Dinner in a Yorkshire pudding!

This has been one of my standby meals for more years than I care to remember!  It truly is a dinner in a dish, as it all cooks in one casserole in the oven.  The vegetables bulk it out and can help stretch a little meat quite a long way so this is quite a frugal little dish. 

On working days this is something that could be put together the evening before and left to simmer quietly in the oven for a few hours, needing absolutely no attention from you at all.  All you’d need to do after work then is make the Yorkshire pudding and re-heat the filling in the oven at the same time. 

For two of us I used : 

½ lb (250g) minced beef

½ a swede (rutabaga)

1 medium carrot

1 onion

1 large potato

1tb flour

2tsp Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp mixed herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary etc)

¾ pint of hot beef stock

Salt and pepper to taste 

Firstly peel and dice the onion, sweat gently in a little olive oil.  Peel and dice the carrot and swede, and add to the onion.  Sweat gently for 10 minutes.  Remove to a dish. 

Add the minced beef to the empty pan and brown, then return the vegetables to the pan.  Add the flour, herbs, Worcestershire sauce and gradually the beef stock, stirring to eliminate the risk of lumps forming.   

Peel the potato and cut into big chunks, and add to the minced beef in the pan.  Stir, bring to a simmer and then pop into a low oven for 2 hours.  I cooked mine at 160^oF (300^oC / gas mark 2). 

To make the Yorkshire Pudding I used : 

1 x 8” sandwich tin 

3oz plain flour

1 egg

3 fl oz milk

2 fl oz water

Salt and pepper to taste 

Place the flour in a mixing bowl and season, make a well in the centre and add the egg, milk and water.  Beat well so that there are no lumps whatsoever in the mixture.  Traditionally it’s made the night before and left to sit, the longer you can leave the batter mixture the better. 

When you are ready, grease the sandwich tin well and heat in the oven (it needs to be very hot), pour the batter mixture into the tin and cook for 25 to 30 minutes at 220^oC (425^oF/gas mark 7). 

(I made mine before making the casserole and just re-heated it at the last minute when we were ready to eat)