This is a very easy meal to prepare. It takes about ten minutes of your time in preparation and then you can throw it in the crockpot and be done for the day. Alternatively you can cook this on a low/medium heat in the oven for about 2 hours.
The following ingredients are really a guide. You can throw whatever you have handy into this casserole.
I used:
1lb cubed stewing beef (use something cheap, it'll taste much better)
Two large carrots
3 small leeks
1lb mushrooms
About 2 pints of beef stock (cubes are fine)
3-4 tablespoons cornflour
1 tablespoon mustard powder
salt and pepper to taste
I was planning on adding the potato into the casserole as well to save me bothering later but the hubs and daughter wanted mash with this. So be it.
Place the cornflour, mustard powder, salt and pepper into a plastic bag along with the beef and shake well to coat.
Chop all the ingredients. I used my V slicer, it isn't a necessity but when we went through a phase of eating a lot of stir fry it made life easier.
Soften the leaks in a little oil and butter over a low heat for a few minutes,
Add the beef to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes just to seal with edges,
Transfer the beef and leaks to the crockpot, add the carrots and mushrooms and pour over stock. You don't really need to cover the casserole with stock, because no liquid evaporates from a crockpot as it does with other forms of cooking, if you completely cover with liquid, then you'll have to do something to thicken the sauce once its cooked. As it is there should be enough cornflour on the meat to thicken this amount of stock.
I cooked mine for about ten hours on low, although it was cooked before this (it smelt too good and I had to have a taste) so eight hours on low should do it.
Serve with steamed veg and mash or whatever takes your fancy.
Huh... were it not for the insane amount of mushrooms in that recipe, I'd say "looks good". Instead, I say, "looks like fungus in sauce". ;)
ReplyDeleteAlso... I would have guessed you called it a stew. Here, a casserole is something baked in the oven, usually covered with cheese, and often a "one pot" meal.
Looks wonderful! Especially the mushrooms!
ReplyDeleteLooks awesome. Yumm.
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious. Is a crockpot the same as a slow cooker?
ReplyDeleteA crockpot is the same as a slowcooker, although I've noticed from using mine which is a Morphy Richards, when I've tried crockpot recipes I've found online mine are definitely fully cooked in about a third less time as that stated so I think our slow cookers sometimes get a bit hotter than crockpots.
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