Beef shin stew

Method

1. Brown the beef hard in batches in a little oil or dripping. Don't crowd the pan.
2. Soften 1 sliced onion in the same pan.
3. Stir in 1 tbsp flour for a minute.
4. Add about 450–500ml beef stock plus 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, scraping up all the browned bits.
5. Tip everything into the slow cooker.
6. Cook 7–8 hours on LOW or 4–5 hours on HIGH. LOW is better for shin.
7. If making steak pie and the filling is still loose at the end, pour the gravy into a saucepan and reduce it for 10–15 minutes, then reunite it with the beef.
8. Cool slightly, put into the pie dish, add the puff pastry lid and bake at 200°C fan for roughly 20–25 minutes until deeply golden.