Ahem, could someone please tell me how to make a casserole??

[ludaloo]

Ok I have never made a casserole...or a stew....or anything even vaguely like it (you know the kind of dishes you put in a big pot and simmer for ages)
I need to find out how to as I need some easy meal ideas for staggered meal times.
I really have no idea, I don't even think I've eaten such a dish since I was a kid!

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Oh and what do you eat with a casserole? Or is it enough on its own?

Try my mum's Devon beef casserole

1.5 lbs cubed chuck steak
I tin tomatoes
Half a pint apple juice
1 medium onion
1 tsp dried herbs (basil is best but thyme oregano or mixed herbs will do)
1 tablespoon rolled oats
Oil

Brown the beef in the oil,transfer to casserole.
Fry the chopped onion gently.
Add the apple juice & tomatoes & stir well
Add the oats & herbs.
Bring just to the boil & pour over the meat
Cook at 180C Gas 4 for 1.5 hours (longer will not harm it)

This produces really lovely gravy, so I like to serve it with rice.

Okay, my faves are
Beef and guiness.
Put 450g diced beef, half pint guiness, half pint water, large handful chopped mushrooms in a saucepan.
Simmer for 2 hours until sauce is thick.

Beef and stilton
as above but add in half triangle of stilton instead of guinness and up water to a pint

Basic chicken casserole
4 or 5 Chicken thighs, chopped veg (parsnip, potato, carrot, whatever is lying in your fridge) mixed herbs, add stock to cover and bung in oven until liquid is thick.

Change meat or veg around and get a totally different taste, or add chopped tomatoes as well as water.

I eat casseroles with jackets potatoes, mash, chips, or sometiems just bread!

Everyone has their own version, I think. This is mine.

In a large frying pan, high heat, in a little oil, brown the meat - stewing steak, chicken, sausages, whatever you like. You can start off the veg in the pan aswell if you like - onions, carrots, mushrooms, peppers, whatever you like. When They've started to colour a bit, but not cooked, bung them all in a casserole dish. I add a tin of toms, quarter pint of stock, seasoning, herbs, garlic. Lid on and cook in the oven on a low heat for 2-3 hours. Cooking it long and low is the secret of success. We have it with rice or potatoes. If you have a large enough dish, you can cook baby potatoes in with it for a one pot meal.

Thankyou very much ladies
I am not sure I have a casserole dish as such...I have a large steel pot with a glass lid would this be ok to use???

chirpygirl I'm not actually sure what stock is....is it just gravy? Can I buy it or do I have to make it up seperatley??

Oh...or celery your recipe needs stock too (I'm sorry to be so dim!)

Ooh, that devon beef casserole sounds yummy, can you use cider?

Stock is just oxo cubes dissolved in water if you are in a rush!

If you are feeling posh you can boil up a chicken carcass and fanny about with it for fecking hours and then keep the water...

I buy bottles of bouillion (sp?) from supermarket and then you just add a spoonful of it to water for instant stock.

You can use water but stock adds an extra flavour, make sure you try and match the stock to the meat (ie chicken to chicken...)

You aren't being dim. I was talking to my mates about this the other day, until we all went to uni and I showed them how to cook stews, none of them had the foggiest.
One of them, who finds it hard to boil a kettle, makes my beef and stilton all the time.

I don't see why not chirpygirl - my mum didn't drink, so she wouldn't have had cider, but I'd think it would be fine.

Ahhhh....brilliant, thanks.

You're welcome!
I misse your post about your dish, should be okay as long as it can all go in the oven, if not you can cook it on the hob.
If you want a proper dish try poundstretcher and get a pyrex one with a lid, I bought a small one the other day for stews for DD and it was a £1.50

I use stock made from Marigold bouillon powder (from supermarket) or use wine or cider or beer instead. Cider is good with chicken or pork, red wine with red meats, white wine with chicken, beer with beef etc.

I use Knorr chicken stock powder, in a tub. Or if it's a beef casserole, a spoon of marmite dissolved in some boiling water. If you're going to cook one regularly, definately worth buying a pyrex or ceramic casserole dish with a lid - there are so many variations. I'm not sure you can put metal dishes in the oven??

I agree re Marigold Bouillon powder - it has a much more natural taste than most stock cubes. I'd also strongly recommend investing in a slow cooker. Fantastic for stews, don't need to watch it so can go out and leave it cooking, low energy, and ideal for staggered meal times.
Thanks for the great recipes folks. And ludaloo - once you've mastered the basics, there'll be no stopping you! Wonder what you ever ate before? We have a casserole every week and would soon run out of meal ideas if not!

REally quick one is to put some chicken pieces (skin off) into a casserole dish, add a sliced onion, some sliced carrots and enough chicken stock (made from a cube or bought in a pouch) to cover everything. Mix up a couple of teaspoons of cornflour with cold water and stir in to thicken.

If using boneless chicken, this will be done in about an hour. Leave it about an hour and a half if there are bones in the chicken (which add flavour and are cheaper!)

What do you usually eat Luda?

I made this for DH the other day.

Pork hot pot

1 1/2 lb lean pork, cubed
2 medium onions, sliced
1 can condensed chicken soup
1 small can peeled tomatoes
6 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
3 oz cheddar cheese, grated

Ste oven to 340F or Gas 4. Fry onion until soft, mix in meat cubes and brown quickly on all sides. Transfer to a casserole dish. Add the soup and tomatoes and season to taste. Cover with the sliced potatoes and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Cover and cook in the oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. remove lid for last 20mins.

DH said it was really tasty and it was very quick and easy. Idon't have a casserole dish as such, I just bung it in a big pyrex dish and put tinfoil over the top

moondog we are not very adventurous really
our standard menu is usually along the lines of...
Lasagna
Spag Bol
Frozens (fish fingers etc)
Baked potatoes
Salads
Roasts
Pork chops, steaks, chicken etc.
Tortilla wraps
The odd something and rice, but not very often

To go with meals it is usually

Chips
Mashed pots
Roast pots
Veg
Waffles/Smiles etc.

just never had a casserole...or stew...infact we don't eat soups either... I have never really found out how to cook them.

Sounds like you eat well imo.

Soup is dead easy too. The simplest, most basic one is leek & potato.

Slice a couple of leeks and fry in a little butter for a few mins. Peel and dice a large potato. Make some stock using the Swiss Marigold stuff that others have mentioned. Pour over the leeks and add pots to the pan.

Cook until the pots are falling apart. Put it in blender, whizz up and then serve. Can sprinkle cheese on top.

That's pretty much the basis for most soups.

Do you like eggs? Or fish?

All sounds very nice Luda.
A stew will be a doddle.

I do lamb (neck fillet) cubed with chopped carrots, chopped onion, swede, half a knorr lamb stock cube and cover with water mixed with flour and a splash of gravy browning. Peel and slice potatos and cover the top of the stew. Pop on the lid and put in the oven for 2.5 hours.

Dumplings are easy too!

OOh the soup sounds lovely. Mercy we don't eat fish really. I'll have the odd cod fillet (but the battered ones)otherwise noone really eats it. We all eat eggs Dh does a mean omlete, and the kids have Dippy Eggs.

MamaG I have pretty much everything in your recipe in the cupboard so might give that a whirl today.

Rusty yours sounds nice too. After my shop this week we can have your next week

(gosh my Dh won't know what has happened! I just hope everyone likes them.) I have just had to start working on my dh's business, and wanted meals that people could have, no matter what time they were comming in and out, and I could get on and not have to cook a big meal everyone had to all be at the same sitting for (IYKWIM)

Thank you all very much, this is a great help

Need to copy and paste and print it off now!

goodluck luda, trust me casseroles are dead easy to make and taste divine. I always make a lot more than needed and freze it for those days when you cannot be a*ed.

I am looking for a recipe myself this evening as I am a bit bored with mines.

let us know.

(Mamag I have copied yours in my recipes book and it's under Mamag's pork hot pot!)

oo-er!