beef casserole...

[MissChatty]

Hello
I am making a beef casserole tonight... BUT have forgotten to get the jar of sauce/gravy stuff to chuck in it! (I have only made it once before!) So i have just browned the meat off... and have chopped all veg ready to sling in to fry off.... but need to know what i can use for my sauce/gravy stuff?!!? PLEASE HELP!!!!
In casserole i have, beef, onions, carrots, parsnips, swede and leek - if that helps?! xxxx

[redcrx]

a couple of oxos in water and a few dumplings on top (for last 30 mins) and youve got a stew.

[mrs_overall]

As well as using oxo/similar as redcrx says, you could also add 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar.
It gives beef stew a lovely flavour.

[MissChatty]

thanks red.. how much water?! No dumplings for us we dont like them! Just spuds! X

[MissChatty]

Could i use red wine at all to make it tastier?! Have got balsamic vinegar too though if thats best...x

[JMR27]

this is a good one:
1 tbsp. cornflour blended with 3/4 pt. stock
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 heaped tsp. tomato puree
yummy!

[mrs_overall]

You need enough liquid to just cover all the ingredients.

If you have red wine and balsamic vinegar, use both!

I'll be round to sample it later!

[redcrx]

well i made one last night and used 3 oxos and about a pint of water to cover it all.

cant advise on the redwine im afraid but balsamic sounds delicious

[jack daniels]

you could use a mixture of everything as long as the balsamic doesn't overpower the flavour of everything else.
You could add enough water to either just cover everything or about three quarters of the way up the casserole dish

hth

[MissChatty]

HA! excellent... ill look forward to ur taste testing! Still all very new to this cooking lark! Thank god for all the ABers to help in a crisis!
I will use 2 oxos with water, some red wine and some balsamic vinegar then?! Fingers crossed! x

[mrs_overall]

That sounds good.
Let us know how it tastes.

[sod-the-m27]

When I slow-cook beef I finely chop swede, carrot, and turnip around the joint and add an entire bottle of red wine. A bit OTT maybe, and the end result is a uniform sort of muddy mauve, but the taste is wonderful.

[Cetti]

When you make this again ,MissChatty, you can save yourself a lot of unecessary work by not frying the meat and veg first. I stopped doing this 20 years ago and no one has noticed the difference!

Just use the very best quality produce (frying steak) and just cover the meat and veg with a mixture of water, red wine and 3 or more Oxo cubes. Add a large dollop of fresh thyme or packet Herbes de Provence plus a tablsp tomato puree. To make it go further and to fill up tums I put in a couple of ounces of washed Pearl Barley.

[MissChatty]

Okay just to let u all know was lovely jubbly and the other half was very impressed! Thanks for all the help and advice! U R ALL FAB! :D xxx

[redcrx]

glad it turned out well, did you save us any??

btw i second the motion to stop browning and frying off I just shove everything in the pot at lunchtime (set oven at 150)and put potatoes in when i get home from work turning oven up to 200 for another hour

[mrs_overall]

Greedy guts....you could have saved some for me!

Glad you enjoyed it.