Beef, Orange and Thyme Casserole

Everyone asked for second helpings when I concocted this for yesterday's supper. Another easy "throw-it-all-in-the-pan-and let-it-do-its-thing" kind of dish - my favourite kind of cooking. Getting the balance of flavours right is down to personal taste, so tweak the quantities and seasoning as your heart desires... This should feed about 4, depending on greed.

1 small onion, finely chopped
4-6 rashers of bacon, diced
500g stewing or braising beef, diced
Handful plain flour
1 medium butternut squash, de-seeded, peeled and chopped
Handful baby carrots, scraped & chopped
Orange juice (preferably freshly squeezed)
Chicken stock
White wine
Fresh thyme


Start by preheating the oven to 170˚.

In a frying pan on a low heat, soften the onion in a little oil for about ten minutes, while you dice the meat and prepare the vegetables. (You might want to chop the carrots slightly smaller than the squash as they take a wee bit longer to cook.) Transfer the onion to a casserole dish.

In the frying pan, add a little more oil and turn the heat up. Fry the bacon until golden and crispy. Transfer the bacon to the casserole dish too. (Don't worry about what type of bacon you use - smoked, salty, sweet-cured, or streaky would all compliment this dish)

Add a little more oil to the frying pan and then brown the beef, in batches if necessary, and then add it to the casserole dish.

Move the casserole dish onto the heat now, and stir through a handful of plain flour, letting it cook through for a minute or two. Then slowly stir in about half a pint of chicken stock, letting it thicken slightly, and then throw in a 1/4 pint of white wine and a 1/4 pint of orange juice. (Don't worry if you haven't got oranges in the fruit bowl to freshly squeeze - use a good quality carton of juice, preferably without 'bits' in!)

Add the vegetables, and add some more orange juice if necessary - you want the liquid to just about cover everything in the dish. Strip the thyme leaves off a handful of stalks (I have lemon thyme growing on my window sill and it worked so well with the orange juice, but do use dried thyme if that's what you have got in the cupboard) and stir through the casserole with a bit of salt (you won't need much because of the bacon, and also if you have used stock cubes) and pepper. Clap on the lid, chuck in the oven and go and do something else for about three hours!!

Do give it a stir from time to time, and adjust the level of liquid if required. I added more orange juice when it was getting too thick, because that is the flavour I wanted - but you may prefer to add more wine or more stock.

When the meat is tender and the vegetables are soft and melting, serve with mountains of creamy mashed potatoes, or with some warm crusty bread dripping with butter... Heavenly!