Hi, this recipe came from a free SPAR magazine that my Dad picked up in store. It is the Wintertime issue 2021/22, on page 9. I couldn't find an online link, however there was one on BBC Good Food that was practically word for word the same, so I'll link that here.
This casserole was really tasty, it had a rich, deep flavour from the slow cooking and the beef remained tender when it was time to serve. I'll definitely be making it again. This could be made with all sorts of different meats e.g. chicken thighs or diced pork. If you are veggie, you could try out different dried pulses in it too. To serve, any sort of starchy carbohydrate works well. We did some cooked baguettes, but mash, couscous or rice would be fine too.
While cooking this dish, I found myself continuously calling this a stew when people asked what I was cooking, and it got me wondering what the difference is between a stew and a casserole. After a bit of research, the bottom line seems to be that a stew is cooked on the hob, while a casserole is baked in the oven. There were lots more finer details but this seemed to be the main one. If you are interested, here's a couple of the websites I looked at: here and here.
Enjoy!
Hazel :)
***
***
***
 |
This hasn't been cooked on the hob, it's just where I put it after I took it out the oven.
Don't worry, it's not a stew.
|
***
Dietary Info:
-Contains Dairy
{Leave out the butter and add a drop more oil.}
-Contains Gluten
{Thicken the sauce with cornflour instead of plain flour.}
-No Nuts
-Unsuitable for Vegans
{Use 2x400g tins of pulses, or use dried pulses also, they will cook while the casserole's in the oven. Also, use vegetable stock cubes and extra oil instead of butter.}
-Unsuitable for Vegetarians
{See above.}
Serves: 4
Prep Time: approx. 10mins
Cooking Time: approx. 3hours 30mins - 4hours
Ingredients:
-1tbsp SPAR vegetable oil {Any oil will be fine, I used Tesco extra virgin olive oil.}
-1tbsp SPAR butter {Any brand of butter is fine, or any other spread e.g. margarine or oil based.}
-850g stewing beef, cut into large chunks {I has 800g, from 2x400g packets. If you can't get quite enough, or get slightly too much, it should be fine.}
-2 celery sticks, thickly sliced
-1 onion, chopped
-2 large carrots, cut into chunky slices {You don't have to peel the carrots, I did as my sister prefers it this way. If you are not peeling them, make sure to wash them thoroughly before using.}
-5 bay leaves {I used curry leaves as we didn't have any bay leaves.}
-1 thyme sprig (optional) {I included this.}
-2tbsp SPAR plain flour {Any brand of flour is fine, I even used self-raising.}
-2tbsp tomato purée
-2tbsp Worcestershire sauce {1tbsp is fine, if like me, yours runs out on you.}
-2 beef stock cubes, crumbled
Method:
1: Heat oven to 160℃/140℃ fan/gas 3/ 320℉. Put the vegetable oil and butter in an ovenproof {And hob-suitable} dish over a high heat and fry the beef until evenly browned all over. Remove and set aside. {Pour away any fat that is released in cooking, only leaving a little in the pan to cook the veg in. Also, don't pour the fat down the sink for this will clog the pipes. Put it in a bowl and then put it in the green bin.}
2: Add the celery, onion, carrots, bay leaves and thyme sprig {I just added the leaves.} to the casserole dish and cook for 10mins. {The onion will be soft but the carrots and celery don't need to be.}
3: Stir in the flour, followed by the tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce and stock cubes.
4: Gradually stir in 600ml hot water, then tip in the beef and bring to a gentle simmer.
5: Cover and put in the oven for 2hours 30 mins, {I stirred mine twice in this period and topped it up with water when it was looking dry.} then uncover {I left mine covered as it was drying out pretty fast.} and cook for 30mins to 1hour more until the meat is really tender and the sauce is thickened.
6: Serve with mashed potato. {Or crusty bread, or couscous.}
TOP TIP: Avoid cutting the meat too small. The minimum size should be 2-3cm dice, as it will shrink a little as it cooks. {My beef came in the packet diced so I just used that.}
While you're here...
I have a Pinterest for all my recipes, where you can save them to boards for the future and categorise them into different types of recipe e.g Sunday Dinners, picnic ideas etc. My account is @hazellikestocook, or find the link below. Also, I have a whole blog post explaining this in more detail here and https://hazelscookingandbakingblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/pinterest.html.
https://pin.it/5xDvARk - my profile
This recipe:
https://pin.it/2dUbXsx
Comments
Post a Comment