Soggy run

[counturchickens]

This should be easy, but I need some inspiration. We've just moved and inherited an alpha range. It looks like an aga but you put the cooker on independently. We're really busy getting as much of the garden ready for next years growing and I fancy an easy to throw together casserole or stew that can be in the oven on low all day in the winter. Unfortunately I don't like lamb. Does anyone have any recommedations for something simple?

[Daphne]

oxtail stew - yummy, reasonably cheap and delicious, it needs a long slow cook to ease the collagen out into its glorious stickiness and in fact is often better the next day!

beef casserole (lots of different recipes) - I often use skirt as its a cheap cut, but tasty, although its not the fattiest so for an all day bake you might want to go with something else. My basic standard approach is to use onions, carrots, celery if I have it and sometimes spuds unless I want to make mash to go with it. Fry them about a bit to get some colour, then put to one side. Brown the meat. Return veg to the meat in the pot, cover with wine/water/stock/beer/cider (usually stock/water mix), add bayleaf and other herbs as you like, add liquid and put on to slow cook. Sometimes I add pimenton at the veg frying stage to give it a deeper smoky note.

 

I wonder if you could cook something like a shepherds pie all day?

[Indispensable Hobbes]

Mince and onions (i do this in my slow cooker) / chilli con carne.

 

Slow-braised pork shoulder with cider, crème fraîche & mustard http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1189637/slowbraised-pork-shoulder-with-cider-crme-frache-a

[Space Chick]

Steak in ale... Braising steak, coat in flour, fry in a pan to brown. Put into a casserole dish, and button mushrooms and chopped onions, add herbs of your choice (I usually favour sage or thyme or both) and a bottle of beer and some beef stock.

 

Can make it with red wine instead of beer if you'd rather

 

Slow cooking for hours is great

[Olly]

Another fan of oxtail here (forget that brown soup that goes under the same name, this is totally different), I also buy pigs' cheeks or beef chaps - sold in Waitrose as 'forgotten cuts' they are cheap and really delicious, and a bit less fatty than oxtail.

[Cinnamon]

BIG casserole fan here - I love cooking & eating them.

 

I know you said you are not keen on Lamb,but NIGELLAS GREEK LAMB STEW is amazing,as is a good traditional Lamb HotPot.

 

As for others I do regularly, I can recommend these:

BRAISED VENISON

SAUSAGE,MUSHROOM,& OLIVE CASSEROLE

BEEF IN BEER WITH MUSHROOMS

 

This time of year I tend to make a casserole once a week,either seeking out reduced meat or meat on offer in supermarkets,or using uo leftover roast (cold chicken is great,just take the meat off,make a stock from the carcass,then casserole root veg in the stock with some sage,add the meat & some dumplings!)

As the meat eating daughter is at Uni, I am generally just cooking these for the 2 of us,so at least one portion goes into the freezer for another time too

[majorbloodnock]

All the suggestions given so far sound excellent, and I'll confess to being another big oxtail stew fan. However, I'd suggest being a little more general. At the risk of teaching good old Grandma to do a bit of egg sucking, the important thing about casseroling is that it's slow enough to make the toughest of cuts tender, and it's the tough cuts that are the most flavoursome. As a result, I'd use this as an opportunity to experiment with whatever cheap cuts of meat your butcher has at the time.

 

Personally, I follow a fairly standard process of cubing some root vegetables (swede, carrots, parsnips and turnips tend to be constantly in attendance in our fridge), giving them a quick fry with some chunks of onion then popping them into the casserole/marmite/terracotta or whatever before placing the seared meat on top, adding some liquid and letting it cook for a few hours at around 150 - 170 degC. From that basic approach, I find I can experiment easily by varying the liquid (different stocks, wine, beer) and adding in other veggie flavours and textures (leeks, beetroot, garlic, mushrooms, pearl barley and so on). A bit of bacon fried at the beginning with the root vegetables can add markedly to the overall flavour, and some tomatoes can introduce a more mediterranean slant. The really good thing is that it's almost impossible to muck it up, since it's basically bucket chemistry. Even better, if you don't pay much attention to the frying veggies and they burn a bit, that's actually a good thing.

 

Just as a thought, though, you might want to have a go at Boston baked beans. If ever there was a winter comfort food, this is it. Forget Heinz, and bear in mind this can be done just as well with belly pork as salt pork.

[Couperwife]

We do comfort food here

 

Take one tin of corned beef, slice thinly. Same size (ish) of potatoes (I mean grab 2 potatoes that look about the same physical size of the corned beef tin ) peeled (if you like) and thinly sliced.

 

One large onion. Sliced and browned off slightly.

 

Take a casserole dish.

Layer corned beef, potatoes and onion til you have none left.

 

Cover over with 2 beef oxos in boiling water.

 

Stick on lid

 

Put in oven for about 1.5 hours (or as long as you like really just make sure it doesn't dry out) 170 deg.

 

Be prepared for a drooling mouth cos it smells yummy

 

Serve up in bowls with crusty bread

 

Easy, cheap as chips and dead warming.

 

Cathy

X

[counturchickens]

Thanks all. I will have to track down some oxtail. I will definitely be doing the corned beef too, we used to do something similar - you have reminded me how good it is!

[rachel19]

Oxtail is lovely and I'd ercommend Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's recipe http://www.saga.co.uk/lifestyle/food/meat/oxtail-stew-with-cinnamon-and-star-anise.aspx - really lovely and has a wonderful flavour.

[Indispensable Hobbes]

Panhaggerty

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil

250g/9oz streaky bacon

6 potatoes, thinly sliced into rounds

2 onions, peeled, sliced

5 carrots, peeled, sliced

500ml/17½fl oz chicken stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

150g/5oz cheddar cheese, grated

crusty bread, to serve

Preparation method

Heat the vegetable oil in a deep ovenproof pan. Fry the bacon for 3-4 minutes, or until golden-brown and slightly crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside to drain on kitchen paper.

In the same pan used to cook the bacon, arrange a layer of the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the pan. Cover the potatoes with a layer of sliced onions, then a layer of sliced carrots. Layer over some of the crisp bacon, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Repeat the process with the remaining potatoes, onions, carrots and bacon, finishing with a layer of potatoes on top. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour in the chicken stock so that all of the ingredients are covered, then bring to the boil. Cover the pan with a lid and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 15-25 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender.

Preheat the grill to high.

Uncover the pan and sprinkle over the grated cheese. Grill for 5-6 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling and golden-brown.

To serve, spoon the panhaggerty into bowls and serve with some crusty bread to mop up the juices.

 

Corned beef goes well in this as well.