Beef casserole & roast potatoes

A hearty beef casserole to warm you up through the cold weather

Perfect with some crispy-bottomed roasties

Serves 2-3

For the casserole

- olive oil

- 1 large onion, thickly chopped

- 1 clove of garlic, chopped

- 450g casserole steak, chopped

- plain flour

- salt & pepper

- 2 carrots, chopped

- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

- 400ml beef stock

- 100g mushrooms, chopped

- sprigs of fresh thyme

For the roast potatoes

- maris piper or king edward potatoes, halved or quartered

- olive oil

- seasoning (spice & herb blend or whatever you like)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

2. In a large pan, fry the onion and garlic in a generous amount of olive oil for a few minutes. Then add the beef, a sprinkling of flour and seasoning and stiry to combine, cooking for a few more minutes.

3. Next add the carrots, then the best ingredient

4. And the beef stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer.

5. Add the mushrooms and fresh sprigs of thyme, then transfer to a casserole dish with a lid, and cook in the oven for about two hours (stirring halfway through). 

6. Meanwhile, while the casserole is cooking, for the roast potatoes, prepare as many as you wish (depending on your appetite) and par-boil in salted water for around 10-15 minutes.

7. Drain and place on kitchen paper, leaving to cool and dry out for 20-30 minutes.

8. Pour a generous amount of oil into a roasting tin and place in the oven, turning it up to 200 degrees, until the oil has heated up.

9. Remove the tray from the oven and transfer the potatoes into the dish, coating in the hot oil. Season well and then roast in the oven for around 40 minutes, or until crisped to your likening.

10. By the end of the two hours, your casserole should be thicker (add cornflour if not) and ready to serve, accompanied by roasties that are fluffy in the middle, and crisp on the outside.

Enjoy :)

Beef Bourguignon

I'm surprised to say that I don't think I've ever even tried beef bourguignon before, so when I wanted to cook this for mother's day I decided to stick with Lisa Faulkner's recipe, since her recipes always turn out well and are delicious - this was no exception. I even served it with mustard mash, as she suggested, and it all worked beautifully together, everyone loved it. I would highly recommend this recipe, even though I don't have any others to compare it to (I've heard Lorraine Pascale's is also good), because the beef was so tender and the flavours were amazing from the shallots, wine and bacon mm mm. Perfect for a special occasion.

Serves 4-6

- 500g stewing/braising steak

- flour, for dusting

- olive oil, for frying

- 200g bacon lardons

- 300g shallots, peeled and halved

- 3 garlic cloves, crushed

- 2 tbsp tomato purée

- 125g button mushrooms

- 500ml red wine

- 250ml beef stock

- 1 bouquet garni (dried parsley, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf)

- salt and pepper

- mustard mash - potatoes, milk, butter, wholegrain mustard

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

2. Coat the beef in seasoned flour.

3. Heat a generous amount of oil in a large casserole dish and brown the meat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the meat and set aside.

4. In the same dish, add the lardons, shallots and garlic and fry until browned.

5. Add the tomato puree and mushrooms. Return the beef to the dish and add the wine, stock and herbs.

6. Bring to the boil then cover with a lid and cook in the oven for around 3 hours. Serve with mustard mash!

Enjoy :)