Winter Warmers Recipe: Beef and Ale Casserole with Mustard Mash

Winter has well and truly arrived, the shorter days and cold evenings make us crave comfort food to keep us warm.  Although we enjoy a bowl of comfort food, we still want it to be healthy and packed with lots of vegetables.

I like one pot dishes as they are convenient, you just need to chop and put everything together. Casseroles are versatile, basically you can pick whichever meat and vegetables you have in the fridge for a hearty meal. It is a great way to use up leftover vegetables.

I was sent a hamper with key products from Unilever Kitchen to provide us with some inspiration for delicious dishes that will see us through until spring. It contained a wide range of products including Knorr stock pots, beef, rich beef, vegetable, chicken and fish, herb infusion pots and gravy pots, onion, beef and chicken. There was also Maille wholegrain mustard and honey mustard, Colman’s mustard and Season and Steam satchets, Bovril, Storm and Flora butter, Hellmann’s and PG Tips Rich tea.

I usually make beef casseroles with red wine, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try cooking with ale instead, using the rich beef stock pots for a deep and intense flavour.

Beef and Ale Casserole Recipe (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 600g diced braised steak or stewing beef
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 5 carrots, sliced
• 2 parsnips, sliced
• 1 turnip, sliced
• 3 onions, sliced
• 350g of mushrooms, sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• Rosemary to taste
• 500ml Ale
• 1 Knorr Rich Beef Stock Pot
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170C, gas mark 3.

Place the flour in a plate and season with salt and pepper, lightly dust the beef in the flour. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil on a medium heat in a large ovenproof and flameproof casserole dish with a lid, fry the beef until browned, around 2 minutes on each side. Transfer the meat to a plate and reserve.

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in the casserole dish and add the onions, once they are softened, add the carrots, parsnips and turnip. Cook the vegetables for around 5 minutes until they are beginning to colour.

Add the beef to the casserole, pour in the ale and rich beef stock pot, add the bay leaves, rosemary, salt and pepper. Put the lid on the casserole dish and cook in the over for 2 hours. Stir and add the mushrooms half way through. The casserole will be ready once the meat and vegetables are tender.

The beef and ale casserole was served with mustard mash potato, made with potatoes, dash of milk, one tablespoon of Flora, two tablespoons of mustard of Maille Wholegrain Mustard, salt and pepper.

The whole family enjoyed the meal and had seconds, the rich and tasty beef and ale stew was complemented by the flavoursome mustard mash, making it a lovely winter warmer.

I was sent a hamper to take part in the Winter Warmer Challenge, however the opinions expressed in this post are honest and my own.