Thursdays Are For Cooking….
And on a cold winter night, what could be better than a good, hearty beef stew with dumplings?
This one comes from the BBC’s cookery section, with the source as professional chef James Martin. And yes, those dumplings do look good. Anyone want the recipe for toad-in-the-hole? That’s another tummy-filler.
Ingredients
For the beef stew
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 25g/1oz butter
- 750g/1lb 10oz beef braising steak, chopped into bite-sized pieces (chuck beef is good, too)
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 175g/6oz baby onions, peeled
- 150g/5oz celery, cut into large chunks
- 150g/5oz carrots, cut into large chunks
- 2 leeks, roughly chopped
- 200g/7oz swede, cut into large chunks (a swede is a turnip)
- 150ml/5fl oz red wine
- 500ml/18fl oz beef stock
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 3 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh flatleaf parsley
- Worcestershire sauce, to taste
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, or to taste
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the dumplings
- 125g / 4½oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- 60g / 2½oz suet (bacon fat will do, too)
- water, to make a dough
To serve
- mashed potato
- 1 tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
- For the beef stew, heat the oil and butter in an ovenproof casserole and fry the beef until browned on all sides.
- Sprinkle over the flour and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and all the vegetables and fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in the wine, stock and herbs, then add the Worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar, to taste. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Cover with a lid, transfer to the oven and cook for about two hours, or until the meat is tender.
- For the dumplings, sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add the suet and enough water to form a thick dough.
- With floured hands, roll spoonfuls of the dough into small balls.
- After two hours, remove the lid from the stew and place the balls on top of the stew. Cover, return to the oven and cook for a further 20 minutes, or until the dumplings have puffed up and are tender. (If you prefer your dumplings with a golden top, leave the lid off when returning to the oven.)
- To serve, place a spoonful of mashed potato onto each of four serving plates and top with the stew and dumplings. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
This should serve at least 4 people and leave some over, but if you have hungry kids/grandkids, you might want to increase the recipe. And remember: dessert has to have room, too.
When I FIRST saw the picture, Imma thinking, “Oh boy, beef beast stew with cat headed baby biscuits…num num!” Then I read the term “beef stew and dumpling.” Then I realized, it’s a difference between them kinda dumplings and our kind of “dumplins'” Ours are kinda like oversized fat egg/lasagna pasta pieces…that go with yard bird or tree rats. Mama made this in her dutch oven with the dough balls that we called biscuits. Them baked dough balls (cat headed biscuits) came in handy as a pot sopper.
It do look and sound all kinds of tasty Mi’Lady, and I gots some good stew meat in the freezerator. Let’s eat!!!
Now what about them toad-in-a-hole? Never heard of them.
I cheated today. Had finished up the big pot of vegetable beef beast soup that I had broken down into serving sizes and put in the freezerator a little while back. Went down to see Miss Thang at my local home owned, home cooking cafe and got me a plate slap full of grounded beef beast hamburger steak, some homemade smashed taters, (brown gravy on both) cabbages with bacon pieces floating in ’em, and a slab of Lacy Johnny/Hoe Cake. Enough on that take out plate for 2 full meals.
Tanks Matey!
Toad-in-the-hole is a casserole that includes sausages baked with the casserole. I would describe it as “dump” cooking, where you dump ingredients into the dish and put the whole thing into the oven. It may have been originally a way to save household cash and use up leftovers, and still serve hearty food to the family.
I’ll get the recipe and post it before long.
My view of this kind of cooking is “enjoy it while you can, because you only get one go-round in life.”
That’s interesting that you say “toad-in-the-hole” is a casserole.
I have always heard a “toad-in-the-hole” as being a piece of bread with a hole in the middle being placed in a fry pan with melted butter and then an egg is poured into the hole. It is then flipped and the other side is cooked until the egg is set the way you want it.
Growing up we also called it a “one eyed sandwich.”
Never heard of “toad-in-the-hole” being a casserole and I look forward to seeing the recipe.
Thanks!
Ex:
Turnip?
Well, there is a FIRST for everything….
Right, KoB?
😉 gabn/hbtd/rtr
Will try this recipe with the turnip.
Thank You for sharing!
Yeah I scratched my watch and wound my butt over that for a minute too, ninja. To me, a Swede was either a plaid wearing, lumberjack type in the North Mid-West, or a Sister Golden Haired Surprise, well constructed with blue eyes. Then I realized she was making mention of the Turnip ROOT, not the greens (a leafy root veggie that likes to simmer with a ham hock…and goes well with buttered milk cornbread in a cast iron skillet). Think some of that comes from Ex’s Nebraska roots (see what I did there) Believe she (Ex) has made mention she had folks from that section of the Country. They use their root type veggies out there way yonder differently than we do here in God’s Country. I know all about turnips (greens); after all I DID fall off of a turnip truck. 😀
gabn/rtr/hbtd
ps check your email when you get a chance, including spam, I sent you a link a bit bit ago. Need to know if you got it.
Swedes is just the Brit word for turnips.
They also all beets mangel-wurzels – don’t know why, but it’s likely a colloquialism that goes way back in time, like calling turnips Swedes.
For those who like to cook under pressure…..
Pressure Cooker Beef Stew Recipe
Ingredients
2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 ounces package frozen green beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 cup white wine
2 cups beef broth
1 tablespoon shortening
1 1/2 cup biscuit mix
2/3 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
Fresh Chives, chopped
Directions
Season beef with salt and pepper.
On an electric pressure cooker select the menu to browning.
When heated add the olive oil. Add the beef to the pressure cooker and brown working in batches. Remove the beef to a plate and set aside.
Select the menu to Saute. Add the onions and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the carrots and saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the green beans.
Stir in the tomato paste and Worcestershire. Add the beef back into the pot and add the bay leaves, thyme, wine and beef broth.
Select the High Pressure menu and set the timer for 10 minutes.
Check liquid level and add a bit more broth if needed.
Prepare the dumplings. In a medium bowl add the biscuit mix and cut the shortening in until crumbly. Whisk together the milk and egg then add to the biscuit mixture and stir just until blended.
Remove the bay leaves. Select the menu to Saute and when the beef mixture begins to bubble add the dumpling mixture by using a cookie scoop to drop the dumplings on top.
Place the cover on top but do not lock and cook 10-15 minutes until the dumplings are puffed and cooked.
Top with fresh chopped chives.
courtesy: https://www.recipelion.com/Pressure-Cooker-Recipes/Beef-Stew-and-Dumplings