I had this the other day and it is amazing. Nothing makes me feel proper cosy and happy like a huge bit of stew and dumplings - especially when you're eating it at night with a tin of Stella and the telly on.
Simon Wood has created this recipe here for us - there's a lot of ingredients and it takes a while but it is SO WORTH IT!
Image: Unilever Food Solutions
Simon's Beef Stew & Suet Dumplings
Ingredients for the Beef Stew
- 2 tbsp olive oil - 25g butter - 750g beef braising steak, chopped into bite-sized pieces - 2 tbsp cornflour - 4 garlic cloves, crushed - 2 onions, chopped - 4 sticks celery cut into large chunks - 4 carrots, peeled & cut into large chunks - 1 leek, chopped into 1-inch rounds - 1 small swede peeled & cut into chunks - 150ml red wine - 500ml beef stock - 4 fresh bay leaves - 6 sprigs of fresh thyme chopped - 1 sprig of rosemary chopped - 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce - Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Ingredients for the Beef Suet Dumplings
- 250g plain flour, plus a little extra for dusting - 2 tsp baking powder - 130g beef suet - water, to make a dough - A pinch of salt
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 160C
2. For the beef stew, heat your oil and butter in an ovenproof casserole dish and fry the beef over a high flame until brown in colour on all sides.
3. Dust over the cornflour and cook gently for a further 5 minutes before seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then add the garlic, herbs and all of your vegetables fry for a further 4 minutes.
4. Pour in the wine and reduce by half, before adding in your beef stock then add the Worcestershire sauce to taste.
5. Cover with a lid, add put into the oven and cook for about 3 hours.
6. For the dumplings, sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add the suet and enough water to form a thick dough.
7. With floured hands, roll spoonful’s of the dough into small balls about the size of a ping pong ball
8. After 2½ hours, remove the lid from the stew and place the balls on the top of it leaving a little gap between each one so they can expand cover and cook for a further 30 minutes.
9. Serve with Either Mash, Chips, or Boiled potatoes.
........................... woodrestaurantgroup.com