Beef Casserole.

Yesterday I took a pack of organic stewing beef which I had removed from the freezer the day before. So I made it into a casserole using what I had in the fridge.

First I cut each piece in two to make 1 inch cubes, then I put them into an empty freezer bag into which I had placed 2 Tbsps flour, tied the bag closed and tossed them around until all the pieces were thoroughly coated with flour.

Then I put some olive oil and a bit of butter, suffficient to cover my large saute pan, heated it a bit and tossed in the flour-coated meat.

While the meat was starting to brown I peeled and chopped two large onions and a carrot. Normally I would have used several carrots, but there was only one in the fridge so I peeled and cut up two potatoes. I also chopped two leeks.

With all these vegetables added to the meat, I stirred them constantly until all the meat was browned and the vegetables were coated with the butter/oil mix.

At this point I stirred in some defrosted mushrooms.

Finally I added some stock made with a beef stock cub and some red wine sufficient just to cover.

After the pan had come to the boil I turned the temperature down and left it to simmer for three hours.

Some I shall eat and some I shall freeze in single serving portions.