SHOPPING LIST: Cooking Skills: Beef and Steak 1, Chapter 5 (Braising and Stews)

Braising or chuck steak, shin or short ribs, onions, carrots, celery, plain flour, self-raising flour, vegetable suet, parsley, tomato purée, low-salt beef stock, balsamic vinegar, bay leaves, ready-rolled puff pastry, eggs with the British Lion mark, sunflower or rapeseed oil, a large ovenproof casserole with a lid and a pie dish.

A simple beef casserole (4 portions)
[ ] 800 g braising or chuck steak, in 4 cm cubes
[ ] 2 tbsp sunflower or rapeseed oil
[ ] 2 onions, roughly chopped
[ ] 3 carrots, in thick slices
[ ] 2 tbsp plain flour
[ ] 1 tbsp tomato purée
[ ] 500 ml beef stock (low-salt)
[ ] 2 bay leaves
[ ] 1 pinch salt and black pepper

Beef stew with dumplings (4 portions)
[ ] 1 batch beef casserole (above), simmering
[ ] 100 g self-raising flour
[ ] 50 g vegetable suet
[ ] 1 pinch salt
[ ] 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
[ ] 5 tbsp cold water, about

Braised short ribs or shin (4 portions)
[ ] 1.2 kg beef short ribs, or 1 kg shin on the bone
[ ] 1 tbsp sunflower or rapeseed oil
[ ] 1 onion, roughly chopped
[ ] 2 carrots, roughly chopped
[ ] 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
[ ] 2 tbsp tomato purée
[ ] 500 ml beef stock (low-salt)
[ ] 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
[ ] 2 bay leaves

A beef and gravy pie (4 to 6 portions)
[ ] 1 batch beef casserole, cooled (above)
[ ] 1 sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry (about 320 g)
[ ] 1 egg (Lion-marked), beaten
[ ] 1 pie dish (about 1.5 litres)
[ ] 1 tbsp plain flour, for dusting

For the experiments
[ ] Extra chuck or braising steak (about 500 g)
[ ] A second small ovenproof pot