Beef Casserole • Non-Gaming • Food • Eurogamer.net

johnlenham 11 Mar 2008 11:32:34 4,000 posts
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So ive been charged with cooking the family dinner tonight as im not working and ive been told casserole so i need a basic recipe.
Ive searched the net and so far its

Fry the meat,add some stock( no idea how much..) chuck it in a pot and throw in chopped carrots/ potato (?) and some black peper and leave it to cook for 4-5 hours on a low heat?

Sound about right or?

Stickman 11 Mar 2008 11:35:13 29,986 posts
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Fry of your beef (and some bacon bits are nice)

Remove but leave the juices.

Fry a chopped onion in the juice for 5 minutes or so, not to colour though.

Chuck in about half a pint of passata, half a pint of stock and quarter pint of red wine.

Chuck in chopped veg and the meat.

Cook for a couple of hours at about 2 or 3.

smoothpete 11 Mar 2008 11:35:14 37,743 posts
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I posted a recipe in another thread, one sec

smoothpete 11 Mar 2008 11:36:25 37,743 posts
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Stickman's sounds nice, here's mine

2 lbs of beef shin, in chunks
1 pint of Guinness
3 onions, quartered and layered
2 carrots, chunky
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt, pepper, worcs sauce
dumpling mix (yes, lazy option)

Preheat oven to gas mark 2
Brown beef in a hot pan in small batches. Fry onions till the edges get brown, turn down the heat. Put the beef back in, mix around, add flour, mix some more. Gradually add in the guinness. Add all the other stuff apart from dumpling mix. Lid on, bring to the boil, bung in oven for 2.5 hours. Turn oven up to high, drop dumplings in the top, 25 minutes and its done

jonsaan 11 Mar 2008 11:38:21 27,052 posts
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Casserole is one of those things I can't get excited about enough to make , but they always taste really good anyway. Especially if one of you lot has cooked. Let me know when it's ready.

/bangs knife and fork on table.

presh 11 Mar 2008 11:39:15 1,221 posts
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1. fry meat until brown on the outside but not cooked through - remove and put to one side
2. Fry an onion which is sliced - not rings or chopped into small bits - and a couple of cloves of garlic, also chopped
3. when the opions are starting to brown, add some carrots - cut quite chunky - and maybe a chopped leek
4. When that is all starting to soften (a couple of mins) put the meat back in, plus stock (the best way to do this is to get a can of beef consomme - clear soup - it's cracking as stock, just add the same quantity of water to the pot) plus a decent splosh of red wine, some herbs (oregano, basil, rosemary - whatever of these is to hand) salt and pepper
5. In the oven on about 180 for an hour
6. Serve with spuds and maybe some savoy cabbage

Job done.

MetalDog 11 Mar 2008 11:39:36 24,076 posts
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flour the meat before you brown it. The flour will help make gravy. Add salt, pepper and a little bit of muscavado sugar before you chuck the veggies on top for extra yum.

Dirtbox 11 Mar 2008 11:40:41 92,595 posts
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Deleted user 11 March 2008 11:41:20

A great ingrediant to add which really adds to the flavour is butternut squash. Can't eat a casserole without it anymore!

Recently made one to this fat chavs recipe and it was one the best meals I've ever tasted...
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/2007/09/26/jools_s_favourite_beef_stew

smoothpete 11 Mar 2008 11:42:01 37,743 posts
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Oh and in terms of how much liquid it should have in it, every frigging time I do it I always look at it once all the stuff is in the pot but before its cooked and think "hmm that's not enough liquid", then add more, and invariably it ends up with too much liquid (ie runny gravy, not nice thick gravy). If it looks like there isn't enough liquid in the pot, there probably is so don't add any more

Spanky 11 Mar 2008 11:42:27 15,037 posts
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How do you make the beef go really nice and soft. Not quite got the hang of that bit. Mebe i'm over browning it...

Stickman 11 Mar 2008 11:43:37 29,986 posts
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You probably are. Just long and low cooking will do it. Good meat helps!

Deleted user 11 March 2008 11:43:54

Lower heat, longer cook......

johnlenham 11 Mar 2008 11:44:35 4,000 posts
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Dirtbox wrote:
�2.99 Iceland.

Pop it in the micro for 4 mins then give it a stir and give it 4 mins more.

Haha that would be rank.

Cheers for the recipes. So how much stock/water? enough to just cover it all in the pot?
I would go the Oven way but stupidly we dont have acasserole dish just some massive pots so its being done on the Hob.

President_Weasel 11 Mar 2008 11:45:33 12,355 posts
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Stickman's on a Spanish tip today. Smoothpete is rocking the dumplings for extra credit. Presh clearly knows his way around a casserole too.
Pick any of those and you're laughing. You might want to give the dumplings a miss til you've got the stew down, but stew and dumplings done right is the food of the gods, specially with the weather we're having. Can't beat it.

Wouldn't flour the meat if I was putting passata in the stew, but maybe that's just me.

Stickman 11 Mar 2008 11:46:23 29,986 posts
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Get a pot that you think looks like the size your family would eat up, then fill it would be my advice! Casserole on a hob?

Spanky 11 Mar 2008 11:46:49 15,037 posts
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Stickman wrote:
You probably are. Just long and low cooking will do it. Good meat helps!

Yeah i normally do get good meat but i think i'm treating it badly

Good meat in the hands of a moron doesn't make for good stew! Mebe i'll just not bother browning it at all...

Stickman 11 Mar 2008 11:47:50 29,986 posts
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President Weasel wrote:
Wouldn't flour the meat if I was putting passata in the stew, but maybe that's just me.

I don't, although I do flour the onion and stir like buggery for a minute before I add the liquid. That gives a nice base I find.

johnlenham 11 Mar 2008 11:49:04 4,000 posts
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Stickman wrote:
Get a pot that you think looks like the size your family would eat up, then fill it would be my advice! Casserole on a hob?

Hmm im sure i read on one of the sites on the hob is fine.
Well it is a big metal pot so i guess it should be ok in the oven :S

MetalDog 11 Mar 2008 11:51:00 24,076 posts
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Spanky wrote:

Stickman wrote:
You probably are. Just long and low cooking will do it. Good meat helps!
Yeah i normally do get good meat but i think i'm treating it badly Good meat in the hands of a moron doesn't make for good stew! Mebe i'll just not bother browning it at all...

I didn't bother browning the 1.99 stew steak I used last time and it came out soft as butter, so maybe that is the way to go. It was lathered in flour when I crammed it into the bottom of the dish, don't know if that made a difference. Oh and it was cooked for 2 hours, not 1.

President_Weasel 11 Mar 2008 11:52:16 12,355 posts
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You can do casserole on a hob, although I think that technically makes it a stew? Important distinction, I'm sure you'll agree.

You could also consider doing a hotpot instead of a casserole, they're pretty similar but you add layers of thinly sliced potato, with the last layer making a kind of 'potato lid' (you'll still need a real lid).

johnlenham 11 Mar 2008 11:54:53 4,000 posts
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So many things! /head explodes.

Stew/Casserole same thing to my uneductaded mind ;p

What do i serve this mess with? roast/boiled potatos or something?

/has no idea

Oh and just checked iour pots seem to be fine for oven use so

Stickman 11 Mar 2008 11:55:34 29,986 posts
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Mash!

smoothpete 11 Mar 2008 11:55:41 37,743 posts
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johnlenham wrote:
Cheers for the recipes. So how much stock/water? enough to just cover it all in the pot?
I would go the Oven way but stupidly we dont have acasserole dish just some massive pots so its being done on the Hob.

A big saucepan will probably be fine in the oven, you need a lid or some tin foil over it

The liquid should not quite cover everything, otherwise there will be too much when its cooked. As a general rule, 2 table spoons of flour per 500ml of stock / beer / whatever will give a reasonably thick sauce

Dirtbox 11 Mar 2008 11:56:21 92,595 posts
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QueenofSpain 11 Mar 2008 12:01:28 433 posts
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Or if your really worried go buy a colemans packet mix. they are good and easy to do, all you add is water and some veg ie, carrots or mushrooms. Though im sure proper cooks here will be horrified at my suggestion!!

President_Weasel 11 Mar 2008 12:01:58 12,355 posts
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smoothpete wrote:
beer

This is a good point, you can use guinness or heavy in a stew or casserole. Tastes excellent!

Serve with mash, maybe mash with mustard and cabbage through it for extra credit.
Alternatively boiled spuds, boiled or fried cabbage.

Here's a guinness stew recipe from an Irish chef which I found on an internet. Back in the olden days when I was at Uni, my best friend's girlfriend's sister used to make the absolute best guinness stew, truly it was the king of stews.

BEEF & GUINNESS STEW
Chef Darina Allen of Ballymaloe Cooking School - County Cork, Ireland
Adapted by StarChefs

Guinness, Ireland's famous black stout, has been brewed in Dublin since 1759. It has a very special place in Irish life. In Dublin Tenement Life: An Oral History, publican John O'Dwyer recalls the importance of stout in the lives of the poorest tenement dwellers in Dublin: They had nothing. They lived for pints. Drink was the main diet. It was food... they used to call the pint the 'liquid food'.

Nowadays the 'liquid food' is used increasingly in cooking. It is a tasty addition to stews and casseroles, helping to tenderize the meat and imparting its distinctive malty flavor to any dish. This recipe makes a wonderful gusty stew which tastes even better a day or two after it is made.

Yield: 6-8 servings

* 2 lb lean stewing beef
* 3 tablespoons oil
* 2 tablespoons flour
* salt and freshly ground pepper and a pinch of cayenne
* 2 large onions, coarsely chopped
* 1 large clove garlic, crushed (optional)
* 2 tablespoons tomato puree, dissolved in 4 tablespoons water
* 1 1/4 cups Guinness
* 2 cups carrots, cut into chunks
* sprig of thyme

Method:

Trim the meat of any fat or gristle, cut into cubes of 2 inches (5cm) and toss them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon oil. Season the flour with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch or two of cayenne. Toss the meat in the mixture. Heat the remaining oil in a wide frying pan over a high heat. Brown the meat on all sides. Add the onions, crushed garlic and tomato puree to the pan, cover and cook gently for about 5 minutes. Transfer the contents of the pan to a casserole, and pour some of the Guinness into the frying pan. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the caramelized meat juices on the pan. Pour onto the meat with the remaining Guinness; add the carrots and the thyme. Stir, taste, and add a little more salt if necessary. Cover with the lid of the casserole and simmer very gently until the meat is tender - 2 to 3 hours. The stew may be cooked on top of the stove or in a low oven at 300 degrees F. Taste and correct the seasoning. Scatter with lots of chopped parsley.

johnlenham 11 Mar 2008 12:04:03 4,000 posts
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QueenofSpain wrote:
Or if your really worried go buy a colemans packet mix. they are good and easy to do, all you add is water and some veg ie, carrots or mushrooms. Though im sure proper cooks here will be horrified at my suggestion!!

That was the plan but the shops sold out!

Back to "Real" cooking methods

QueenofSpain 11 Mar 2008 12:05:52 433 posts
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ah shame. i always have one stashed at the back for cant be arsed to cook moments coz its easy. good luck, sure it will be yummy :-)

johnlenham 11 Mar 2008 12:44:24 4,000 posts
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Well cocked it up allready lol

Withoguht thinkign i started peeling potatos then i was like
"crap what can i do with these"
I could make mash but some of my family arnt keen on it, i could make roast ones but thay need a high heat, total opposite to the casserole..

so what about chopping them cooking them off with the carrots and adding them to the casserole, would be similar to parsnips but less sweet >_>

That would work wouldnt it XD