When it comes to cheap cuts, one has to embrace the mantra: if it’s worth cooking, it’s worth cooking slowly. Winter is the season of the almighty braise. It embraces time, warmth and the transformative effect of cooking down ingredients together for perfect alchemy.

Chuck steak is excellent buying right now – key with all the cost of living woes we are all facing – but it is a tough cut; it comes from the lower neck and upper shoulder of the cow. It is full of hard-working connective tissue, and cooking it low and slow over the stove will ensure the collagen breaks down. The following recipes showcase chuck at its slow-cooked best. They are perfect for warding off the winter chills.

Sweet potato and beef coconut curry

Sometimes it’s the simplicity of what you throw in a pot that fells even the most hardened of dinnertime critics. Case in point: this simple curry that is fulfilling in every sense. There’s the texture of the beef, which has both bite and softness, and the sweet-savoury depths that come when liberal spicing and coconut milk are cooked down together, taking their time to get to know each other. This is the kind of “yes, I have those ingredients” curry that has an engrossing, soothing power.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 2 brown onions, finely diced
• 8 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tbsp panch phoron* (Indian spice mix, see note)
• 3 tbsp mild curry powder
• 2 tbsp finely grated ginger
• 750g chuck steak, chopped into large bite-size chunks
• 2 x 400ml cans coconut milk
• 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into chunks (a touch larger than bite-sized)

To serve

• steamed rice
• fluffy naan
• 1-2 tbsp chopped salted peanuts per serve

Method

1. Place a large heavy-based pot over low heat. Add the oil and once shimmering, add the onions and cook until soft and fragrant, stirring often, for at least 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute before adding the curry powder and panch phoron. Cook until the onion and garlic is coated in the spice mixture. Add the ginger and the steak and cook for 5 minutes or until the beef is browned. Add the coconut milk and gently simmer with the lid off for 1 hour, or until the meat is soft (if the liquid looks like it is reducing too rapidly, place the lid on the pot).
2. Add the sweet potato pieces and cook for another hour with the lid on until the meat is incredibly soft, and the sweet potato is cooked through.
3. Serve with rice, naan and a smattering of salted peanuts.

Serves 4-6

Note: You can purchase panch phoron from Herbie’s or Gewurzhaus, or you can make a quick blend yourself by combining toasted cumin, nigella, fennel, mustard and fenugreek seeds (the spices are toasted but left whole). One teaspoon of each spice is great, although I recommend a ½ teaspoon of fenugreek, as this can have some bitter undertones.

Tip: You can also throw this into a slow-cooker and cook on low for 8 hours for a great workday workaround.

Correction: The initial braising time has been reduced from 2 hours to 1 hour

The ultimate Guinness, beef and shallot family pie

Yes, this is going to require a roasting dish and a large heavy-based pot, but the roasted shallots add such a jammy glorious element to this pie, you truly won’t mind the extra washing up. Roasting the vegetables adds an intense depth of flavour to this filling. And yes, there is Guinness, but all the alcohol cooks off, leaving behind fabulous malty flavour.

Ingredients

• 8 eschalots (French shallots), peeled and halved lengthways
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 stick celery, diced
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1kg chuck beef, trimmed of fatty sinew, chopped into large bite-sized pieces
• 440ml Guinness
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 x sheet puff pastry

Pastry wash

• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).
2. Add the shallots, carrots and celery to a roasting tray and drizzle over 4 tablespoons of the olive oil, turning to coat. Season with salt and pepper and roast for 30-45 minutes or until the shallots are soft and are a beautiful, caramelised colour.
3. While the vegetables are roasting, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large heavy-based pot placed over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the beef and brown on all sides. Add the Guinness and simmer while the vegetables are roasting.
4. Scrape the vegetables and any tray juices directly into the meat mixture. Add the beef stock, give everything a gentle stir to incorporate, and very gently simmer for 3 hours with the lid off. You want the meat to be fall-apart soft, and the liquid to have mostly evaporated, so you have a gloriously thick pie filling.
5. Preheat the oven again to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).
6. Pour the mixture into a 23-25cm pie dish. Gently press down the sheet of puff pastry over the top, making a border with any leftover pastry trims. Cut a small hole in the centre to ensure steam can escape.
7. Combine the egg and milk for the pastry wash in a small bowl. Brush generously over the top of the pie. Cook for 45 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed and golden.
8. Serve with steamed greens and a beautiful buttery mash.

Serves: 4-6

Tip: You can also cook this filling in the slow-cooker for 8 hours on low, although I find the liquid doesn’t reduce to the same extent as on the stovetop, so allow an additional 20 minutes on the reduce function to ensure your pie filling isn’t too runny.

Lemongrass beef

I can’t tell you how much I love this slow-cooked goodness. It’s the kind of meal that can get you through busy weeknights, and is equally respectable to serve if you have people over for dinner – it is often a go-to of mine in either scenario. The meat falls apart and the finish of the sauce is glossy, thick and in-your-face delicious.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 750g chuck steak, cut into large bite-sized chunks
• 8 garlic cloves, grated
• large thumb-sized knob ginger, grated
• 2 lemongrass stems*, white part only, grated

Braising liquid

• ½ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup dark sweet soy (kecap manis)
• ¼ cup oyster sauce
• 3 cups beef stock
• ¼ cup brown sugar

To serve

• steamed coconut rice
• 1 bunch choy sum, steamed
• lime juice (optional)

Method

1. Add the olive oil to a large heavy-based pot. Once shimmering, add the beef and cook until browned all over. Add the garlic, ginger and lemongrass, and cook until fragrant.
2. Add the braising ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine. Pour over the beef, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer, and cook for 3 hours, lid off, stirring every 30 minutes or so, until the beef is soft, and the sauce has thickened and is superbly glossy.
3. To serve, scoop the lemongrass beef into bowls with some coconut rice and steamed choy sum. Top with a smattering of crispy fried shallots and chilli strands or chilli flakes. Squeeze over lime, if using.  

Serves 4-6

*Note: Now, if you were to choose those tubes of lemongrass paste, I suggest you squeeze one into the pot in its entirety to achieve a similar lemongrass taste. I’ve been caught out without fresh lemongrass with this before, and while fresh is absolutely best, an entire tube of the stuff will suffice.

Correction: The quantity of beef stock has been increased from 2 cups to 3 cups

Persian-inspired eggplant, chickpea and beef stew

Traditionally, this would get its superb but subtle sourness from dried black limes. We are trying to achieve a similar taste using lemon and sumac – unless you happen to have dried black limes in your possession (try 2-3 or to taste), but for most, this is a more “cupboard staple”-friendly option. It might seem like a considerable amount of sumac, but it’s subtle and lovely with the eggplant and chickpeas.

Ingredients

• 3 medium eggplants, cut into large bite-sized cubes
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 red onions, finely diced
• cloves from 1 head garlic, chopped
• 1½ tbsp sumac
• 750g chuck steak, cut into large bite-sized chunks
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 3-4 cups chicken stock
• 400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• zest of 1 lemon

To serve

• 3 tbsp Greek-style yoghurt per serve
• sumac to scatter
• olive oil to drizzle
• finely chopped coriander
• steamed rice and/or flatbreads

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).
2. Add the diced eggplant and half the olive oil to a large, flat roasting tray and toss to coat. Season generously with salt and roast for 30 minutes.
3. While the eggplant is cooking, place a large heavy-based pot over medium heat. Add the oil and once shimmering, turn the heat to low, add the onion and sweat until soft and translucent, at least 5-8 minutes. Add the garlic and the sumac and cook until the onion mixture is coated in the sumac and the garlic becomes fragrant.
4. Push to the side of the pot using a wooden spoon then add the steak (in batches if necessary) and cook, browning on all sides. Add the tomato paste and cook until the mixture is incorporated and coating the meat and onion mixture.
5. Add the eggplant and three cups of the chicken stock and simmer for 2 hours with the lid on, checking every hour or so to ensure the liquid hasn’t evaporated too quickly. Add more stock if it has reduced too rapidly, about ½ a cup at a time.
6. Add the chickpeas and cook for another 45 minutes.
7. Season with the zest of 1 lemon and salt and pepper. Divide the stew among bowls. Top with a dollop of yoghurt, a drizzle of olive oil, and a smattering of sumac and coriander. Serve with rice and or flatbreads.

Serves 4