Packet Meals - Country Beef Casserole

After another significant delay I've finally gotten back to actually cooking a recipe, and using one of the packet meals at the same time.

Country Beef Casserole

^{As usual, the finished product at the top to have the best cover photo}

I have 2 packets of this one, so I look forward to modifying it more and enjoying it again in the future.

Ingredients

^{All the ingredients on the board in one shot? I won't believe it until the end of the recipe!}

From the packet
500 grams Diced Beef
1 Onion, Diced
2 Carrots, Diced (I do 1/4 moon slices because dicing carrots isn't worth it)
2 Celery Sticks, Sliced (The packet says 3 but I just misread it)
2 Rashers Short Cut Bacon, Sliced
1 Packet Masterfoods Country Beef Casserole Recipe Base
Oil

Additional Ingredients
8 Mushrooms, Quartered
1 Green Capsicum, Sliced

Method

• Prepare all the ingredients as instructed

^{Prep underway. Diced Onion, Sliced Bacon, Sliced Carrot, Sliced Celery, Sliced Green Capsicum}

• Over Medium-High Heat, add enough Oil to thinly cover the base of your pan and heat for 30 seconds. (I'm using a ~24 cm Dutch Oven and it was good to have the space for stirring the contents.)
• Add the Beef to the pan and brown on all sides, stirring to prevent it from sticking.

^{Diced Beef browning in oil is the first step of so many things. Oh, and there was no oil in the ingredients photo}

• Add in the Onion and Bacon and mix it in with the Beef.
• Stir regularly over the next 5 minutes.

^{Add Onion and Bacon}

• Reduce the heat to Medium and add in the Carrot, Celery and Capsicum.
• Stir and cook until the carrot has softened. (Test with a fork or skewer)

^{Add Carrot, Celery and Capsicum}

• Add in the contents of the Packet Mix and stir well
• Reduce heat to Low and stir occasionally

^{Adding the recipe base into the mix}

• After 10 minutes, add in the Mushrooms.
• If the sauce seems too thick, add in water as needed.

^{Quartered Mushrooms added, as well as about 1/2 cup of water to thin out the sauce}

• Cook for another 5 minutes, or longer if you need to thicken the sauce more.
• Serve with mashed potato. Makes 4 serves

^{4 serves ready for later consumption. I'll cook the potato fresh each time with this one.}

^{Turns out that the sauce wasn't as thick as I anticipated, but it was still good to combine with the mash that I've served it with}

Further Thoughts

• This wasn't as nice as I was hoping, but I think it was mostly due to the beef not being lean enough. It needed to be stewed for much longer and was a poor choice for such a short cooking time. Next time I will use a better cut.
• More Mushrooms cut in 1/8th pieces would have been good too.
• I should have checked the carrot was cooked enough as it could have done with a few more minutes during the softening period.
• I may also cut the carrot into 1/8th pieces next time to cook it quicker.
• The sauce from the packet is certainly tasty enough and goes really well with the mashed potato. It didn't go so well with a cheesy mash the second serve that I had.
• It reheats well and is perfect for freezing for later meals.

Previous Packet Meals

Marinades Part 1
Creamy Herb and Garlic Potato Bake
Chicken Korma
Steak, Veggies and Diane Sauce
Farmhouse Chicken Casserole
Pasta Carbonara
Roast Chicken, Veggies and Gravy
Chicken and Mushroom Risotto
Spanish Chicken and Chorizo Paella

^{Upgoats made by the talented @ryivhnn}