farmers' Market Co-operative who run markets at 18 locations across the region. Be warned, do not go if you haven't had a decent breakfast as you'll want to eat your way around the stalls. There is a delicious selection of foodie delights to choose from including local meat, veg, fruit, cakes, bread & some very tempting chocolates! I managed to drag myself out of bed early enough to get there this month with the aim of picking ingredients to make a Farmers Market Stew. In this horrible, miserable, damp, cold weather, (can you tell I don't like winter??) I think stews are the ultimate comfort food, of course served up with a massive dollop of mashed potato!

So I started with some beef stewing steak, then had a chat with a lovely farmer about celeriac. I was aware of it & I think had eaten it in a salad, but naively had no idea what it looked like. It's quite an ugly veggie poor thing, looks a bit like a mutant swede! Anyway it's in season at the minute & it was recommended as a great addition to a stew. A few extra veggies & a bottle of Brakspear Oxford Gold organic ale from Waitrose & I was good to go.

500g beef stewing steak
2 tbsps plain flour
Salt & pepper
1 small celeriac
1 large carrot
2 red onions
1 large parsnip
1 bottle of beer
250ml beef stock
2 tbps tomato puree

1. Peel & chop all the veggies into small pieces. Start by frying the onion in a little oil until soft. Season the flour & stir through the beef, then add this to the pan with the onion & fry for 2-3 minutes to seal it.

2. Add the rest of the veggies & the tomato puree, then pour over the beer & stock & stir well. Transfer the stew to a oven proof dish with a lid & pop it in the oven at 150c/GM3 for around 2 hours until the beef starts to fall apart. I took mine out twice during cooking to give it a good stir.

3. Leave to stand for 10 minutes before serving & that's it. Chuck it all in a dish & in the oven...foolproof!


The celeriac adds a lovely flavour to the stew, quite sweet, which complements the beery gravy, to make it even tastier I think I'd add a few herb dumplings next time. Let me know if you have a secret stew ingredient you'd be willing to share? :-) Enjoy, Rebecca x