In A Stew

 

I made a beautiful lamb stew today, which was nigh on perfect, the lamb was beautiful and just fell to bits on your tongue, the veg was just right too, not over-cooked or stewed. Only one thing was missing to make it the perfect dish, and that was the Dumplings.

 

This was like having a roast beef dinner without the Yorkshires, I never had any suet handy so I done without, WHAT A MISTAKE….  Never, never, never again you cannot have a stew without the dumplings so here is my recipe for perfect Dumplings

The Perfect dumplings

120g shredded suet

250g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

11/2 tsp baking powder

40g finely grated horseradish - to avoid an emotional experience, grate it wearing a swimming mask or under an extractor hood

1 tsp mustard powder

 

To make the dumplings, first rub the suet into the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the horseradish and mustard powder, and gradually mix in water until you have a firmish dough. Separate the dough into 12 walnut-sized dumplings. To finish off the stew, preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Pour the hot stew into a casserole dish, making sure there is enough liquid in it. If you are uncertain, add a little water.

Stud the dumplings into the stew, leaving a space between them to give them room to rise. Cover the casserole dish with its lid or tin foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Then take off the lid, turn up the heat to 220C/gas 7, and cook for another 10 minutes to brown the dumplings.