Beef casserole

tanith

I really wouldn't worry about quantities, as long as the veg and meat are covered with the liqued it will be ok.... I am also doing beef stew today and just bung in whatever veg I have in the house... I also put in kidney beans and cut down on the beef as I am trying not to eat too much red meat and it always tastes fine... I do thicken with a little gravy powder and also bung in some dumplings half an hour before eating... its a very versatile dish and being exact is not necessary as as you put in differing veg each time its always slightly different tasting... hope it turns out ok...do come back and tell all....

Rikki

Skint_Catt wrote: »

I had a look on the receipe archives but the casserole one doesn't give quantities and I don't want to get it wrong!

C xx

Click Here Have a read of this


Heres how I make mine.

Chop onion and fry off in frying pan with beef.
Peel and chop veg and put in the slow cooker.
Add meat and onion.
Make up stock. 1 1/2 pints [1 oxo cube 3/4 pint water (i use hot)]
Cook all day. Auto
For the last hout thiken the stew.
Mix 1 tbs of plain flour into a paste add some of the stock mix and pour into the stew.

dumplings are twice as much flour to suet, salt pepper and herbs of your choice.
mix with cold water to make a dough.
Divide mixture equally drop into the stew for the last 1/2 hour

craig777

Skint_Catt, take a look here...

http://www.deliaonline.com/articles/food/the-principles-of-casserole-cookery,1409,AR.html

Pink.

Rikki wrote: »

Click Here Have a read of this


Heres how I make mine.

Chop onion and fry off in frying pan with beef.
Peel and chop veg and put in the slow cooker.
Add meat and onion.
Make up stock. 1 1/2 pints [1 oxo cube 3/4 pint water (i use hot)]
Cook all day. Auto
For the last hout thiken the stew.
Mix 1 tbs of plain flour into a paste add some of the stock mix and pour into the stew.

dumplings are twice as much flour to suet, salt pepper and herbs of your choice.
mix with cold water to make a dough.
Divide mixture equally drop into the stew for the last 1/2 hour

Hi Rikki,

Your dumplings sound good! According to Skint_cat's post she can't use flour so dumplings are probably out....do you know if cornflour contains flour? I've tried googling it but haven't found an answer.

Pink

Rikki

Pink-winged wrote: »

Hi Rikki,

Your dumplings sound good! According to Skint_cat's post she can't use flour so dumplings are probably out....do you know if cornflour contains flour? I've tried googling it but haven't found an answer.

Pink

I'll have a look on my container.

Thats about as helpful as a lead baloon. :rolleyes:

Have you thought about rice flour or whats the yellowy one called ???? used in Indian cooking.I think it begins with G.


I've found it.......Its gram flour and its made from chickpeas.

Rikki

I think the Gram flour could make nicer savoury dumplings rather than the rice flour as its slightly grainy.

I reckon the gram flour would be okay for thickening too.

Skint_Catt

Never had dumplings, so will try that another day. It's not really that I can't use flour, but we're both on Slimming World, so I just wanted to make one that was pretty much just veg & meat. Do I add the cornflour towards the end or at the beginning? I know it'll be trial and error as to our personal preferences but I don't want a huge disaster first time! :rotfl:

Rikki

When wheat flour is mixed with water gluten, a complex protein, develops.

Cornflour is the white, powdered starch of the maize grain, not ground maize.


This is informative

Corn Flour

A type of flour milled from dried kernels of yellow corn. It is similar to cornmeal except that it is ground to a finer consistency than cornmeal. It is used to make cornbread, muffins, pancakes, polenta, and tortillas. Corn flour is very useful for gluten-free quick breads. Because corn flour contains no gluten, it must be blended with wheat flour when preparing yeasted breads.

There are several other popular varieties of corn flour available and some may be more regionally popular than others. Harinilla is a variety of corn flour made from blue corn. It is often used for a number of Mexican dishes including tortillas, tamales, and dumplings. The blue corn is treated with a lime solution, which expands the kernel, allowing it to be removed from the hull. If harinilla is not available, blue cornmeal can be substituted, but it should be milled in a food processor to produce a flourlike consistency. Harinilla is also known as "blue corn flour" and when it is used for preparing tortillas, it is called "Harina Azul".

Masa harina is corn flour that is ground from dried hominy. White or yellow corn is used for making hominy, which is also known as "posole" or "pozole". The corn is boiled in a solution containing powdered lime and is then washed, dried, and ground to form the masa harina. It is used in preparing corn tamales and tortillas. Blue corn is used to make harinilla and is not used for masa harina.

Cornstarch is obtained from the white heart of the corn kernel. Cornstarch is a tasteless, very fine powder that is very useful as a thickener, having double the thickening properties of regular flour. It is widely used for thickening sauces, gravies, and puddings. It is best to stir it into water first before it is added to other foods, so that it can be more easily incorporated without creating lumps. In England, cornstarch is referred to as corn flour or cornflour, while in the United States corn flour refers to whole corn kernels that have been finely ground.


Information found here: www.recipetips.com

Rikki

Skint_Catt wrote: »

Never had dumplings, so will try that another day. It's not really that I can't use flour, but we're both on Slimming World, so I just wanted to make one that was pretty much just veg & meat. Do I add the cornflour towards the end or at the beginning? I know it'll be trial and error as to our personal preferences but I don't want a huge disaster first time! :rotfl:

Mix the flour with cold water and make into a paste. Add hot liquid from the slow cooker to the flour and then then pour into the stew. I normally do this about 1 hour before I dish up.

Read through the link in my earlier post. Mr badexamples stew for bloke. There are loads of tips and advice on there and plenty of giggles too.

Pink.

Skint_Catt wrote: »

Never had dumplings, so will try that another day. It's not really that I can't use flour, but we're both on Slimming World, so I just wanted to make one that was pretty much just veg & meat. Do I add the cornflour towards the end or at the beginning? I know it'll be trial and error as to our personal preferences but I don't want a huge disaster first time! :rotfl:

I usually put a little (but not too much in case it sticks) cornflour in at the beginning to help the sauce thicken, then if it needs more add it about 15 mins before serving. Either way is ok. There's another thread on thickening slow cooked food....I'll have a look and see if I can find it for you.

Pink


Edit: Found it.... How do i thicken up.....