Weekend Cooking: French Onion Casserole

When I look back over the recipes that I have shared as part of Paris in July, I have realised that there are some common things - mainly that they are wintery, casserole type dishes. A couple of years ago I shared a recipe for cassoulet, and last year it was French style chicken. I guess it makes sense since we are in the depths of winter and so we are looking for soups, stews and casseroles  - hearty, warming dinners and comfort food.

Luckily, our local supermarket magazine has come to the party again this year, with the cover recipe for June being French Onion Beef Casserole with Garlic Butter Potatoes.

We cooked this on a cold Sunday afternoon, letting the delicious smells fill the house. It definitely is a slow process with a couple of different steps to the process but it was well worth it. The reality is that a lot of the time that this takes to cook is just in the oven, so it isn't like you are busy making it for the whole time. Plenty of time to read a book, make a cake or watch a movie while the oven does it's magic.

As I was writing this post I was curious about how French this would actually be. I guess it is instpired by French Onion Soup which apparently has it's origins in the 18th century.

French Onion Casserole with Garlic Butter Potatoes

2 tbs olive oil
1kg diced beef/oyster blade steak, cut into 3cm pieces
200g brown mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 brown onion, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled, coarsely chopped
2 celery sticks, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup (35g) plain flour
40g pkt French onion soup mix
1 1/2 cups (375ml) salt-reduced beef stock
4 thyme sprigs
50g garlic butter
6 Red Royale potatoes, cut into 1cm-thick slices
1/2 cup (50g) shredded pizza cheese
Thyme sprigs, extra, to serve

CARAMELISED ONION

20g butter
2 brown onions, thickly sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tbs salt-reduced beef stock
1 tsp thyme leaves




Preheat oven to 150°C. Heat half the oil in a large casserole pan over high heat. Add one-quarter of the beef and cook, turning occasionally, for 2-3 mins or until brown all over. Transfer to a heatproof bowl. Repeat, in batches, with the remaining beef.


Heat half the remaining oil in the pan. Add the mushroom and cook, turning, for 5 mins or until golden. Transfer to the bowl. Heat remaining oil in the pan. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring, for 5 mins or until onion softens. Return the beef and mushroom to the pan and sprinkle with flour. Cook for 1 min or until well combined. Add the soup mix, beef stock and thyme sprigs and bring to a simmer. Cover and transfer to the oven. Bake for 2 hours or until the beef is very tender.


Meanwhile, to make the caramelised onion, melt the butter in a large frying pan over low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 mins or until the onion softens and begins to caramelise. Add the sugar, vinegar and stock and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 mins or until onion caramelises. Add the thyme and season with pepper.


Increase oven to 180°C. Heat the garlic butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the potato and cook for 2 mins each side or until the potato is golden.


Arrange potato and caramelised onion over the beef mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 20 mins or until the potato is tender. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for a further 10 mins or until the cheese melts and is golden. Sprinkle with extra thyme sprigs and season with pepper to serve.

 Weekly meals

Saturday - Out for dinner

Sunday -  French Onion Casserole

Monday - Pork sausages, pumpkin mash and caramelised onions

Tuesday - beef pad see ew

Wednesday - chicken enchiladas

Thursday - Pork chops, mash, gravy, broccoli

Friday - Out for dinner

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page