your secrets of a yummy beef casserole??

[brimfull]

what ingredients do you put in that make it a great casserole?
tia

Fresh herbs in with the flour to dredge the meat - good root veg,shallots and Worcestershire sauce and loads of alcohol !!! and leave it on a long slow cook

Guinness.

Oh and use shin of beef - nicely marbled so that it becomes very tender

This is my favourite recipe

Beef, Guinness and Mushroom Stew
by Sophie Grigson

Servings: 6

Ingredients
900g shin of beef, trimmed and cut into 2.5cm cubes
seasoned plain flour, for dusting
50g Butter
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 Onions, roughly chopped
100g button mushrooms
300ml Guinness
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp Sugar
1 bouquet garni, (1 bay leaf, 2 sprigs of thyme, 2 sprigs of parsley, 1 sprig of rosemary, tied together with a string)
salt and fresh ground black pepper
225g shitake mushrooms

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C.

1. Toss the beef lightly in seasoned flour.

1. Heat a third of the butter and 1 tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan and brown the meat briskly in batches, without overcrowding the pan. Transfer the browned beef to a casserole.

1. Add a little more butter and oil to the pan and fry the onions until lightly browned. Scoop into the casserole. Finally fry the button mushrooms and add those to the casserole too.

1. Pour the Guinness into the frying pan and bring to the boil, scraping in the brown residues from frying. Stir in the tomato puree and sugar.

1. Pour the Guinness mixture into the casserole, add enough hot water to come about 3/4 of the way up the meat and add the bouquet garni, salt and freshly ground pepper.

1. Cover and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2-3 hours or until the meat is very tender. Check occasionally, giving it a stir, and if necessary add a little more hot water.

1. Remove the stalks from the shitake mushrooms and discard. Slice the caps thickly. Heat the remaining butter in a frying pan and sauté the mushrooms, then stir into the casserole and return to the oven for 5 minutes.

1. Discard the bouquet garni, adjust the seasoning and serve.

Tin of tomato soup. Seriously. I haven't made it but my sister does and it is fab.
I use Guinness too and put mustard powder in the flour that I roll the meat in.

a couple of rashers of smoked bacon - cook it with the beef before going in the slow cooker.

a few button mushrooms add a good flavour too and they can easily be removed for fussy eaters (my dd's)

Definately beer (prefably stout) and Worcestershire sauce for me. Plus a good long cooking time. I often do ours in the slow cooker.

Oooh I love all these ideas. I use red wine sometimes and occasionally bacon for a boeuf bourgingnon sort of twist.

Must try shin of beef because I have always used braising steak up to now.

If you are in a hurry and don't have hours to stew the beef, I have used frying steak and whacked it on a high temperature, which seems to cook in about an hour.

wow some great ideas here....thanks everyone!

I always used to swear by Guiness until I made it with Black Sheep Beer - really dark, rich and slightly tangy.

I second hte Worcestershire sauce tip

This week I have been mostly eating braised flank of beef in the French style. Bloody gorgeous. Cooked it overnight and it just melts, although the fibres are mighty long and I had to mash them up a bit.

Can't beat a good beef casserole IMO

do you roll the meat in flour first then?

would this work in a slow cooker?

Yes - roll in seasoned flour and brown to seal in the slow cooker with some good oil before putting in the other ingredients and liquid

Oooh - then there's the dumplings ... mmmmmm heaven !!

For liquid read ALCOHOL !!

Chestnut puree can make a lovely one (not too much or it is too sweet; half a can is lovely). Put in some some warm (e.g. cloves, nutmeg) spices too.

yeahinamanger, how do you make dumplings and when do you add them?

I hate marmite but a tablespoon added to a large casserole is excellent!-Can't claim it as my own-Jeanette Orrey tip.

I use suet and just follow the instructions on the packet. i usually add them about 1/2 hour before serving.

A splash of mushroom ketchup.

cook it the day before, i think things lke that are always better re-heated.

Jamie Oliver's 'Jools' Favourite Beef Stew' in Jamie's Dinners. Has half a bottle of red wine, loads of root veg/butternut squash cut into big chunks and is cooked for at least 3 hours.

I think a goulash is best
Yum

I've just tasted it ,I think I've put way too much red wine in it.ANy ideas how to counteract the boozy taste.I want the children to eat it.

These are all fabulous ideas. I do mine very much like yeahinamanger.
I do mine in the slow cooker. After browning the beef put it in the dish and pour a the juice of one lemon over it while you prepare the veg. This will marinade the beef in the lovliest way.
Then save some for dumplings the day after.
Uhmmmm yum yum yum.

ggirl - you need more veg to absorb it. Or turn the heat up and reduce it a bit, the alcohol flavour should burn off, I think!