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Beef and Ale Casserole

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Beef and Ale Casserole

Choose a good, strong ale to give this rich, hearty casserole its delicious gravy.

  • Nut Free
  • Milk Free
Preparation time:
30 minutes
Cooking time:
150 minutes to 180 minutes
Total time:
3 hours to 3 hours 30 minutes 60 minutes 60 minutes 60 minutes 30 minutes
Serves:
 8

Ingredients

  • 6 tbsp plain flour
  • 1.5kg Aberdeen Angus leg of beef, or diced braising steak
  • 5 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 3 onions, cut into wedges
  • 750g carrots, cut into large chunks
  • 400g parsnips, cut into large chunks
  • 2 x 500ml strong ale, such as Thwaites Wainwright Golden Ale
  • ¼ x 15g pack fresh thyme
  • 2-3 bay leaves, torn

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C, gas mark 3. Place the flour either into a clean plastic food bag or onto a plate and season generously. Then, in batches, lightly dust the beef in the flour, shaking off any excess. Heat 1-2 tbsp of the oil in a large ovenproof and flameproof casserole dish with a lid. Fry the beef in 2-3 batches and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, until browned all over. Transfer all the meat to a plate and set aside. Repeat with the remaining meat, adding more oil as needed.
  2. Heat the remaining oil and add the onions to the casserole dish with the carrots and parsnips. Sauté over a low heat for 5-6 minutes or until they are beginning to colour.
  3. Return the beef to the casserole, pour in the ale and stir occasionally until it reaches boiling point. Add the fresh thyme and the bay leaves. Cover and cook in the oven for 2-2½ hours, or until the meat is very tender and the carrots are tender, then serve with the Leek And Mustard Mash.

Comments and images

Average user rating 4 stars out of 5

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Squiz

Squiz 10 October 2009 19:53

Mochalatte - i don't flour my beef as the mess is horrid. If the stew is too thin use a beurre manié to thicken it - (French "kneaded butter") is a dough, consisting of equal parts of soft butter and flour, used to thicken soups and sauces. By kneading the flour and butter together, the flour particles are coated in butter. When the beurre manié is whisked into a hot or warm liquid, the butter melts, releasing the flour particles without creating lumps.

rfletcher

rfletcher 03 October 2009 16:18

to 'mochalatte' the crust at the base of the pan left from frying the beef is known as Fond and is exactly what you are looking to get with these classic dishes. 80% of flavor comes from caramelisation of sugars in whatever is cooking, this fond at the base of the pan is absoluteley packed with flavor and can be obtained by 'de-glazing' the pan. reheat the pan and before it turnes jet blck and burns out add some liquid- water, wine, stock whatever- and scrape at the base of the pan with wooden spatular. this wil release the flavor. its almost criminal to wash it away!

mochalatte

mochalatte 13 October 2008 11:22

Re frying the beef in batches. I used a large le cruset casserole dish to fry my meat in but found that once I had finished frying the first batch of meat all the residue of the flour was sticking very badly to the bottom of the pan. By the time I'd finished the last batch the base was very hard and crusty (even though I'd added more oil as instructed). Before I could cook the veg in the same pan I had to thoroughly clean the bottom of the casserole because I thought if I didn't it would just burn during cooking. By doing this did I stop my gravy from thickening as it was really thin after 3 hrs. Is there a right way to fry off the beef first?

mochalatte

mochalatte 13 October 2008 10:53

This dish turned out great although I had to modify it a little bit. I cooked mine for 3 hrs to get the meat really tender, but as the gravy was far too thin towards the end of the cooking time I added some cornflour to thicken it (first mixed with cold water), and also added 3 beef oxo cubes to give it a bit more of the taste that I like for a gravy. I made it for 5 of us as a supper dish after meeting in the pub first and there was plenty to go around including seconds! It serves 8 and generously. I served it with Aunt Bessies Yorkshire puds, mash made with Waitrose Red king edwards

tattiebogle

tattiebogle 08 October 2008 21:14

Your weight conversion table does notstand up to close scrutiny in that 1 oz=28.34 gms and all the other weigt conversions are incorrect. I am not complaining, only making an observation but you know how pernickety some people are

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4 stars out of 5

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Nutritional Info

Typical values per serving:
Energy 461.0kcal
Sugars 20.6g
Fat 16.5g
Saturated Fat 4.6g
Salt 0.4g

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This recipe was first published on Waitrose.com in September 2008