Beef and Onion Casserole

This one is simple enough for anyone to make and it is one of the best tasting casseroles I've had in a long time!

This afternoon I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner. I wanted a BBQ but when I ran the idea past my hubby (as in my opinion the BBQ is the mans domain and gives me a night off cooking) he wasn't very excited by the prospect. Knowing I had some chuck steak in the freezer, I thought the easiest way to get what I had to get done, bath and dress our toddler and cook dinner was to do a slow cooked casserole. Minimal fuss, epic results.

My toddler is currently inhaling the casserole she likes it that much. It's pretty much all gone within 5 minutes! Mothers - give it a go!

Ingredients:

1kg beef chuck steak, cut into 2cm dice
1/2 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large brown onion, chopped coarsely
1 carrot, chopped
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup dry red wine
400g can crushed tomatoes
2 cups beef stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste

1. Coat beef in flour and shake away the excess. Heat half the oil in a casserole dish or large saucepan, cook beef in batches until all browned.

2. Take the beef out. Heat remaining oil in the same pan. Cook onion, carrot and garlic, stirring, until the onion softens.

3. Return beef to the pan with wine, undrained tomatoes, stock and paste. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat, simmer, covered for 40 minutes. Uncover and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 40 minutes or until the meat is tender and the sauce thickens slightly.

I served ours with some brown rice and my Nanna's amazing dumplings. My nan always made dumplings with casseroles and that got passed down to my mum and now to me.

It is the simplest dumpling recipe ever and that's why I like it.

Dumplings:

Self raising flour - 1 tablespoon for every dumpling you want to make
Water
Salt and Pepper

Place the self raising flour in a bowl. Add a little bit of water, stirring until you have added enough to make a thick paste. Be careful not to add too much! Season with salt and pepper to your liking.

Drop a spoonful of mixture into your simmering casserole just before you are ready to serve. Put the lid back on and cook for a couple of minutes. They should puff up slightly and be slightly springy to touch. Then voila! You're done.

Enjoy. :)

*Casserole adapted from '1000 Best Ever Recipes from AWW'

Tomato, Pesto and Chicken Fettucini

This recipe was on regular rotation in my house. It's quick, easy and utterly delicious. A comfort food, especially on cold nights. This was one of the recipes that got chucked so I had to try to remember it and basically re-create it. The original recipe calls for pancetta instead of chicken and personally, I prefer it that way but alas, I had no pancetta in the fridge when I went to cook this the other day. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. The pictures do not do it justice so just give it a try and see for yourself. :)

Recipe (serves 2 big servings or 4 smaller)

1 chicken breast, chopped however you like it
1 punnet of coloured tomatoes (if your grocery store doesn't sell these, cherry tomatoes are fine)
1 heaped tbsp of Genovese pesto (basil based pesto)
1 cup of chicken stock
1/2 cup of cream
Olive oil to drizzle and fry
Fettucini

Method

1. Chop your tomatoes into halves and lay out face up on a baking tray. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and put into a 180 degree oven for roughly 10 minutes or until they are slightly wilting.

2. Cook your chicken in a frying pan and then take out and set aside.

3. Combine the pesto and chicken stock in frying pan and stir over a medium heat until all combined. (Use your own judgement when it comes to the stock. The original recipe called for 1 cup but I always put a bit less as I found it never reduced enough for my liking).

4. Put the fettucini on to boil.

5. Add the cream into the pesto and stock mix and combine thoroughly. Bring it up to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and let the mix thicken up.

6. The tomatoes should be done by now so pull them out and set them aside.

7. Once the fettucini is nearly cooked and the sauce has thickened slightly, mix the tomatoes and chicken into the sauce.

8. When the fettucini is cooked, strain and add to the frying pan. Mix it all up gently over a low heat so that the sauce coats the fettucini.

9. Serve into bowls and top with parmesan cheese.

10. If you were to use pancetta instead of chicken, follow the same method but fry the pancetta both sides and keep between paper towels to soak up the excess oil. Break into bits and add to the mix when you add the tomatoes. Keep a few bits aside to top the meal once served.

Note: The first few times I made this there was always a lot of sauce left over and it wasn't very thick. It still tasted good but I started reducing the chicken stock and tasting as I went to get the pesto/stock ratio right. Everyone is different so you can play to make it as thick or saucy as you like.

Let me know how you go if you try it. :)