Well the colder months are drawing in so its time to put away the barbeque's and ditch the salads for something warm and satisfying for dinner so i thought it would be nice if we could share some of our winter recipes.
Personally i don't think you can beat a good old fashioned beef stew and dumplings so here's how i make mine.
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2lbs of stewing steak cut into cubes and trimmed of any stringy bits of fat
2 large onions roughly chopped
2 large carrots sliced thickly
1/2 a swede cut into 1" cubes
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 dried bay leaves
1 tablespoon of plain flour
1/2 a pint of dark beer or ale (Wychwoods tangle foot ale is good)
1 pint of beef stock
4 small turnips halved
3 medium potatoes quartered
1 tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley
pepper to season
Start by seasoning the cubes of beef with pepper and then after heating the oil brown the cubes in batches of 6 in a large flame proof casserole dish over a medium heat, when all the beef is browned set it aside in a bowl somewhere warm. Next take the onions carrots swede thyme and bay leaves and cook in the casserole over a medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes until softened and the onions start to brown at the edges (add a little more oil if you need it), then return the meat and any juices to the casserole and stir in the tablespoon of flour until it is all absorbed. Next add the beer and stock and give it all a really good stir. Preheat the oven to 140c (gas mark 3) while you bring the stew up to simmering point and then place a lid on the casserole and cook in the oven for 1 hour and 40 minutes.
While that's cooking you can make the dumplings, take 2 ounces of shredded beef suet and 4 ounces of self raising flour, add a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of dried thyme, 2 teaspoons of fresh chopped chives and 2 teaspoons of fresh chopped parsley and mix the lot together in a large bowl with 8 tablespoons of water (you may need more or less water depending on how much the flour absorbs, you want enough that the mixture can be formed into balls without breaking up). Form the dumplings into 6-8 small balls.
Then sit back and have a couple of beers or a glass of wine or two while the stew bubbles away.
When the time is up on the stew remove the casserole from the oven and place it back on the hob, stir in the potatoes and turnips and bring it back to simmering point, then place the dumplings on top of the stew, cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes. When the 20 minutes is up remove the lid, stir in the tablespoon of parsley and serve immediately in bowls with some boiled savoy cabbage and crusty buttered bread to mop the bowls clean with.
Personally i don't think you can beat a good old fashioned beef stew and dumplings so here's how i make mine.
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2lbs of stewing steak cut into cubes and trimmed of any stringy bits of fat
2 large onions roughly chopped
2 large carrots sliced thickly
1/2 a swede cut into 1" cubes
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 dried bay leaves
1 tablespoon of plain flour
1/2 a pint of dark beer or ale (Wychwoods tangle foot ale is good)
1 pint of beef stock
4 small turnips halved
3 medium potatoes quartered
1 tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley
pepper to season
Start by seasoning the cubes of beef with pepper and then after heating the oil brown the cubes in batches of 6 in a large flame proof casserole dish over a medium heat, when all the beef is browned set it aside in a bowl somewhere warm. Next take the onions carrots swede thyme and bay leaves and cook in the casserole over a medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes until softened and the onions start to brown at the edges (add a little more oil if you need it), then return the meat and any juices to the casserole and stir in the tablespoon of flour until it is all absorbed. Next add the beer and stock and give it all a really good stir. Preheat the oven to 140c (gas mark 3) while you bring the stew up to simmering point and then place a lid on the casserole and cook in the oven for 1 hour and 40 minutes.
While that's cooking you can make the dumplings, take 2 ounces of shredded beef suet and 4 ounces of self raising flour, add a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of dried thyme, 2 teaspoons of fresh chopped chives and 2 teaspoons of fresh chopped parsley and mix the lot together in a large bowl with 8 tablespoons of water (you may need more or less water depending on how much the flour absorbs, you want enough that the mixture can be formed into balls without breaking up). Form the dumplings into 6-8 small balls.
Then sit back and have a couple of beers or a glass of wine or two while the stew bubbles away.
When the time is up on the stew remove the casserole from the oven and place it back on the hob, stir in the potatoes and turnips and bring it back to simmering point, then place the dumplings on top of the stew, cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes. When the 20 minutes is up remove the lid, stir in the tablespoon of parsley and serve immediately in bowls with some boiled savoy cabbage and crusty buttered bread to mop the bowls clean with.
We were at our favorite ethnic store yesterday 
/www.bobak.com/
they are really nasty things though, those turnips
three plates of it actually. and then two plates of apple crumble. 
