Beef Casserole With Sweetcorn Dumplings
This beef casserole is a perfect winter warmer that'll easily serve six people – it only takes a quarter of an hour or so to prepare, and once in the oven your time's your own.
Step 1: Seal the meat
Preheat the oven to Gas mark 3, 170°C, 325°F. Heat some oil in a large non-stick frying pan and cook the meat for 4-5 minutes, in batches until brown. It's important not to overfill the pan as the cubes will stew in their own juices and will not caramelise nicely which helps to give the stew the rich colour. Spoon into a large casserole dish.
Step 2: Prepare the casserole
Add shallots, garlic and carrots to the frying pan and cook for 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to the casserole dish. Add the stock, wine, vinegar and herbs to the casserole dish. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, season and stir in the golden syrup. Cover and cook in the oven for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Step 3: Prepare the dumplings
While the casserole's cooking, prepare the dumplings: place the flour and salt in a large bowl and rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. The self-raising flour makes the dumplings nice and fluffy. Season. Add the remaining ingredients, mix together to form a smooth dough and shape into 8 even-sized balls. Don't make them too large as they'll swell.
Step 4: Cook the dumplings
20-25 minutes before the end of cooking time remove the casserole from the oven, add the dumplings, return to the oven and cook uncovered for the remaining cooking time.
