Marijke's Beef Casserole and Jacket Potatoes
Cubes of tender, fall-apart beef in a rich, luscious gravy served over soft, buttered jacket potatoes. This is quite possibly the quickest and easiest meal you will ever make, but there is no compromise on flavour. The sauce is loaded with the umami benefits from soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and ketchup.
Ingredients
For the potatoes:
- 4 - 6 medium sized baking potatoes, up to 175g each
- 4 - 6 teaspoons olive oil
- freshly ground sea salt
For the casserole:
- 1kg stewing/braising steak (chuck or round steak), cubed
- 150g/1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 100g/1 medium carrot, peeled and thickly sliced
- 8g/2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 20g/1 heaped tablespoon flour
- 80g/¼ cup tomato ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 125ml beef stock or red wine (See Recipe Notes)
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
To serve:
- butter for the potatoes
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- chopped parsley
- some green vegetables
Instructions
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Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
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Preheat oven to fan oven 120°C /140°C/275°F/Gas 1
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First, prepare the potatoes – wash and dry the potatoes, if necessary, and prick them all over with a fork.
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Rub each potato with olive oil and grind over some salt.
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Place on a rack over a baking tray and put straight in the oven. (Even if it has not completely heated up yet.) Alternatively place the potatoes directly on the oven shelf.
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Now, prepare the casserole: peel and chop the onion, wash, trim and slice the carrot, peel and crush the garlic.
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Tip into a casserole dish with the cubes of beef. Scatter over the flour and seasoning and mix well.
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Add the ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and beef stock and stir to mix.
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Cook in the centre of a preheated oven for 4 – 5 hours, until the beef is falling apart and soft and the potatoes and are cooked though. (See Recipe Notes)
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To serve: cut a cross in the top of the potatoes and squeeze their base to open them up. Add some butter and some freshly ground salt and black pepper.
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Spoon the casserole over the potatoes, sprinkle with some chopped parsley and serve with fresh green vegetables.
Recipe Notes
Equipment:
- baking tray and rack for the potatoes
- kitchen scales and measuring spoons
- chopping board and knife
- casserole dish
- jug
Beef stock or wine and flour:
The original recipe does not use any beef stock and the flour is mixed with some water before adding. I throw the flour in as is (saves washing up!) but I do add some beef stock. I simply mix a beef stock cube with 125ml water. You can also use red wine, if you prefer. I tend to make this casserole when I want food I can throw in the oven and leave for a few hours, normally whilst I am out and want supper ready when I get home. Not only do I love the extra gravy this makes, I also needn't worry if I get delayed; it will just carry on cooking in the gravy for a bit longer and be extra fall apart melt in the mouth.
Cooking time:
I normally aim to cook mine for around 4 hours, although I have left it over 5 hours and both the potatoes and casserole were still cooked perfectly.
Cooking in the slow cooker:
The casserole can be cooked in a slow cooker, if you prefer. Simply prepare as above and cook on high for 6 hours or on low for around 8 hours. It is also delicious served with mashed potato or sweet potato.
Top Tip:
Like most casseroles, this one tastes even better the following day, so double up on the quantities shown above! Delicious with mashed potato, roast potatoes or sweet potatoes or why not cover it in puff pastry and serve it in a pie?