Sunday lunch: step by step beef stew with fluffy parsley dumplings
So the spanking new camera I got for Christmas has finally got an airing. On Saturday, D next door took me to the fantastic butcher near Lough Sheelin which I’m incapable of finding on my own, hidden as it is down several miles of windy roads. They had some beautiful looking cubed beef, so seeing as it’s freezing outside (-4 this morning) and pefect weather for stew, I thought I’d have a little play and photograph my efforts while I was cooking. Muchas Gracias to Jen from BellyRumbles for the tips on food photography – I’m probably her worst student but hey, I’m trying (very trying).
Righto then: beef stew or casserole or Daube, if you’re feeling all Gallic and fancy and want to add a bit of garlic and some herbs. Firstly you’ll need:
About 1/2 kilo braising steak/stewing steak/some sort of cubed beef (Irish obviously)
3 tbsp plain flour, well seasoned
3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped (or use baby onions – either way I keep them big so fussy ones can pick them out)
Carrots, cut into big chunks
Large glass red wine
Jug of beef stock (about 1 litre)
For the dumplings:
100g self raising flour
50g vegetable suet
Big pinch salt
About 5 tbs cold water
So firstly, gather yourself together. Trim the beef of any excess fat or sinewy stuff, but don’t worry about the soft fat, which will melt, then put the flour in a bowl and season (generously season – this will flavour your gravy remember), and get your oil heating in a nice, heavy-based pan:
Now, taking a few at a time so as not to overload the pan, toss a handful of beef cubes in the flour, shake off the excess, then fry until they start to look nicely brown and caramelised on the outside.
Remove this meat to another bowl, and carry on with another handful and so on until all the meat is browned.
Then, fry the chopped onions (you might have to add a bit more oil) and reserve those with the meat.
Next, turn up the heat and slosh a generous glass of red wine into the pan to bubble up and scrape at all the bits in the bottom of the pan.
Then add your meat and onions back in …
…along with your stock and carrots (or mushrooms/parsnips/chunks of swede, whatever).
I cut the carrots quite big because I can’t be trusted to remember to put them in later – this way they don’t get too mushy.
Now, stick the lid on and bung the dish into the oven (about 160/170 degrees) and forget it for an hour.
To make the dumplings, just bung all the dry ingredients in a bowl – I picked fresh little parsley shoots from the garden (in January!)…
… and add the water carefully (you might not need it all) until you’ve got a nice soft dough. Roll the dough into little balls (it’s a standing joke in our house that I always make seven – no idea why), then just pop them on top of your casserole for the last half hour. Make sure your lid fits properly as they need to steam to make them nice and fluffy.
The flour that coated the meat thickens the gravy. If, when you go to pop the dumplings in, the gravy is quite reduced (as mine was – see above), you might need to add a little more stock, otherwise the dumplings won’t steam and be lovely and fluffy.
Serve with fresh veg and a big, steaming pile of buttery mash. Oh, and try to bite your tongue as you watch your youngest child pick out every single piece of onion. Grrr.
34 Responses to “Sunday lunch: step by step beef stew with fluffy parsley dumplings”
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But that doesn’t mean the butcher is like the one in ‘League of Gentlemen’ with his ‘special meat’ and what not…
Ah, mystery meat. My son’s school obviously uses Briss the Butcher too! x
Loverly dumplings. And nice pictures.
Would you believe I’ve never actually had dumplings ever. I haven’t lived!
Jenn: Never? Good grief! Mind you, #2 thinks they’re poisonous, so I’ll wait and see what you think x
ChezNous: Welcome! And yes. I draw the line at face pulling or ‘bleurgh’ noises at the table, but I do let him pick out onions. Big pushover aren’t I
Rach: Aw thanks, it’s a Jamie Oliver one. Jenny bought it for me for Christmas (she always embarrasses us bestowing all sorts of goodies on us!) x
Quicky: Ah, thanks for reminding me. I’ve taken the snow off. Mind you, it looks almost snowy this morning, the frost is so thick. I had to do another scary slippy drive down over the lough to drop #1 at the bus stop this morning!
Rack and raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawlll !
xxx
Nuff of the craic about pressies Missus! You never mentioned that EVERY time we visit you load us with food, drink and hospitality until we cry Surrender!
The Hostess with the Mostess!
I left a chicken casserole in my slow cooker yesterday and it was gorgeous. I made tarragon dumplings and baked them in the oven on their own – these freeze beautifully and are still lovely when thawed for the next time!
Did you know that the traditional, and bloody scrummy national dish of Slovakia is Dumplings …. they are wonderful … much lighter than traditional ‘our’ dumplings, but bloody lovely …
Live the look of this EM, send me some over, but you might upset Mrs M replacing her BIG dumplings !
Jen: Ah, my gift to you: stuffing you ’til you barf. With love. Hee! xx
Kate: OOh, tarragon dumplings sound yum. Deffo going to plant tarragon in the garden this year.
Wee One: Gosh, I can see I’m going to be doing a lot of DHLing today! x
Van: Welcome! And you’re very kind but I’m still learning with the pics. It’s dead tricky – the cooking’s considerably easier!
Moon: I’m not getting into any kind of dumpling competition with your Mrs!!!! Any recipes for those Slovakian dumplings?
Any chance of Missus Moon sharing a recipe? For the cookery dumplings, natch…
Mind you I’ve never been a major fan of dumplings.
The problem is I don’t have exact recipe for our dumplings. I do them by experience. So I am going to make one, take some pictures and send it to you.
I know what I am cooking tonight.
Moon and Mrs M: Goodo! Happy dumpling scoffing and I’ll look forward to getting the recipe and trying them out. Yay!
Tara: Ooh no. He’ll maybe force down a teeny piece of broccoli, but a sprout? He’d rather stick needles in his eyes
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