Beef stew with leeks and mushrooms and things

I am taking a short break from worrying about everything going to hell in a handcart to make beef stew for tomorrow, when cultured gourmands Hendo and Ms T, (fresh back from Greece), my friend the dissolute reprobate and soppy cat-sitter Russell, and possibly my glamorous yet bonkers sister are expected.

The stew is supposed to be a credit-crunch supper, but a kilo of good braising steak still cost eleven quid and the veg cost about the same. Still, feeding six people for twenty quid isn't bad going and it's far less hassle than a roast, when you're chained to the cooker juggling trays of boiling fat for the spuds and faffing about with gravy, and steaming peas, and trying to find someone to carve who isn't drunk and won't hack great lumps out of the joint, and finding that you can't talk to your guests in a genial hostess manner because you're all sweating up like a racehorse and pink in the face.

To posh up the stew I slow-roasted the red peppers so they went sweet and smoky, then skinned and hand-shredded them - a squidgy crimson mess - into a big pot containing sweet potato, onions, leeks, mushrooms and garlic, pre-sweated in a little butter and their own juices. I added a litre of golden wobbly home made beef stock, some thyme I grew myself and some bayleaves and rosemary from the garden, de-glazed the beef frying pan with a slug of red wine and wondered about pouring the rest of the bottle in.

Nah. Cheers.

Glug glug.