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.

Shin of Beef

Yesterday I cooked a shin of beef, bought from a farmers market. The ingredients depend on what you have in the house (or choose to buy in advance)

Ingredients

1 shin of beef of a size to fit into your pan
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 carrot, peeled and cubed (I only had one)
2 leeks, cleaned, with dark green bits removed, and the rest sliced into narrow rounds
1 celery (small) or 2 or 3 stems from a large one sliced thinly
1 large onion chopped finely
2 Kallo Just Bouillon beef stock cubes dissolved in a pint of boiling water

Method

Put all the vegetables into a stockpot
Add bouillon mix until vegetables are just covered
Place shin on top
Bring to the boil then simmer gently for about 4 hours
Leave all in the pan until cooled.

I have an induction hob (boast, boast) and usually simmer vegetables at setting 2, but for this I turned it down after about half an hour to 1 so that it was barely bubbling.

Remove the meat to a plate and slice. (or just divide up as it is meltingly soft) The fat round the outside is so easy to remove and discard.

I had a small shin and divided the meat into enough for two meals with the rest cut up into the beef and vegetable soup, which is what is left in the pot.

Eat some of the soup over a day or two and leave the rest for later.

Stovies

Someone asked for a recipe for this and I promised to post my mother's recipe, however I cannot find it, so this is one that I have made.

Many recipes call for corned beef, but I don't think that is nearly so good as beef (roast, pot roast or even boiled)

I love onions, so have put in two, although I know my mother would have put in only one, whole, to be removed when the stovies were cooked; this was because my father could not eat onions.

As for the dripping, if you have roasted the beef, you will have your own, but many butchers (if you can find one that is not a supermarket) will sell dripping for stovies. This often has a layer of lovely beef jelly underneath, in which case you will not need beef stock, just a little water added to the cooking stovies.

I never give seasoning as I use very little and if you use the butcher's dripping with jelly you will probably need none.

I have vivid memories of going to Hunt Balls in my young married days and having stovies served up at about 6am before you went home.

Anyway, enough of this blethering - here is the recipe.

Ingredients

2 lb potatoes
2 onions
2 oz dripping left over from roast beef
½ pint water or beef stock
Left over beef, cut up

Method

Melt the dripping in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a low heat
Add the onions and increase heat to medium
Stir until all are browned
Turn down heat to very low
Peel and slice potatoes into pan
Add a little of the water or gravy
Cook over a very low heat until potatoes are soft and breaking, stirring every 10 minutes or so, and adding a little stock when necessary to prevent sticking.
Add the meat, stirring until hot through.

Easy peasy!

Pot Roast

Today I made a very easy recipe which uses cuts of beef that are not tender enough for roasting. I used a topside of beef.

It is an infinitely variable recipe and depends on what you have in the house.

The principle is that you make a bed of vegetables, place the joint of beef on top , cover the vegetables (not the beef) with water ( salt to taste after adding the water), and give the whole thing a long slow cook.

Today, I looked in the fridge and took:

1 small turnip (Swede)
2 large carrots (1 red, 1 white)
2 onions
1 leek.

All were washed, chopped and added to my stock pot, then the meat placed on top.

(I had to make a bit of a well in the vegetables to hold the meat as the pan was not otherwise tall enough.)

I then added water to the top of the vegetables, salted it and brought it to the boil.

I love my hob as I was able to turn it down to the usual 2 setting and after about an hour was able to turn it down to 1 and it continued to simmer.

What a good meal it made.

I think that even a relatively small joint will make enough meat for 3 meals.

Later

I have whizzed the stock and vegetables and so have a good soup as well as cold meat for at least 2 more meals.