Does adding Cornflour and water.

Chef's fighting over how to add cornflour, pure comedy :)

gets the gormet popcorn and a nice chardonay and sits back to watch the fun.

kitten, you shouldn't need maggi mix, soup and oxo I recon.
Try the maggi mix as per directions. or
My basic recipie.
Chop up meat and roll in flour.(yes, should brown first, but that's another pan)
Slice an onion
Slice a couple of carrots.
Put all in casserole and stir. add enough peas 'till it looks right. (Or can just use mixed vege and miss out the carrots).
Good shaking of salt and pepper.
Good squirt of soy sauce.
Good squirt of worchester sauce.
Good desert spoon of tomato relish (optional)
A beef oxo cube. or a couple big teaspoons of marmite.
Anything tougher than rump steak I also add a tablespoon of vinegar.
Pour in enough water to just come up to the level of everything else.
Cook 180 for at least an hour. longer with real stewing steak.
Also works in the slow cooker, but sometimes I do have to add a wee bit of cornflour at the end to thicken.
But yeah. no. cornflour does not take away from the taste. And with a maggi mix and a soup, I'm suprised you have to thicken. are you adding too much water!
Edit. can do tomato sauce instead of relish, but relish is better :-)

ex chef and i never cooked scrambled eggs in a microwave at work.at home i want things done fast and if you use a microwave properly they do turn out soft and tasty. , i really do not care what you think. you stick to your unsocial hours and very low pay.

Maybe you just need to cook it a bit longer AFTER adding the cornflour kitten!
I have added cornflour & water paste heaps of times when I've been a tad generous with the liquid in a casserole but just made sure I let it keep cooking for awhile after it had thickened.with no probs at all.

I always remember my girlfriend remarking how her gravy tasted like sheit ( lol just like her mother's did) yet mine (just like my mum's) tastes yummy.
I watched her make the gravy & she literally added flour & water to the pan juices & then added more water (from the jug) & as soon as it had thickened (which wasn't long considering how much flour she used!) she went to dish it up!

I suggested she actually cook the gravy for a few minutes after it thickened , maybe add some marmite if need be & maybe in the future use the vege water & add straight flour to absorb the pan juices before adding the vege juices.
Lol she made yummy gravy from then on!

*joins Beaker for a nice glass of sav blanc, or merlot if we're having a red*

and the secret weapon for texture in your next casserole is.drum roll please.a couple of handfuls of barley !