Each month the fabulously talented Brian Dennison, of The Dusty Miller near Low Laithe, will be sharing one of his fantastic seasonal recipes with us. But what does cooking have to do with Markenfield you may ask. The Dusty Miller are our in-house caterers, and together Brian and his wife Elizabeth look after the gastronomic needs of our wedding couples.
And so, for the first of these monthly recipes Brian will talk you through how to make his one-pot beef with thyme dumplings – the perfect winter warmer for those cold snowy days…
“Beef beef glorious beef – what better way to celebrate this wonderful meat. Rare breeds thankfully saved by the efforts of some of our farmers doing their bit to keep them. Dexter, Belted Galloway, Aberdeen Angus, Highland, Red Poll, Longhorn, Shorthorn. High in Omega 3 oils and hung on the bone for 28 days keep these doggies rolling.
“The following recipe is a classic British dish, which is a total meal in itself. You’ve got the meat, the vegetables and the dumplings in one.”
Ingredients
900g/2lbs braising steak cut into dice
Rapeseed oil for frying
Salt and pepper
4 large onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, optional
Sprig of thyme
6 carrots
6 celery sticks
4 large potatoes
350g/12oz button mushrooms
2 litres of good beef stock
225g/8oz SR flour
100g/4oz unsalted butter
1 onion finely chopped
Salt and pepper
Large tsp rubbed dried thyme
150mls/1/4 pint water
Method
1 Fry off the beef in a thick bottomed casserole using a little of the oil until brown in colour. Season well with salt and ground black pepper.
2 Add the chopped onion, garlic, and thyme cook until softened. Cover with the stock and simmer on the stove or in pre-heated oven 180c/350f/gas mark 4, for 1 and 1/2 hours to 2 hours with foil or a lid on the casserole.
3 Remove from oven and cut the vegetables into even sized pieces and add to the stew. At this point check the amount of liquid and add more stock or for a more extravagant stew a glass or two of good red wine. Replace lid and return to the stove top or oven and cook for a further 20-30 minutes.
4 Whilst the stew is cooking, begin to make the dumplings. Place the flour and seasoning in a mixing bowl. Rub the butter into the flour to a sandy texture. Add the onion, thyme and water.
5 Remove stew from stove top or oven and remove the lid. Divide the dumpling
dough into 6 even sized pieces, place on top of the stew and place in hot oven 200c/400f gas mark 6 for 20-30 minutes until evenly browned.
Serve in large soup bowls with dumplings on top.
Choose a quaffing type light red to accompany this dish such as a young Rioja-Crianza or Jumilla
Enjoy!
We have a moat 