Cooking beef stew and dumplings for the in-laws this weekend.

[CuppaTeaJanice]

What can I put in to it to make it taste really good?

So far I'm thinking...

Beef (obviously) - not sure which type is best though
Red onion
mushrooms
lentils
carrots
stock
herbs
mini pasta?

What else can I add?

Sounds nice.
I think I'd rather have potatoes than pasta though.

I use stewing steak or braising steak, and just onions and carrots, with herbs and a mixture of stock & red wine or ale. Mushrooms are great, but I tend to leave them out as it's one of the few things DS won't eat. If it cooks on a low temperature for 2-3 hours, it will develop lots of flavour without too many ingredients. Ooh I want one now .

how do you make the dumplings?

that sounds lovely, I'd like to try it

I normally brown the mince with a couple of oxo cubes, add the veg, chuck in a tin of oxtail soup and a tin of tomatoes then simmer until cooked. It's always scrummy! :-)

I made beef stew today actually! Here is my recipe, I made it up but it worls well. Just leave the "muffin top" part out & add yor own dumplings.

here

i use braising steak, tis yummy, the jamie oliver basic stew recipe is fab, i add red wine mmmmmmm

Getting hungry now, reading all these tips!

If I cook it slowly as knottyhair suggests, what temperature do I need to have the oven, and do I need to turn it up at the end so the dumplings cook properly?

Ooh. Never made dumplings, I'd like to try that. Anyone know (sorry for hijack) if you can make gluten free ones?

Bacon.
Lots of red wine, obviously.

cuppatea - have it aboout 160C for about 3 hours then whack up to 180 for the dumplings.

Thanks everyone!

Glaikit - presumably I still have to brown the meat first? I've never slow-cooked a stew before!!

Shin of beef is wonderful slow cooked.

I sometimes add a few pieces of orange rind pared off the orange with a potato peeler.

Gives the stew/casserole a lovely flavour and the French put it in their daubs.

Huge FernTree Twitting thing does a beef stew where he adds macaroni to the cooking stew.

The pasta absorbs the flavour and the result is yummy.

I just use braising steak or shin of beef (generally whatever's on offer!), carrots, onions, mushrooms and onions and either red wine or ale.
Lots of black pepper, a bay leaf or two and some oregano and it's lovely.

Yes, brown the meat first, then take it out. Fry the chunks of carrots, onions, whatever you're using, then I usually add a tbsp of flour, cook it out for about a minute, then add your liquid (stock, wine, ale, mixture!), plus the beef and any juices that have come out. Then bung it in at about 150 in a fan, or I have done it at 130 for 4 hours as well (I had to go out!) and it was yummy.

to make it really delicious use guiness rather than stock.

mmm I really want stew for dinner tonight

My Stew is just beef-coated in flour and browned, onion, carrot, swede and potatoes, cooked in stock for 3 hours.
serve with some fresh crusty bread....Mmm
My favourite meal!

I wouldn't put lentils or pasta in beef stew with dumplings.

This is how I like dumplings:

Follow the recipe on the suet packet, but instead of plain flour, use SR.
And add dried herbs and ground pepper.
Cook on top of the stew in the oven for 20 ins, or howver ling they take (I forget), but do not our lid on the stewpot / casserole dish.
Dunk the so that a little of the gravy is on top.
Leave to cook.

This creates dumplings which are light, and crispy on top.

Oh - make them smalish, they will rise and expand because of the SR flour.

Sorry, terrible typing - do not PUT the lid on the stewpot.

Thankyou everybody - I will let you know how it tastes!!

You dont need to brown the meat at all - doesnt add much difference to taste or texture!

Lentils are great in beef stew, esp the little brown ones. Ditto pearl barley. One thing which is lovely is a curl of orange peel, about three or four cm. It really lifts the flavour. I know it sounds odd. A bay leaf is also a good addition. I would definitely brown the (floured) meat.

Bay leaf - yes!
Curl of orange zest - yes, esp with v rich meet like oxtail.
Lentils - still to be convinced

Honest, lentils work really well. You don't want tons of them but in a rich beef broth they add a nice earthy bite to the sauce. And I think pearl barley in beef stew is lovely. I am a slight potato-hater, though. You can always have mash with it all if you really need potatoes!

Also, MUSHROOMS! Lots of tiny button mushrooms, browned in butter and added to the stew around twenty minutes before you serve it. Yum. I want stew now.

Thanks for your advice everybody - everyone enjoyed the stew and I have enough left for YMCA tomorrow!!

In the end I used...

Braising steak, marinated overnight in red wine, floured before cooking
2 red onions
1 leek
1 swede
2 carrots
tiny button mushrooms
pearl barley (used a bit too much but never mind)
red lentils
orange rind removed with potato peeler, and I added the orange juice to the mix as well
stock
sage in the dumplings

Served with new potatoes and green beans.

I did consider using ale, but there was such a confusing array of different ale type drinks that I thought red wine would be the safer option. Also there was a shifty looking man with a bushy moustache in the beer aisle giving me funny looks so I escaped before he could start talking to me!!