Chef Thomas
A Proper Chicken Broth
Sunday's roast chicken, simmered slowly on Monday with carrots, celery, leeks, and thyme into a bowl of clear, golden broth that smells like the kitchen is paying attention.
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Scouse
Created by Chef Thomas
A slow, thrifty stew of beef and root vegetables, simmered until the potatoes dissolve into the broth and the kitchen smells like it has been looking after you all afternoon.
Soups & Stews
British
Budget Friendly
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
2 hr 30 min cook•2 hr 55 min total
Yield6 servings
January rain on the window. The heating doing its best. There's a pan on the hob that's been ticking over for two hours, filling the kitchen with a smell that makes the cold outside feel almost useful, because without it, you wouldn't need this bowl of stew, and that would be a loss.
Scouse is Liverpool's dish, so much so that the city named itself after it. Or rather, the people did. A Scouser is someone who eats scouse, and the name stuck because the dish was everywhere: cheap, filling, made from whatever the week could afford. Beef if there was money. Potatoes regardless. Onions, carrots, a bit of swede if one turned up. The potatoes do the work, breaking down into the broth until it thickens into something halfway between a stew and a soup. No flour. No thickening tricks. Just potatoes, time, and patience.
I make this when the temperature drops and the evenings come in early. The notebook entry is always the same: beef shin, potatoes, long afternoon, rain. It's not a recipe that impresses anyone. It feeds them. And on the right evening, with the right company and a jar of pickled red cabbage on the table, that's a far better thing.
Your kitchen, your rules. Some people add a splash of Worcestershire sauce. Some leave out the swede. Some make it without meat entirely, which the city calls blind scouse, and it's just as good if the stock is right. A recipe is a conversation, not a contract. This is the version I come back to.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
beef shin or chuck steak
Quantity
500g
cut into rough 3cm pieces
beef dripping or vegetable oil
Quantity
a knob or generous splash
onions
Quantity
2 large
peeled and roughly chopped
carrots
Quantity
3 medium
peeled and cut into thick rounds
swede
Quantity
1 small
peeled and cut into chunks
floury potatoes
Quantity
700g
peeled and cut into large chunks
good beef stock
Quantity
1 litre
bay leaves
Quantity
2
thyme
Quantity
a few sprigs
fine sea salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
pickled red cabbage (optional)
Quantity
to serve
crusty bread
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| beef shin or chuck steakcut into rough 3cm pieces | 500g |
| beef dripping or vegetable oil | a knob or generous splash |
| onionspeeled and roughly chopped | 2 large |
| carrotspeeled and cut into thick rounds | 3 medium |
| swedepeeled and cut into chunks | 1 small |
| floury potatoespeeled and cut into large chunks | 700g |
| good beef stock | 1 litre |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| thyme | a few sprigs |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
| pickled red cabbage (optional) | to serve |
| crusty bread | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Large heavy-bottomed casserole or stockpot with lid
- •Wooden spoon
- •Ladle
Instructions
- 1
Brown the beef
Get a heavy-bottomed pan or casserole properly hot. Add the dripping or oil. Pat the beef dry and season it well with salt and pepper. Brown the pieces in batches, giving each one enough room to colour rather than steam. You want deep, dark edges, almost catching, the kind that leave sticky bits on the bottom of the pan. That's flavour. Don't rush it. Set the browned meat aside on a plate.
Beef shin is the better cut here. It has the sinew and connective tissue that melts into the broth and gives it body. Chuck will do, but shin rewards the long cooking. - 2
Soften the onions
Turn the heat down. Add the onions to the same pan with its sticky, dark residue. A pinch of salt. Let them cook gently for eight to ten minutes, stirring now and then, scraping up all those caramelised bits from the beef. The onions will go soft and start to take on colour. This is the foundation of everything that follows.
- 3
Build the stew
Return the beef to the pan. Add the carrots and swede. Pour in the stock, enough to just cover everything. If you're a little short, top it up with water. It doesn't need to be swimming. Tuck the bay leaves and thyme in amongst the meat. Bring it to a gentle simmer, not a boil, put the lid on slightly ajar, and let it murmur away for an hour and a half. The beef needs that time to go from tough to tender. Check it occasionally. Adjust the heat so it barely bubbles.
If you have an oven free, this does well at 150C/130C fan. Put the lid on and forget about it. The oven's steady heat keeps the simmer more even than the hob. - 4
Add the potatoes
After an hour and a half, add the potatoes. They go in late because you want two things to happen: some of the chunks should hold their shape, giving you something to bite into, but the edges and smaller pieces should break down and thicken the broth into something that coats the back of a spoon. Stir them in, put the lid back on, and give it another forty-five minutes to an hour. The stew is ready when the beef pulls apart with no resistance and the broth has gone thick and cloudy from the dissolved potato.
Cut some potato chunks larger and some smaller. The small ones collapse into the broth. The large ones stay whole. You get both thickness and texture. - 5
Season and serve
Fish out the bay leaves and thyme stalks. Taste it. It will need more salt than you expect. Season it properly. Stir gently, letting some of the potato break up further if you want a thicker stew. Ladle it into warm bowls. The proper accompaniment is pickled red cabbage, sharp and vinegary against all that slow, savoury warmth, and a thick piece of crusty bread to mop the bowl clean. There are few better feelings than putting this in front of someone on a dark evening.
Chef Tips
- •The stock matters here. This is a simple dish with nowhere to hide, so a good beef stock, homemade if you have it, lifts everything. A chicken carcass simmered with water and time will do if that's what you've got. What you want to avoid is anything that tastes of salt and powder.
- •Don't trim the beef too neatly. The fat and sinew in shin melt away during the long cook and give the broth its richness. A tidy piece of steak would be wasted here. You want the cheap cuts, the ones with character.
- •Pickled red cabbage is not optional. I know I said your kitchen, your rules, but this is the exception. The sharp, vinegary crunch cuts through the richness and makes each spoonful feel new again. A jar from the supermarket is fine. Homemade is better, but we're only making dinner.
- •Scouse improves overnight. Make it on Saturday afternoon and eat it on Sunday. The flavours deepen, the broth thickens further, and reheating it gently fills the kitchen with that same smell all over again.
Advance Preparation
- •Scouse is better the next day. Make it a day ahead, cool it, and refrigerate overnight. The fat will solidify on top and can be lifted off before reheating. The flavour deepens considerably.
- •Freezes well for up to three months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat gently on the hob, adding a splash of water or stock if it has thickened too much.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 450g)
Calories
315 calories
Total Fat
9 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
65 mg
Sodium
900 mg
Total Carbohydrates
33 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
7 g
Protein
24 g
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