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1
Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3.
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2
Roughly chop the carrots, celery and onions.
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3
Heat four tablespoons of olive oil in a large oven-proof dish.
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4
Brown the cubed beef on a moderate to high heat, in roughly four batches, reserving the meat in a bowl as you go.
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5
Add a couple of ladlefuls of stock to the dish and scrape the base of the dish with a wooden spoon to release the caramelised sediment. Pour into the bowl with the browned meat.
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6
Heat two more tablespoons of olive oil in the same dish and soften the roughly chopped carrots, celery and onion.
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7
Return the meat to the dish and scatter over the flour. Allow to cook for a couple of minutes.
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8
Pour over enough stock to almost cover the meat, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and then stir the contents well.
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9
Add the thyme and bay leaf and leave to simmer on a low heat.
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10
For the crust, using a course grater or the grater setting of a food processor, grate the potatoes and peeled parsnips.
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11
In another pan, melt the butter with the mustard seeds.
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12
Toss the potatoes and parsnip in the melted butter and mustard seeds, evenly coating every strand.
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13
Spread the parsnip potato crust over the stew.
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14
Make a little gap in the middle of the crust and poke the bone into it, so that it stands upright.
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15
Cover in foil and bake for two hours, removing the foil after one hour so to allow the crust to go crisp.
