classic winter warmer (Casserole) (Beef Recipes)

Member Name: mjc121

Product:	Beef Recipes
Date:	24/03/09 (166 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: warms you up and lots of veg

Disadvantages: takes a long time to cook

Classic Casserole

I've put this in the beef recipes section as it is the meat I tend to use the most often when making one.

A classic winter dish. When the language assistants I live with who work at the same school as I work at saw me making a casserole they all thought it was a bit odd. Since then they make them more often than I do as they are easy to do and it gives you a lot of time on your hands whilst it is cooking.

There are many variations of this you can have, changing the meat, changing the veg etc. Better still if you make more than you really need to make the first day then put what is left in the fridge and then the next day reheat it until it is piping hot it tastes even better. However, this is fine with beef, chicken and lamb but I personally would never re-heat cooked pork. A casserole is also a good way of using mutton and cheaper cuts of beef. Mutton needs a longer cooking time and can be fairly cheep as it isn't all that popular. Vegetarians can replace the beef with chunks of potato or just increase the amount of other veg.

This casserole also includes barley which is high in fibre and is an often overlooked grain. I think many people are put off by the smell of cooking barley but in this dish it won't give that smell. The reason for its inclusion is that not only is it good for you but as it cooks it will absorb some of the juices etc and help to thicken the casserole without it becoming like wallpaper paste.

When it comes to the stock fresh is best and it can be bought from most supermarkets or you could make your own but this can take a long time. Concentrated liquid stock and stock cubes contain far too much salt along with a concoction of other chemicals. Naturally the stock you use will depend on the meat. For a twist on this you could use the same amount of stout or other dark beer in place of the stock or half stock and half beer.

For the veg try to use ones which won't turn to a sloppy mush during cooking. As this is cooked for 2 hours things like carrots, Swede, turnip, parsnips etc are all good. Broccoli and cabbage are not advisable.

This serves two people or does two days dinners for one

Ingredients

9oz/250g beef steak (really any cut will do as it is being cooked for a long time)
2-3 Carrots
1/3 of a medium Swede
1-2 parsnips
1 medium sized leek
1-2 onions (depending on size)
400 ml beef stock (fresh is best)
1 tsp mustard powder (omit if using chicken)
3oz/80g barley
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme or a couple of sprigs of fresh.

Method.

pre-heat oven to 180 deg C (350 deg F, Gas mark 4)

Chop one of the onions fairly fine but cut the other(s) into eight wedges. Peal and chop the other veg into fairly large bite size chunks.

Cut the meat into bite sized pieces.

In a deep frying pan or a sauce pan add about 1 tbsp of olive oil and fry off the finely chopped onions but don't brown them. Add the beef and allow the meat to get a bit of colour.

Transfer this to a casserole dish and add all the other ingredients. Stir to mix together and then put the lid on and put into the oven for 2 hours. I tend to give it a stir about half way through the cooking.

After the 2 hours serve, it is ideal with crusty bread.

Summary: a good winter warmer