This winter warmer is easy to prepare and comforts you with every mouthful. The meat soaks up all flavours, while it also flavours the cooking liqueur itself, which is used to create the sweet, rich jus. Served with a massive dollop of mash, what more could you want on a winters evening.

Serves: 2

Cooking time: 8 hours

Ingredients:

For the Slow Cooker:

• 2 Short Ribs
• 2 Carrots
• 1 Onion
• 1 Garlic Bulb
• 250ml Beef Stock
• 100ml Red Wine
• 2 Cinnamon Sticks
• 2 Sprigs of Thyme
• 3 Sprigs of Rosemary
• 2 Bay Leaves
• Dash of Worcester Sauce
• 1 tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
• Squeeze of Tomato Ketchup
• Salt and Pepper
• Olive Oil

For the Jus:

• Slow Cooker Liqueur
• 50ml Red Wine
• 1 tbsp Cornflour
• 1 tsp Dark Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Chopped Thyme

For the Mash:

• 4 Maris Piper Potatoes
• 1 tsp Wholegrain Mustard
• Knob of Butter
• 75ml Milk

Instructions:

1. Start off by sealing the ribs. Rub them with olive oil and seasoning generously.
2. Put a frying pan on a high heat and add the ribs, turning them until each side is browned slightly. This should take about 5 mins total. Put to the side.
3. Roughly cut the carrots and onion into chunks, and cut the end off the garlic bulb so each clove's end is exposed, tossing everything in the slow cooker and placing the browned ribs on top.
4. Cover the ribs in the beef stock and wine, topping up with a little more water if the ribs aren't submerged. Add the cinnamon sticks, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, Worcester sauce, sugar, and a squeeze of ketchup. Season with salt and pepper and put the slow cooker on the low heat setting for 6 - 8 hours, so you can go about your day while your delicious dinner is cooking.
5. When you are about 30 minutes off being ready to eat, peel the spuds and put on to boil until soft, approximately 15 minutes.
6. While these are cooking, take a few (~5) ladles of the cooking liqueur from the slow cooker into a saucepan and place on a low heat.
7. (N.B. - If the short ribs contained a lot of excess fat, you may need to remove some of the fat juices which will sit on top of your liqueur. This is easily done by gently ladling away the top oily layer, exposing the deeper gravy layer. Don't be afraid to leave some; they add a lot of flavour.)
8. In a little dish put the cornflour, and combine with some more cooking liqueur until a paste is formed.
9. Stir this into the saucepan, along with the wine, sugar, and thyme. Keep on a low simmer, tasting to see if to your taste. Add a little extra sugar or wine for a more intense flavour.
10. Once the potatoes are cooked, mash with butter, milk, mustard, salt, and pepper until a silky smooth mash (tip - if you have an electric whisk, finish it off with this for the smoothest, creamiest mash).
11. Time to plate up. Divide the mash onto each plate, and take the short ribs from the slow cooker gently and balance on the mash potato. The bone is likely to be falling off the meat at this point. Put the jus into a jug and pour over each serving.

Serving Note: Best enjoyed feeling cosy with plenty of candles, listening to Paolo Nutini.