Amazing slow-cooked meat

Yet another recipe by Jamie Oliver. I know. Despite this concentration on Jamie recipes, I don�t really cook that much by him. Really. I don�t. But some of the recipes are especially good � that seems to be particularly true of the ones that have "amazing" in their name. He�s not overexaggerating � they are. This one is on his website, so I don�t feel bad posting my version of it that I did the other night. I modified some things � but I have made the original recipe too, and that�s good as well.

Amazing Slow-cooked Meat
Serves 6

800 g meat � I use a cut named �h�grev�, but I have no clue what the equvivalent would be. Use something that�s reasonably priced and good for stewing.
Handful of fresh parsley
250 g cherry tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
375 ml red wine
500 g can (400 g is fine if that�s what you have) crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp barley
water
salt, pepper, sugar

Start by preheating your oven to 225 degrees. (450F) When it�s hot, put in the tomatoes in any oven-proof dish � you want them to roast a bit. Cut the meat into a few big hunks. Brown in a little bit of oil in a large, deep pan. Add onion, garlic, carrot, celery and parsley, and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the wine, and cook on fairly high heat until all the wine is absorbed. Remove the cherry tomatoes from the oven � they should have cracked a little bit, and leaked some fluids. Add them to the pan, and add the crushed tomatoes too. Add the barley, and enough water to just cover everything. Put a lid on it, and let it all simmer for as long as you can stand. Two hours are good. Hour and a half will usually work, depending on what kind of meat you use.

When you think it�s done, remove the meat, and shred into small pieces using two forks. Add back into the pan, and season with salt, pepper and a pinch or two of sugar. Serve with pasta and some parmesan on top. Yum!