plain jane cooking - recipes for the novice:

beef casserole

What is the difference between a stew, a ragout, a carbonnade and a casserole?

Essentially nothing, they are all variants of the same thing, the casserole however normally means it has been cooked and served in the same container, a casserole dish.

Casseroles are a terrific way of buying cheaper cuts of meats and turning it into a melt in your mouth dish for dinner. All casseroles need to use the cheaper, tougher cuts of meats, as they cook slowly in a liquid (if you used a tender meat they would dry out).

The tougher cuts of meat, contain a high amount of connective tissue, that requires a slow moist method of cooking to render it down and make it palatable.

ingredients

topside or thick flank dripping, lard or oil frozen mixed vegetables oxtail soup tinned tomatoes

600 40 2 1 1

gm gm cups can can

production

1. Cut beef into 3cm dice
2. Heat dripping in a large casserole or stewing pan and brown meat
3. Add the oxtail soup and the tinned tomatoes
4. Cover with a lid and simmer on stove for approx. 1 hour or in the oven for approximately 2 hours
5. Remove lid and add the vegetables
6. Continue cooking until cooked, approximately another 1 hour on the stove or another 1 in the oven

chef notes:

Serve with pre-made Yorkshire puddings and creamy mashed
potatoes.

email chef@tallyrand.info