Home > Comfort Food Recipes > Blues Buster's > Traditional Beef Stew And Dumplings
Traditional Beef Stew And Dumplings
Ingredients
25g/1oz/1 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
1.2kg/2½lb stewing steak, cubed
30ml/2 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
450g/1lb carrots, sliced
300ml/½ pint/1¼ cups stout or dark beer
3 bay leaves
10ml/2 tsp brown sugar
3 fresh thyme sprigs
5ml/1 tsp cider vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the dumplings
115g/4oz/½ cups grated hard white fat
225g/8oz/2 cups self-raising (self-rising) flour
30ml/2 tbsp chopped mixed fresh herbs
About 150ml/¼ pint/⅔ cup water
Details
Serves: 6
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas 3. Season the flour and sprinkle over the meat, tossing to coat.
2. Heat the oil in large casserole and lightly sauté the onions and carrots. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and reserve them.
3. Brown the meat well in batches in the casserole.
4. Return all the vegetables to the casserole and add any leftover seasoned flour. Add the stout or beer, bay leaves, sugar and thyme. Bring the liquid to the boil, cover and then transfer to the oven. Leave the meat to cook for 1 hour and 40 minutes, before making the dumplings.
5. Mix the grated fat, flour and herbs together. Add enough water to make a soft sticky dough.
6. Form the dough into small balls with floured hands. Add the cider vinegar to the meat and spoon the dumplings on top. Cook for a further 20 minutes, until the dumplings have cooked through, and serve hot.
COOK'S TIPS:- Suet pastry is one of the easiest pastries to make. Remember always to use self-raising flour for a light and fluffy result. Traditionally, shredded beef suet is used but vegetable suet is also available. Alternatively, as in this recipe, white cooking fat can be coarsely grated and used. Thoroughly chill the fat, placing it in the freezer for 10 minutes if necessary, and chill the grater. This way the fat will not melt as it is grated. Then, when mixing and shaping the pastry, handle it as lightly as possible and avoid over-mixing. When cooked uncovered, the dough turns golden brown and slightly crusty on the surface. When covered, it is soft, white and fluffy. If the casserole is not big enough to hold the stew and dumplings, the dumplings can be simmered in a pan of stock or water for about 15 minutes, until risen and fluffy. Drain well on a slotted spoon and place on top of the meat or on the plates.
Energy 648Kcal/2714kj; Protein 50.3g; Carbohydrate 42.9g of which sugars 10.6g; Fat 30.5g of which saturates 11.2g; Cholesterol 152mg; Calcium 184mg; Fibre 4g; Sodium 297mg
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