← Nouns Cooking · British & Irish

Ingredients

• 1 kg braising beef (chuck or shin), cut into 4 cm chunks
• 3 tbsp Plain (all-purpose) flour
• 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 2 Carrot, cut into chunks
• 2 sticks Celery, sliced
• 2 cloves Garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp Tomato purée (paste)
• 900 ml Beef stock
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 sprigs Thyme
• 150 g Self-raising flour
• 75 g shredded beef or vegetable suet
• 1 handful Parsley, finely chopped
• ½ tsp Salt
• 100 ml cold water
• Black pepper

Method

1. Season the flour and toss the beef in it. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large casserole over high heat and brown the beef in batches, about 5 min per batch, adding more oil as needed. Set aside.
2. Lower the heat to medium, add the onion, carrots and celery and cook for 8 min until softened. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste for 1 minute.
3. Return the beef with any leftover flour, then add the stock, Worcestershire sauce, bay and thyme. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer very gently for 2 hours, stirring now and then, until the beef is tender.
4. Towards the end, make the dumplings: mix the self-raising flour, suet, parsley, salt and some pepper, then stir in just enough cold water to make a soft, slightly sticky dough. Roll into 8 balls with floured hands.
5. Check the stew: it should be fairly loose, so add a splash of water if needed. Sit the dumplings on top, cover and simmer for 20–25 min without lifting the lid, until they have doubled in size and are fluffy inside.
6. Remove the herb stalks and serve straight from the pot.

Tips

• Vegetable suet works just as well as beef suet and keeps the dumplings light.
• The stew (without dumplings) freezes well; add fresh dumplings when you reheat it.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Olive Magazine BBC Food BBC Food