Basic beef casserole

by Ed Halmagyi

Ingredients

  • 800g gravy beef, diced
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 brown onion, finely diced
  • 2 sticks celery, finely sliced
  • 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp dried Italian herbs
  • 1L beef stock
  • salt flakes and freshly-milled black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
  • ¼ cup plain flour
  • rice, to serve

Instructions

1 Sear the beef in half the olive oil over a moderate heat in batches until well-browned, then set aside. Sauté the onion, celery, carrots and garlic in the remaining oil, until softened, then return the beef.
2 Add the dried herbs and stock, then bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cook gently for 2 ½ hours with a lid on, until the meat is very tender. Top up with water as needed during cooking, and stir regularly. Season with salt and pepper.
3 Mix the butter and flour, then stir in 1 Tbsp at a time while simmering until the sauce is a good gravy consistency. Serve with rice.