Beef casserole with suet dumplings
Posted: 12 January '10 by Niall
Beef casserole with suet dumplings
With the bitter Winter wind whistling around outside and the garden covered in a thick carpet of white snow, I thought that it was high time to make one of my favourite Winter dishes – beef casserole with dumplings.
A beef casserole is made using Chuck Steak (also called braising steak), one of the cheapest cuts of beef there is. Taken from the shoulders of the beef, the meat demands a long, slow cooking process – anything less than a couple of hours will just produce tough, stringy, and almost inedible meat – take the time and you’ll be rewarded with a tenderness that rivals a far more expensive cut. Slow-cooking the casserole will also perform an almost magical transformation, changing the watery gravy into a thick, rich, meaty sauce.
The dumplings are a great addition, and really make an already thrifty meal go that bit further. I rarely see dumplings on restaurant menus these days, but they always remind me of Mum’s cooking when I was younger. Be warned though – if losing a few pounds was one of your New Years’ resolutions, suet dumplings are certainly not going to help! Suet is the fat from around the kidneys and loins in beef and sheep and is traditionally used in dumplings and puddings to produce a bready, dense pastry. I like to add some seasoning to the dumpling mixture to provide even more flavour to the casserole – sage, in particular, works very well with red meat.
Here’s our recipe for a real rib-sticking, filling dish. When you’re in need of some comfort and warmth this Winter, I think that you should give it a go.
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6Image 7Image 7Image 9Image 10
Ingredients
Beef Casserole
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 onions – chopped roughly
- 450g /1lb diced beef – braising/chuck etc.
- 2 carrots -chopped roughly
- 11/2 pints stock
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce or Worcester sauce
- Seasoning (the usual salt and pepper)
- 1/2 teaspoon of dried herbs – maybe sage, oregano, rosemary or thyme
- A glass of red wine (optional)
Dumplings
- 75g / 3 oz suet
- 150g / 6 oz self raising flour
- 150 ml water
- Some dried sage to flavour
- Seasoning
Method
- Heat the oil over a low heat in a very large sauce pan.
- Cook of the onions and carrots until the onions are soft and translucent.
- Increase the heat to medium and add the beef, stirring the cubes to seal until the meat has browned.
- If you wish to add a glass of red wine, do so now – it will de-glaze the saucepan, removing all of those encrusted, tasty morsels from the bottom of the pan as well as adding a deeper richness to your gravy.
- Add the stock, seasoning, herbs, and soy sauce, bringing the contents to the boil.
- Transfer the casserole to an ovenproof dish and cover with a lid or tin foil. Slow cook in a preheated oven gas 4/5 / 190-200*c / 350-400*f for 2 hours.
- With around 30 minutes before the casserole has finished cooking you should start to prepare the dumplings. Mix the dumpling ingredients together in a large bowl to create a sticky dough.
- With wet hands break off golf-ball sized pieces of dough, rolling the dough around to form the dumplings, setting each dough-ball aside until all of the dough has been used.
- Take out the beef casserole and place the dumplings on top of the casserole and leave the casserole uncovered to bake for the last 20 minutes (or until the dumplings have become crisp and have turned a golden brown colour), turning the heat up to gas 6/ 220*c/ 450*f.
- Spoon the casserole onto the plates, making sure that everyone gets a dumpling or two.
Enjoy.
Categories: Beef > English Food > Featured Post > Main Course > Recipes
You said about the suet in dumplings not helping if you’re trying to lose a few pounds because of it containing beef fat, etc. You can buy vegetable suet, which I always use, I’m assuming it is lower in fat content and a slightly healthier option :)
Thanks Abbie – I’ll investigate.. :)