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Staffordshire beef lobby
A delicious and hearty meal, ideal for those on a budget. See Tips for how to make this dish even more budget-friendly. Beef lobby is a classic Staffordshire stew, traditionally eaten by pottery workers. It's thought that the name 'lobby' comes from 'lobscouse' – a cheap stew eaten in the area, which is also where the word 'scouse' originally comes from! You can make this recipe on the hob or in a slow cooker (see Tips for how).
- Difficulty: Easy
- Serves 4
- Freezable
Preparation
- Total time
- 2 Hrs
- Preparation time
- 20 Mins
- Cooking time
- 1 Hr 40 Mins
450g braising steak (remove fat)
50g pearl barley
1 onion, diced
garlic (2x cloves), crushed
1 swede, diced
4 celery sticks, chopped
4 carrots, diced
500ml stock made using 1 Knorr Zero Salt Beef Stock Cube
Put the meat, onion and pearl barley in a large pan and cover with water
Bring to the boil and then simmer gently on a very low heat for 40 minutes
Stir occasionally to prevent it from sticking
Meanwhile peel and chop the vegetables to dice of a similar size - I like mine chunky but my mum used to do hers in small dice
Add the vegetables to the pan and top up with Knorr Zero Salt Beef stock to cover the veg
Cook at a low simmer for approximately 60 minutes or until everything is softly cooked and the meat is tender
Continue to stir occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of pan
Season to taste
Serve in big bowls with chunky bread
You will need
Large cooking pot – This high-quality stainless steel stockpot holds 11 litres and has a convenient, deep and wide design. See more details here at Amazon.
Sharp knife – This eight-inch chef knife is extremely versatile - see more details here at Amazon.
These large bowls are perfect for serving up the Beef Lobby and are great value, too – see more details here at Wilko.
Tips
How to make Staffordshire beef lobby even cheaper:
If money's tight, or you're just trying to eat less meat, you can always:
- Reduce the quantity of beef in this recipe. In fact, it tastes delicious as a veggie stew with no meat at all!
- Add more pearl barley
- Add potatoes
- Add lentils
How to make Staffordshire beef lobby in a slow cooker:
Brown the meat on all sides in olive oil in the slow cooker.
Place the barley, onion, garlic, swede, celery and carrot in with the beef then pour over the stock.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cook in the slow cooker for 6 to 8 hours.
If your sauce is not as thick as you'd like, remove the beef and let rest while you reduce the liquid in the slow cooker until desired thickness.
Serve in big bowls with chunky bread.
Variations
You can use whatever veg you like in this recipe; frozen or tinned peas or sweetcorn are a particularly easy way to up the nutrients.
Reviews
Guest
★★★★★ Rated 5 out of 5 stars.Gorgeous!
Reviewed on 17/03/15
