Stew and Dumplings, an ultimate Sunday pleasure

What do you need to perk you up on a miserable January Sunday? Well, I can think of a lot of things, but once we’ve discounted all the immoral, illegal and improbable options, at the top of my list is comfort food.  Now you can’t beat a good Sunday roast (why, oh why did Nicole Kidman do that to that poor child??) but sometimes, you need stew and not just any old stew, you need stew and dumplings. So drag out your faithful Le Creuset casserole dish (if you haven’t got one, buy one, it is a kitchen essential) and prepare to make stew. As this is post-Christmas we are unfortunately going through that terrible trauma called dieting, so this is my low-ish fat version, I haven’t compromised on the bacon lardons, the added texture and flavour is just too important, but I did use light suet. The chief thing I omitted was coating the beef in seasoned flour and frying prior to adding to the casserole, which is lovely, but you really won’t miss it too much. Additionally, you could use just liquid beef stock rather than the red wine I used.

Kim’s Healthy (ish) beef stew – Serves 4. This is not an exact science, but I reckon this would be around 600 calories per serving   You will need:

• 500g good stewing beef
• 50g of diced pancetta or smoked bacon lardons,
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• bouquet garni (homemade or shop bought, see method for making your own below)
• 1 chopped leek
• ¾ bottle of red wine
• Beef stock cube or 1 of those little Knorr jelly ones (note, they are very salty so don’t add additional salt until you have tasted it at the end)
• For the dumplings
• 100g flour,
• 50g suet – you can get vegetarian or light if you prefer
• ½ teaspoon mixed herbs

Method: 1) Place the pancetta or bacon lardons in the bottom of your casserole and place over a medium heat on the hob, they will start to brown and will throw off a little oil. 2) Add the onions and the garlic and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are softened and brown.

3) Add the beef and cook, stirring until it is browned all over

4) Add the stock, the bouquet garni, red wine and  leeks 5) Bring to the boil and then place a tight fitting lid on top and place in the oven for 1 ½ hours at Gas Mark 4 or 160 degree Fan assisted 180 degree not.

In the meantime make the dumplings by mixing the flour, suet and herbs together and adding just enough cold water to make a stiff mixture. Divide in to 6 balls. Finally, place on top of the stew and put in the oven for a further 20 minutes, keep the lid on firmly for the whole of the cooking time, don’t open it up and let out the steam.

You are now ready to serve, with just plain, steamed vegetables if you want to keep the calories down or with lovely buttery mash.

A nifty way of making a bouquet garni that doesn’t fill your stew with bits of old twig, is to get a handful of fresh herbs of your choice e.g. thyme, rosemary, sage, bay and using the outer skin from your leek, wrap them up tidily in the leek and seal it with string. That way, you get all the flavour but no bits and it really does look nice!

FinallyAtora suet has been a bit of an institution for years, here’s a link to their website which has loads of recipes. You can make the most brilliant things with suet – fantastic steamed puddings…watch this blog for details in the future

http://www.atora.co.uk/