Beef Casserole Recipes
Beef is a tough meat to cook. But is also depends from where you buy your meat. If you buy frozen steaks from the supermarket, it is much likely to be hard to cook and also you are not quite sure about the quality of the meat. Therefore when you are making a beef casserole recipe, it is always advisable to buy meat from your local butcher so that you can be very sure about the quality of the meat, it’s fresh and it takes considerably less time to cook.
There are many mouthwatering beef casserole recipes that you can prepare on special occasions and serve it in large gatherings. Beef is always a preferred meat in casseroles as it uses a slow-cooking method and that’s the only way beef can be palatable.
Let’s see a delicious beef casserole recipe for special occasions.
* Beef casserole: This awesome recipe makes a great cold-weather dish.
Heat oil in a large pan on high heat, fry bite size beef pieces (trimmed of excess fat). If you have a large amount of meat, then fry them in batches so that you don’t overcrowd the pan. This will ensure that the meat is cooked on all sides. Brown the beef on all sides. Remove meat and set aside. Reduce the heat and fry small pieces of bacon, chopped onion, peeled and fine chopped carrot, crushed garlic, and roughly chopped mushroom in the same pan. Add extra oil if needed. Cook till ingredients are soft. Add plain flour, stir for few seconds. Now add tomato paste and cook for 30 seconds. Pour in brandy, red vine, chicken stock and bay leaf. If you like the strong flavor of red vine then you may increase its quantity and reduce the quantity of stock accordingly.
Add the browned beef. Cover the pan and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and cook in slow heat for about an hour and 40 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally. Remove lid from pan; continue simmering for another 30 to 40 minutes. Add water or stock to adjust consistency. Check if you can flake the meat with a fork. If it does flake it means that the meat is done. Discard the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped parsley. This mouth watering beef casserole is served with creamy mashed potatoes, steamy green beans and crusty bread. The best part is that you can prepare this dish well in advance and re-heat it on the day of the party.
A beef casserole recipe does take a long time to prepare, but the result you get is worth the wait. It is always best to cook a beef casserole a couple of days ahead of the occasion and refrigerate it. Re-heat it when needed. When you do this, all the spices are nicely blended with the meat and you get juicy pieces of meat that your guests would absolutely love!