Best beef casserole/stew - slow cooker

cloudcover, Jul 14, 5:01pm
Hi, please can you give me your favourite slow cooker casserole/stew recipe. No alcohol please - never have any in the house, so would like the go-to, got it in the cupboard type of recipe

Thanks :-)
fifie, Jul 14, 5:48pm
For something with no tomatoes, or curry, this is good comfort food in winter.
Sweet Sour Stew.
Turn s/c on high to heat, while preparing. Stewing, braising, or blade steak cut into chunks.
Carrot, Onion, 1/2 cup malt vinegar, s/p, 1/4 cup brown sugar, Tablespoon worcester sauce. !/2 -1 cup beef stock, little flour and oil for browning.Into a hot pan put oil, toss meat in flour brown in batches ,put in sc. Peel and slice onions and carrot, soften them up in the hot pan next and add to cooker. Mix vinegar, sugar, sauce, add about 1/2 cup beef stock, s/p deglaze pan rubbing all the bits off, bring up to a simmer and tip on top of meat and vegs to barely covering. If needed add little more beef stock. Lid on turn sc to low and cook. Half hour from dinner time check thickness, if need be thicken juices with little cornflour paste, add more s/p if needed. Serve over
mashed potatoes, with minted green peas and another veg of choice.
Make as much as you like, just double the sauce.Leftovers good on toast next day.
crazynana, Jul 14, 7:08pm
The best beef by far is skirt steak for making stews and casseroles. It is hard to find sometimes as many butchers use it to make mince, but it makes the best flavour I think.
cloudcover, Jul 14, 9:09pm
I was at Pak n Save yesterday and the only casserole meat they had was "Casserole steak" - I asked if they had Gravy Beef and the meat lady said "aye?. I've never heard of that". I asked what cut the "Casserole Steak" was and she said "it's beef". ahhhhhhh, so annoying!
pamellie, Jul 14, 9:33pm
I bought some of that 'casserole' steak and it was yuck! I won't be buying it again that's for sure.
cloudcover, Jul 14, 9:38pm
If I can't find skirt steak, what is the best for a casserole ?
davidt4, Jul 14, 9:58pm
Cross-cut blade is my first choice for a beef casserole, followed by shin, skirt and brisket.
dibble35, Jul 15, 2:49am
Whats the diff between cross cut blade , and blade? I ended up buying the straight blade steak (will try other next time) and made a casserole today. It was beautiful. Onions, mushrooms, carrots, lots frozen chopped tomatoes from my garden over summer, couple of OXO cubes and a bag of spinach (i'm trying to eat better). I slow cooked it for about 6 hours and it turned out so well. Enough for a few days meals. Wont have to cook tomorrow night, other than maybe some mashed spuds or maybe dumplings to go with it,
davidt4, Jul 15, 3:36am
Cross cut blade has a line of connective tissue running evenly through each piece, and each piece is a neat oblong.The connective tissue softens into a delicious gelatinous texture after long slow cooking. Blade beef is from the same part of the beast but is not so evenly cut and the pieces without connective tissue can be dry.
calista, Jul 15, 5:23am
I try to get shin beef for casseroles in the slow cooker. That connective tissue makes such a difference.
dibble35, Jul 16, 12:41am
Oh Ok thanks, and here i've been looking at those lines of tissue thru the steak thinking it would be tough. lol.
davidt4, Jul 29, 4:11am
Ha ha. When I was a young cook I would carefully cut out those lines of connective tissue as that was what my mother always did. It was years before I learned otherwise.