Category Archives: Beef

Tomato Beef Casserole

Beef, Mains

Ingredients

  • 600-800g casserole/stewing beef, diced
  • 1 onion
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 celery sticks
  • Optional: throw in any other veg you like
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1.5tbsp tomato puree
  • 1.5tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1tsp English mustard
  • 1/2 vegetable stock cube
  • 100ml red wine
  • 400ml passata

Method

  • Preheat your oven to 150C/130 Fan
  • Heat olive oil in a large casserole dish on a medium-high heat.
  • Add the onion and brown
  • Add the garlic, carrots, celery and bay leaves and soften for 10-15 minutes.
  • Add the purée and stir through
  • Add the balsamic vinegar and stir through
  • Add the wine and wait for it to mostly cook away
  • Add the half stock cube
  • Add the beef and stir til coated
  • Add the passata.
  • Stir until it simmers
  • Add any potatoes/squash now if using (I usually cut them into big chunks)
  • Transfer to the oven and cook for at least 4 hours
  • Turn the oven up to 200C/180C Fan and remove the lid. Cook for 20 minutes to thicken up the sauce
  • Make your dumplings! These are cooked with the lid on.
  • When the dumplings are cooked, remove the lid for the last 5 minutes so they go crispy on top.

Lasagne

Beef, Mains, Pasta and Rice

Ingredients

Method

  • Make your bolognese
  • Make your white sauce
  • Add a layer of meat to your dish, followed by lasagne, then a layer of white sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan
  • Repeat meat, pasta, white sauce, parmesan until you get to the top which should be parmesan.
  • Cover with a double layer of foil and cook for the required time of the lasagne sheets (usually dry for around 30mins and fresh for 20mins).
  • Take the dish out of the oven, cover the top with mozzarella and cook until cheese is melted and browning on top.

Meat Sauce for Lasagne

Beef, Mains

Serves 6-8 for bolognese or lasagne. Scale down the mince to 500g for 2-4 person bolognese, and based on your preference you can change to 1 tin of tomatoes.

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 750g lean beef mince
  • 100ml red wine
  • 1 medium-large onion, finely sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced or finely chopped
  • 1/2 a stick of celery, diced small
  • 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 2 tins of plum tomatoes
  • 1 200g tube of tomato puree
  • Dash of Worcestershire sauce
  • Dry basil
  • Dry oregano
  • Garlic granules (optional)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Olive oil

Method

  • Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large pan on a medium-high heat.
  • Add the mince and use a whisk to break it up and remove any chunks. Season the mince with salt and pepper.
  • Cook the mince until all of the liquid has evaporated and the meat is starting to brown/stick to the pan (don’t worry, it will come off). This will take your bolognese to another level of flavour.
  • Add the red wine and cook for about a minute to release the alcohol, then add the onion, garlic, celery and rosemary.
  • Cook for another 5mins or so to soften the onions then add the tomatoes. Break them up with a spoon/masher/knife if you want smaller chunks.
  • Take one of the tins and fill it 2/3 with water, and add that to your sauce.
  • Add about 2/3 of the puree (you might need to add a bit more later), a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and a good sprinkle of basil and oregano – I’d say around a tablespoon of each.
  • Re-season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Turn down to simmer with a lid on for 30mins

Roast Beef in Red Wine Gravy

Beef, Mains

Chef’s Tip: You will need to increase/decrease the amounts based on the size of the beef joint you buy.

Ingredients

  • Beef brisket (at least 450g)
  • Gravy granules
  • 100ml red wine
  • 1/2 pint water
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 onion

Method

  • Take the string off the beef and lay it in a deep oven dish
  • Chop the onion and slice each garlic clove in half. Put these around the beef in the dish.
  • Pour the wine over the beef
  • Sprinkle a generous amount of gravy granules on and around the beef
  • Add the water.
  • Cover with foil and cook on 130 for a 2.5-3hrs

Sexy Time Steak

Beef, Mains

Chef’s tip: A great side dish is sweet potato wedges, broccoli and grilled tomato.

Ingredients

  • 2 fat steaks – rib eye/sirloin
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • Fresh rosemary
  • Butter

Equipment

  • Griddle pan
  • Oven dish
  • Space in the freezer for a rack

Method

  • 12-24hrs before you want to eat, take the steaks out of their packaging and place them on a plate. Cover one side with sea salt and leave in the fridge uncovered.
  • 90mins before you want to eat, take the steaks out of the fridge, wash them and dry them until they are as dry as possible.
  • Chop your garlic clove in half and rub each side of the steaks with it. Also sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  • Place the steaks on a raised surface like a grill rack and put the steaks in the freezer for 45mins.
  • At this point heat the oven to 90C and put your oven dish in it with a little bit of oil in the bottom
  • After 35mins, turn your hob on full whack and put the griddle pan on (and open the window – it’s going to get smokey!)
  • Put a tsp of butter in the griddle pan and take the steaks out of the freezer when they’ve had their 45mins.
  • Sear each steak for 1 minute on each side.
  • Lay sticks of rosemary in your oven dish and place the steaks on top
  • Cook in the middle of the oven for 30-35mins for medium steak.

 

Sczechuan Beef

Beef, Mains

Chef’s Tip: This is delicious with brown rice and some broccoli. You don’t have to stick to the exact recipe when it comes to the vegetables. Feel free to add whatever you want – some people enjoy bean sprouts, carrots, green beans. It’s flexible and up to you.

Ingredients

  • 400-500g frying beef
  • 1.5-2cm knob of ginger chopped into small strips
  • 2 cloves of garlic chopped into small strips
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 1 red pepper, sliced
  • 2 spring onions, chopped small
  • 0.5-1 red chilli, chopped
  • 3 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1tsp cornflour mixed with some water
  • 2tsp red wine
  • Chinese five spice
  • 1tsp brown sugar

Method

  • Put a non-stick frying pan or wok on a relatively high heat with a tablespoon of sunflower or vegetable oil.
  • Cook the beef until it’s almost all brown but still with bits of pink. This will product a load of liquid, so at this point drain it in a colander and leave to one side.
  • Clean the pan and put back on the heat with another tablespoon of oil.
  • Add the ginger and garlic, and stir for a minute until just before the garlic starts to brown.
  • Add the onion and pepper and cook until soft.
  • Add the chilli and stir it in.
  • Re-add the beef to the pan and sprinkle with the five spice (no set amount, but not too much as it’s quite strong).
  • Add 2tbsp of the soy sauce and stir for a couple of minutes
  • Add the wine and stir for a few minutes
  • Add the cornflour mix until the mixture has thickened as you like it
  • Add the spring onions and sugar. Stir.
  • Add the final tbsp of soy sauce, turn the heat to a medium-low heat and cover the pan with a lid for 5-10mins to simmer.

 

Hungarian Goulash

Beef, Mains

Serves: 2-4 people
Prep time: 30mins
Cooking time: 2hrs 30mins

Chef’s tip: This is delicious with gnocchi, dumplings or pasta.

Ingredients

  • 600-650g stewing/casserole/slow cook beef, diced into small chunks
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 2 medium carrots, sliced
  • 2 sticks of celery, sliced or in chunks
  • 1 red pepper, in 2cm square chunks
  • 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 2.5tbsp sweet paprika (Hungarian if you can get it)
  • 1.5tbsp caraway seeds, crushed
  • 40g tomato puree
  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • 1 litre of good beef stock
  • Sea salt
  • Ground black pepper

Method

  • Get everything diced/sliced/chopped etc so it’s all ready to go.
  • Get a large casserole pot or large saucepan on a medium heat, add a little oil and then add the onion, carrots, celery, pepper and garlic. Cook these gently for about 10 minutes until softened.
  • Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, brown the meat for a couple of minutes and set aside.
  • Once the veg is soft and started to brown, add the meat, paprika, caraway seeds, puree and bay leaves.
  • Stir it all in and then cover with the beef stock.
  • Stir well, cover the pan with a lid and simmer for at least 2 hours.