Jack's Food Blog

Some things are just amazing to cook. This makes ultra-tender beef in a rich gravy full of veg – there’s not much better for me.

You’ll need to allow a few hours, as the beef is slow-cooked in a casserole*. It’s worth it though. This batch casserole recipe will feed 6 hungry people, or scale it up and freeze your leftovers for a lazy day.

*casserole required

Ingredients:

• 1 Large Onion
• 2 Medium Carrots
• 1/2 a Leek
• 2 Sticks of Celery
• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Chilli
• 4 Sweet Potatoes (about 600 grams)
• 1 kg Hunk of Braising Steak
• 4 Sprigs of Rosemary and 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 Teaspoon of English Mustard
• 2 Tablespoons of Red Wine Vinegar
• 700ml Strong Ale (I went for Newcastle Brown)
• 3 Beef Stock Cubes
• Flour, salt and pepper
• 4 tbsp Olive Oil

Method

First off, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a casserole and warm to a medium heat. Add your chopped carrots, onions, leeks, celery garlic and chilli. Cook until all the veg has softened up a little – maybe 10 minutes, then remove from the casserole.

At this point, mix plain flour with a good amount of salt and coarse black pepper and roll your beef in it, being sure to coat the whole joint.

Next, turn up the heat and add another tablespoon of olive oil to your casserole. Once it’s heated up, sear the beef at a medium/high heat for a couple of minutes on each side. You’re aiming to get all of the exposed meat nicely coloured – don’t worry if it looks well done on the edges. In the words of Barack Obama, that’s the point.

Once the beef’s looking fantastic, remove it from the pan again, turn the heat down to low and replace it with the veg you’ve already cooked. Next, add all the remaining ingredients. If you can’t be arsed looking up, that’s 4 Sweet Potatoes, 4 Sprigs of Rosemary, 1 Bay Leaf, a Teaspoon of English Mustard, 700ml Strong Ale* and 3 Beef Stock Cubes.

*Usually you’ll end up with a little spare beer here; you know what to do.

Now heat the oven to about 125 Celsius and re-add the beef along with about 500ml of water. Give the contents of the casserole a good mix about, making sure everything is submerged fully.

Pop the casserole in the oven, then cook for 3 hours with the lid on then 1 without. When you’re near serving time, carefully take the beef joint out and cut it into chunks. This should be pretty easy, as it’ll be very tender.

Serve with crusty bread or sauteed potatoes, along with some al dente veg and enjoy!

I hope you’ve liked this walk through of one of my favourite recipes. If you have, check out my other one pot recipes by clicking here.

One of my very favourites, originating in America, is my Chicken and Chorizo Jambalaya recipe.