You'll note that a lot of recipes have sauces or gravies with them. This adds flavour and goodness, because the heart of all good casserole and braising sauces is garlic & vegetables.

You can either make large amounts of stock and keep portions in the freezer, or make it as you go along. I do a combination of both.

To make a decent stock or sauce base for a casserole, the first thing to do is not buy expensive packets to do it for you. A single bottle of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce will last six months or more and cost about $7, and while soy sauce might only last three months, it is also about $2 a bottle. Half a teaspoon of Vegemite, Marmite, Bovril or other yeast extract is great to add - but remember to add it early so the taste blends in.

Along with that, a crucial ingredient is vegetable. Since vegetables are usually being cooked at the same time, it's pretty easy to use the water they're cooked in, but make sure you don't salt them until you've taken what water you need out or your meat will be too salty.

I find garlic indispensable - it adds excellent taste and can be added sooner or later to vary the taste - the later it's added the stronger it will be.

If you have sauces left, freeze them, because using the leftover sauce from one meal is a great starter for the next.

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To make your own stock is also really easy. Wait until you have some spare beef and just throw it in a pot of water. Start with about a litre of water as it will boil down. When making stock, add everything at the start as you can always add more flavour later, but you want the base to be as blended as possible.

A tomato, an onion, a stick of celery.... you can add almost anything to stock, but try to stick to vegetables with good colour and flavour. It's great for using tomatoes that are too soft to eat raw.

Bring the pot to the boil and then simmer for a couple of hours. If you're going to end up with less than a litre, add water to make up the difference.

Once the stock cools, skim off any fat on the surface - it is not part of the stock and is bloody unhealthy. If you wait long enough, it will solidify and can be scooped up with a single scoop.

A litre is enough to make 4 pots of stock to freeze as 250 ml is plenty to add to any meal.

Making white sauces for chicken is exactly the same, except you will want to use chicken pieces as a base instead of beef, although don't be scared to mix the two - beef is often improved by chicken stock and vice-versa.

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