Cheap Eats 3: Beef and Beer casserole
Posted by Michelle | Filed under Food
For a guy who’s just moved out of home beef and beer are a pretty sweet combination. This is why this recipe has made it into Jason’s cheap eats collection. For me this recipe is more a base with a lot of variations. I’ve included a few at the bottom. You don’t have to use beer if it breaks the budget. However, I think beer has it’s own budget.
a splash of oil
some flour if you’ve got some
2kg of cheap stewing steak (ask the butcher for that!) or stewing Kangaroo ($10/kg)
garlic (chopped or whole cloves)
2 onions
any or all of the following: carrots, parsnips, turnips, celery all peeled and cut into equals size pieces (check the old veggie section at work, they sometimes pack these as ‘soup mix)
1 can of tomatoes
1 can/stubbie of beer (something dark such as coopers dark is best)
1 cup of beef stock or water
In a big pot heat the oil to medium. The pan is hot enough when you see the oil move a bit
Dust the meat in salt and pepper and flour if you’ve got some and brown it, handfuls at a time. Once each lot it browned remove it from the pot, until all is cooked.
Add in a bit more oil if the pot is dry and cook your onions until soft.
Throw in the rest of the veggies and garlic and turn the heat down. Pop a lid on for a few minutes until the carrots start to soften.
Splash in the booze and use a wooden spoon to scrape all the cooked on bits off the bottom of the pot. Increase the heat a bit until the liquid bubbles for a minute or two.
Throw the meat back in, along with everything else. Put the lid back on and turn down to the lowest temperature. Simmer for 2 hours. If you’ve got really cheap meat it might take longer.
If your saucepan doesn’t have any wooden or plastic bits (handles etc), pop it in the oven for the 2 hours instead at 150ºC/280ºF
Variations:
RED WINE SAUCE: Replace the beer with 1/2 glass of red wine and some tinned tomatoes.
OR
Red Curry: Don’t flour and season the meat and replace the beer and stock with coconut milk and add in some red curry paste
March 2, 2010 at 5:48 am
I reckon left overs would make the most wonderful breakfast.