Recipe courtesy of Easy Living
If you’ve never made a casserole before, this is the place to start. This one couldn’t be simpler, as most of the cooking takes place slowly in the oven. It has a lovely flavour and plenty of juice – don’t leave out the orange zest as it really lifts the flavour of the meat.
Serves: 6-8 Prep time: 35 mins Cook time: 3 hours Cals per serving: 619 Fat: 28g
Ingredients: 2 tblsp olive oil; 4 rashers streaky bacon, roughly chopped; 6 small brown onions or shallots, peeled and quartered; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 3 carrots, sliced; 1 ½ kg (3 lb) chuck steak or braising / stewing beef, cut into 3 cm (1 ¼ in) cubes; 2 tblsp plain flour; 500ml (16fl oz) beef stock; 250ml (8 fl oz) red wine; grated zest of ½ an orange; 4 sprigs thyme; 2 bay leaves; 2 tblsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Step One: Heat the oven to 160oC (gas mark 2-3). Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and cook the bacon for 2 minutes. Add the onion, garlic and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-7 minutes, or until the onion is tender. Transfer to the casserole dish. Add the beef to the casserole dish and sprinkle with the flour. Mix well.
Step Two: Stir the stock, wine, orange zest, thyme and bay leaves into the casserole and bring to the boil over the medium heat. Cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 3 hours. Stir the meat occasionally as it cooks.
Step Three: Remove from the oven. Stir in the parsley and season to taste. Serve with mashed potatoes or buttered noodles and plenty of crusty bread.
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