Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.

Preheat oven to Fan Oven 220°C/240°C/475°F/Gas 9

Sprinkle the flour over the cubed beef and toss well coating the meat evenly with the flour.

Heat the oil and ½ the butter in a cast iron pan over a high heat. Brown the beef on both sides, remove from the pan and set aside. Do not overcrowd the pan. You will probably need to do do this in 3 or 4 batches. If necessary add a little extra oil. When you have cooked all the beef, the base of your pan should be quite dark. This is perfect! The dark, sticky bits are full of flavour and will cook into the casserole when you add the vegetables and Guinness.

As the beef cooks, prepare the onions, pepper and garlic cloves. I prepare and roughly chop them, then blitz everything in a food processor until very finely chopped. You could also do this by hand.

Once the beef is cooked, add the vegetables and any liquid from the food processor to the pan. Cook over a moderately high heat, stirring regularly and scraping up the sticky bits as it cooks. When the liquid has evaporated, add the remaining butter and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until very soft.

As the vegetables cook, chop the prunes, olives and fresh rosemary.

When the vegetables are ready, add the Guinness and bring to the boil, stirring continuously. Boil rapidly for 2 minutes, stirring to scrape up any remaining sticky bits.

Add all the remaining ingredients, mix well and cook in a preheated oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the oven down to fan oven 100°C/120°C/250°F/Gas ½ and cook for a further 2½ – 3 hours, or until the sauce has thickened and the beef is falling apart. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.

Serve: delicious with cheesy polenta, mashed potatoes, pasta, cauliflower purée, celeriac purée or celeriac and potato purée. Swirl with some sour cream, sprinkle with parsley and serve with green vegetables or a green salad on the side.