Author Topic: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.  (Read 225 times)

Offline Poesie

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Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« on: June 26, 2018, 05:01:30 am »
It’s winter in Oz and, while that doesn’t involve blizzards (where I live anyway), I’m feeling like a good hearty beef casserole or stew would help chase away the brrrr.

So if you have a recipe you’d like to share, I’d appreciate it.

Would prefer it not to be a curry or too spicy since it has to feed my mum as well. Although I am googling recipes, it’s always good to hear from folks on the forum about stuff they’ve personally tried out and found yummo.

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Offline STiG

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Re: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« Reply #1 on: June 26, 2018, 10:18:56 am »
We started getting sides of beef from a local farmer.  Some of the packages were marked 'Osso Bucco'.  Huh.  I wonder what that is.  I said to my husband that I figured it was some cheap cut of beef that some chef created this fancy recipe for and gave it a fancy name, so he could charge $30 a plate.  Turns out, I was just about exactly right!  LOL.  It's veal shanks (leg cross sections, complete with bone).  Mine weren't veal, mind you.

I don't have the recipe in front of me but the basics are:

About 2 pounds of meat, browned in a pan with olive oil, salt and pepper.  I've used more meat, with the same amount of the other ingredients, successfully.

Place in a slow cooker, add a bottle of red wine and about a Litre of beef broth.

Brown some onions and garlic in the pan that cooked the meat and add those to the crock pot.  Throw in whatever other spices and herbs you like with beef.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours until the meat is very tender.


You may want to transfer the sauce to a pot on the stove and reduce it down at this point.  Then I serve the meat over broad egg noodles with the sauce ladled over the top.

Offline STiG

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Re: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« Reply #2 on: June 26, 2018, 10:23:46 am »
Another favourite is crockpot lasagna.

Make up your tomato sauce however you like it.  Have your preferred cheeses on hand.

Ladle some sauce into the bottom of the pot.  Put a double layer of the noodles straight out of the box on top.  Layer your cheeses, noodle layer, sauce layer, noodle layer, cheese layer, noodle layer, sauce layer, etc, ending up with cheese on the top.

Cook on low for 4 hours.

If I'm going to be away longer than that, I'll use an outlet timer to set up the crockpot to start 4 hours before I get home.  If you cook it too much longer, the edges get very crunchy.

Tip from an Italian friend:  Those precooked noodles they say to use so you don't have to cook the noodles and layer floppy noodles when you're making regular lasagna?  They're a waste of money.  Regular ones work just fine, going in dry.  Just use a little more sauce.

Offline Kiara

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Re: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« Reply #3 on: June 26, 2018, 11:32:59 am »
I tend to be of the "dump and cook in a crockpot" school.   ;D

1 pound stew beef in chunks (you can brown it if you'd like)
1 jar salsa (I use medium, but I like spicy.)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, drained or 1 cup frozen corn
2 cups beef broth
Spice to taste - mine is a combo of chili powder, cumin, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder.  If yer lazy, use a package of taco seasoning.   ;D

Cook 3 hours on high, then 5-6 hours on low.   Recipe doubles REALLY well, and freezes/reheats well.  Also works for chicken.

Offline Damocles

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Re: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« Reply #4 on: June 26, 2018, 11:52:24 am »
I do a "tater tot casserole" on occasion.  It's almost a shepherd's (cowboy) pie minus some ingredients but instead of the mashed potato topping I throw on tater tots.

1.5 - 2 lbs beef
1 bag frozen sweet corn
1 bag frozen peas and carrots combo
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 diced onion
1 minced garlic clove (or more if you love garlic like I do)
1 bag of frozen tater tots
Generous dash of Worcestershire sauce.
S&P to taste.

In a large pot (because this makes a lot, usually) brown the beef, garlic and onion together and add salt, pepper and Worcestershire.  Drain any excess fat as desired.
Add the cans of soup and frozen vegetables.  Stir and stir to combine very well and then pour into a large baking dish, at least 9x13 or so.
Smooth out the top with a spatula and then add the bag of tater tots.
Bake in a 350 oven for 45 minutes or so until it's bubbly and the tater tots are golden and have crunchy tops.
Serve with your choice of condiments.  I love A1 so I usually pour that on.

Offline Poesie

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Re: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« Reply #5 on: June 26, 2018, 12:11:31 pm »
These are fab ideas. Warming me up just reading them.

Haven’t made osso bucco in a long time but it is delish. Usually served it with polenta but just about anything starchy would work.

Love recipes that just need throwing into a crockpot/slow cooker/oven and leaving for ages. Had never heard of crockpot lasagna (that may be one for me - mum is a picky eater and pasta is on her long list of nopey things).

Confess I’ve never had a tater tot but they sound like a fun, easy and yum way to finish off a shepherd’s pie. Will have a look at what’s available in the local supermarket freezers. (...And, just looked them up and they’re what often gets called a potato gem here so easy peasy).

Offline STiG

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Re: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« Reply #6 on: June 26, 2018, 01:13:36 pm »
I'm planning on using stew beef with the osso bucco ingredients, since I have a bunch of that.  And hubby isn't fond of traditional beef stew.

Offline Gardensgrey

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Re: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« Reply #7 on: June 26, 2018, 02:37:51 pm »
Quick and easy long-standing family favorite. Hardest part is chopping the veggies. Can use tomato juice instead of V-8:

Aunt Helen’s V-8 Stew

2 to 2-1/2 lbs stew beef, bite-sized
6-7 carrots, bite-sized, peeled
4-5 sliced celery stalks
1 large chopped onion
4-6 potatoes, peeled and cut to bite-sized
1 large can V-8 juice
2 Tbsp Minute tapioca ( not pearl tapioca)
 
Chop all into bite sizes
Pour large can of V-8 into large pot and add 2 tbsp minute tapioca
Add the beef  and all vegetables except potatoes
Cover and bake at 350 for about 2-1/2 hours. Can do in crock pot.
Add the potatoes the last hour.

Offline hardia

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Offline Queen of the Night

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Re: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« Reply #9 on: June 26, 2018, 11:10:18 pm »
My favorite beef, beer, and barley stew!

1 - 2 lbs stew meat (or a cheap roast that you cut up into cubes!)
1 large onion, diced
2 - 3 cloves garlic, smushed
2 - 4 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 parsnip (optional) or other root veg you really like, peeled/cleaned and cut up
1 rib celery, diced small or minced
Olive oil
Thyme
Salt and pepper
Bay leaf (optional)
1 beer, opened (try a nice stout or ale!)
1/2 cup (uncooked) pearl barley

Brown the onions with some olive oil in your Dutch oven or stew pot.  When they're starting to get some color, push them to the sides or remove them.

Brown the beef cubes in small batches -- don't let them get cooked through, just get some color on each piece.

Toss in the garlic and all the veggies, add the onions and meat back, and stir everything around a bit, just to get some heat on it.  Now is a good time to throw in the seasoning too. 

Before it gets too dry, slowly pour in the beer.  (It will foam up; that's OK, just stir it down.)  Fill the bottle/can back up with water and pour that in too.

Bring up to a gentle simmer, stir in the barley, and cook on low for 90 minutes or so -- until the barley is cooked through.  Add more liquid if it seems like it's too dry. 


You can also make this with lamb!  And if you do, try using Guinness.  Sheer heaven! 

If you want to add in a shorter-cooking veg, like peas or something that just take a few minutes, add them toward the end of the cooking time.


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Re: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« Reply #10 on: June 27, 2018, 12:52:01 am »
This is for two and is wonderful:

8 oz steak cut in bite size pieces and trimmed of visible fat
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chunked carrots
1/2 cup fresh or frozen green beans
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
1 medium potato or three or four small red taters
2 c beef broth (try to use low sodium)
1/4 c red wine
flour
 
Season the meat and dredge in flour.  Brown in a skillet in a small amount of oil or pan spray; remove to a plate.  Deglaze pan with wine, while stirring.  Add the beef broth and the fresh vegetables;  bring to a simmer , and reduce heat and cover.  Cook until potatoes and carrots are done-a fork can pierce them easily.  Add back the meat and frozen vegetables if using.  Bring to a boil then cook, uncovered at a simmer for 10 minutes. 
 
Using good lean meat reduces the cooking time and makes a better tasting stew.

Offline Poesie

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Re: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« Reply #11 on: June 27, 2018, 01:45:57 am »
Yummoliciousness! Thanks so much. Keep ‘em coming.

Decided to try the osso bucco first (and freeze a heap of leftovers). Then may work my way through the others, depending on what takes my fancy on a given week (may do at least one, like that lasagne, that are just for me me me).


Offline STiG

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Re: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« Reply #12 on: June 27, 2018, 08:02:39 am »
The lasagna freezes wonderfully, too.  Just be careful when heating it back up - set it a little lower than high in the microwave and watch it - don't overheat.  I freeze it in single portions and take them in my lunch.

Offline cayenne

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Re: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« Reply #13 on: June 29, 2018, 11:25:33 pm »
one beef chuck roast, one jar of salsa, and one package taco seasoning. Slice an onion and layer it on the bottom of your crockpot. Place the chuck roast on top of the onion slices. Mix the taco seasoning with the salsa and pour over the roast. Cook on High for 5 or 6 hours or until soft enough to pull apart with two forks. Mmmmm, great with sliced green olives, grated cheese, and sour cream on top.

Offline Poesie

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Re: Beef casserole/stew recipe - help please.
« Reply #14 on: July 01, 2018, 09:12:01 am »
The osso bucco was divine. Did do some things differently (more like the recipe I remembered making - mostly adding tinned tomatoes and other veg, plus a couple of slices of lemon peel, the zesty part). Don’t think you can go wrong. The marrow enriches the whole thing. Mum really enjoyed it. Bonus that the meat was so tender it was easier for her to eat.

Will make another of the casseroles soon.
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