Allyson Gofton shows us how to make the most delicious beef casserole ~ suitable for the slow cooker or oven. 

Serves 6-8

• Preparation time: 25 minutes
• Cooking time: crock pot or slow cooker - low 7-8 hours, high 4-5 hours oven - 2-3 hours

Ingredients

• 1 Kg lean Quality Mark beef for casseroling (Cross-cut blade, blade steak, gravy beef, chuck steak, shin)
• 2-3 onions, peeled and diced
• 4 rashers rindless bacon, diced
• 12-18 prunes
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• pared rind one orange
• about 4 sprigs fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
• ¼ C flour
• 1 C dark beer or use beef stock
• 2 C beef stock

Method

Turn the slow cooker on to warm while gathering and preparing the ingredients.

Trim the excess fat from the meat and cut the beef into 2cm-3cm pieces.

Brown the beef in a dash of oil in a hot frying pan until well-browned on all sides. The pan must be hot and not overcrowded, lest the meat will stew, so this is best done batches. Transfer to meat to a slow cooker or a casserole.

Add the onions and bacon to the frying pan with extra oil if required and cook until well-browned. Add to the meat with the prunes, garlic, orange rind and thyme.

In a jug mix together the flour, dark beer or/and beef stock to form a smooth mix and pour over the beef. Season with pepper, stir to mix well and cover.

For a slow cooker or crock pot - cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.

For the oven, cook in a casserole at 140°C for 2½ - 3 hours or 160°C for 2 hours. The slower the casserole is cooked the more tender the meat will be.