Underrated Secondary Cuts

Pasadena’s head butcher David Exton say gravy beef is a needlessly underrratedsecondary cut which, when cooked slowly, becomes super tender and adds a delicious level of richness to any dish.

Adelaide’s Finest has Gravy Beef Family Packs at a great price ($17.50/kg) just in time for some winter weekend slow cooking.

We’re all watching our shopping budgets and cooking up a batch of gravy beef in a hearty casserole can feed the whole family (and hopefully result in handy leftovers!).

Here’s an easy way to cook a kilo of Adelaide’s Finest gravy beef:

Cut the beef into cubes, coat with flour and brown in a frying pan over high heat. (Browning meat improves colour and helps develop the flavour). Transfer the beef to a casserole dish and add cubed seasonal vegetables. Add 2 cups beef stock (Adelaide’s Finest has Campbell’s Real Stock Liquid at the special price this week of $1.75 per litre ) and stir well then pour over meat and vegetables. The liquid should almost cover meat. Cover dish tightly and cook in a preheated oven or slow cooker according to the recipe. Cook for 1 to 1.5 hours until the meat is fork-tender.
If you’re using a slow cooker, follow the above steps but do not add as much liquid. Generally 1 cup of liquid is usually sufficient for cooking 1kg of meat.

Gravy beef (otherwise known as shin beef) is from the animal’s front and hind legs. It is rich in flavour, has little fat but contains a lot of connective tissue that softens during long, slow cooking.

If you have any questions about how to cook gravy beef, or any meat cut, ask David Exton (pictured) or any of our friendly butchers at Frewville or Pasadena.   Adelaide’s Finest is bucking the trend of other supermarkets which are cutting their butchery departments  – ours are growing and we also hire butchery apprentices.  David started his career with an apprenticeship via Regency TAFE and has been working at Adelaide’s Finest for more than 15 years .