Beef and Ale Stew with Yorkshire Puddings and Herby Dumplings

As you’ve probably realised by now, I am a Birmingham Medical School graduate. As a student we all had one fear; being placed at Hereford. This meant that for 18 weeks you were isolated from your friends, girlfriend, and a decent Calzone. It did however mean you got amazing teaching, opportunities which were only comparable to the old school training days (find me another 5th year that can put in central lines and do an open appendicectomy – quids in they went to Hereford as well ). It also allowed some long-lasting relationships to form.
Now, I can’t claim to have made any long-term romances, but I did discover something amazing………..

Llanthony, a ruined Abbey just across the border in Wales.

The Priory was founded in 1100 and, following the dissolution of the monasteries, has laid dormant for centuries. Luckily, in the late 19th century, someone converted the remaining tower and cellar into a bed and breakfast which still remains. The rooms are cosy, the perfect place to bring a lover for a secret weekend away, and the bar serves good honest food. It inspired this recipe in fact, a hearty beef casserole slowly cooked in local Stout with herby dumplings and Yorkshire puddings; what’s not to love. The lads certainly did on our recent walking trip.

Beef Stew

For this recipe you either need an Aga or a slow cooker

Ingredients 

• 4lb Chunk Steak
• 2lbs Onions (ideally small)
• 2 bottles of Stout
• 4 Carrots
• 1 Head of celery
• 1 Parsnip
• 1 Clove of Garlic
• Thyme, sage, salt, pepper 
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Flour and oil

Start by taking your beef and removing all the obvious fat, tendons and membranes. What you should be left with is delicious meat, some marbling but none of the chewy fat. I’m using beef from Coates butchers – they are great!!

Toss the beef in seasoned flour and then brown off in a Le Creuset – I’m using Bertha, a pan I bought in Hereford years ago. Alternatively you can cook it in a frying pan and transfer to the slow cooker.

Take the browned meat out and then saute the carrot, onion and celery (finely dice these first). I’ve used Grans ridged cutter here for the carrots – rumour is it was made from the old air raid shelter.

Now for the fun part – deglaze the pan with the beer. You can use lots of different types of beer, stout is best and I’m using one from the local brewery, Derventio brewery.

With the beef, carrots, onion, celery and beer combined in the Le Creuset, add the thyme, sage and some tomato puree/soup (it helps tenderise the beef). Finally add the garlic. A little goes a long way.

Leave to cook overnight in a low oven till the meat is tender. At this point you can add in some small onions to go with the diced up ones. Pickling onions are perfect. Return to the slow oven again. Around another 12hrs should do it.

In the mean time you can make the dumplings and Yorkshire puddings if you want to plan ahead.

Herby Dumplings

I’m a great fan of dumplings, they are a great addition to an already hearty meal. Proper dumplings are made with suet and if you don’t ask too many questions about its origin it’s great. According to mum the box hasn’t changed since she was a young girl. I’ve added some horseradish and parsley for added flavour.

Ingredients

• 8oz Self raising flour
• 4oz Suet
• 1tbs Parsley
• 2tsp Horseradish
• Water

Start by weighing out the flour and suet then transferring into a large mixing bowl along with the parsley.

Add the horseradish, then add cold water, one spoon at a time.

Bring together to form a relatively wet dough and divide into walnut sized balls. Roll them in to shape.

To cook, add the dumplings onto the top of the stew and replace the lid.

Cook for 20mins, removing the lid in the last 5 mins to allow a bit of browning action.

Yorkshire Puddings

Currently theatres are having a debate around Yorkshires with Christmas dinner. Unless you have beef then the answer should be no.

Ingredients 

• 8oz Plain flour
• 1pint Milk
• 3 Eggs
• 1 Pinch of salt

Again start by weighing out the flour and transferring to a mixing bowl as well as a pinch of salt.

Add in the wet ingredients; the milk and eggs.

Combine and beat together using a novel whisk – this one I think was used by my Victorian relatives…………… It works really well though.

Set aside to rest in the fridge. In the mean time, heat up some fat in a red-hot oven. I’m using real beef dripping. This is not exactly heart healthy but tastes great.

When the fat is smoking hot, fill each well about 3/4 full and return to the oven.

Cook for about 20mins, turning half way through.

When cooked, remove and serve whilst still warm and crispy. Otherwise they can be rewarmed later.

 

Lets eat.

Right!! With your hearty stew cooked, serve with a couple of dumplings, yorkshire puddings and some veg. If you are greedy, a side of crispy potatoes mops up the gravy perfectly.

 

And don’t forget the horseradish.

Beef Brisket Chilli aka Posh Chilli

Along side medicine and the tea room I do some consulting work on drones. Now, this is mostly boring but I do get an office. On the desk alongside the plans, a miniature jet engine and an old slide rule, lies a stethoscope. Now, this is important because recently it came up in an interview when I was asked about the most expensive item in my life……………..

“The stethoscope, for it has cost me my youth”

Doctors spend most of their youth stuck in lectures or commuting to and from placements. This is the reason most medics either have crazy hobbies or love elaborate long winded cooking. The chilli recipe below is a prime example of this, taking 2 days of slow cooking, it makes a great recipe to enjoy with friends. It’s not too spicy either………

 

Ingredients

• 2kg Beef Brisket
• 2 Carrots
• 2 Onions
• 1 Head of Celery
• 3 Peppers
• 2 Tins Kidney Beans
• 1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes
• Spices – Salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, chilli, cinnamon
• Moonshine
• Camp coffee
• Worcestershire sauce

 

Start in the usual fashion, collect the ingredients together in the kitchen and take a pretty photo for social media. If it’s not on facebook it didn’t happen after all.

 

Chop the carrots, onions and celery roughly and place into the bottom of a large roasting dish, something like a Le Creuset is perfect. Then combine the spices in a pestle and mortar. The amount of each spice will depend on personal preference, but a tiny amount of cinnamon goes a long way.

Rub the beef in the spices mix and place into the pan on top of the veg. If you can’t be bothered to make a spice mix of your own you can always buy a packet………I won’t judge, I promise.

We haven’t quite got to the oven part yet I’m afraid. I told you, medics like long-winded cooking. My favourite chilli from my time in America was at this smoke pit near Reno where they used burnt ends to add smokey depth. Now, I’ve resisted the urge to build a smoker and instead added some moonshine, camp coffee and a dash of Worcestershire sauce instead.

Cook in a low oven  (the bottom of an Aga) overnight.

Feeling well rested from a long night dreaming of homemade chilli, retrieve your beef from the oven and set aside. From the stock remove and finely dice the veg, these can be added back to the chilli later.

Roughly chop 3 peppers and gently soften in some oil on a low heat, then when cooked add in the veg from before. To this veg mix, add the kidney beans and a tin of chopped tomatoes.

Now the fun begins. Remove the butchers string from your beef brisket and cut into chunks along the grain of the meat. Then take out all the stress in your life….using forks or your fingers shred the beef.

Return the shredded beef to the Le Creuset along with more herbs and spices. As you can tell I’ve cheated and used a Colemans mix. Now add the stock and combine all together.

Then it’s back to the oven. Again its an overnight job, but then it will finally be done. I promise.

Time to eat

 

Right, after 2 days of slow cooking you should have made the decision of what you are going to have your chilli with……..I’ve gone simple with a jacket potato and a bit of cheese. I contemplated chilli cheese fries, but……………

Anyway, well done if you make this at home, it takes a long time but is definitely worth the wait. I’m tempted to add it to the tea room menu, what do you think?