Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of plain flour
500g of diced beef
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 large leek, sliced
200g or so of chanteray carrots, quartered
100g or so of small mushrooms, quartered
some fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
750 ml of beef stock
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sause
Salt and Pepper

For the dumplings (be warned this makes quite a few):

100g self raising flour
half a teaspoon of baking powder
50g of Atora Light shredded vegetble suet
some chopped fresh parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste

How to:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (Gas Mark 3). Then place the flour into a bowl with a little salt and pepper and cover each cube of beef in it and shake off any excess.

2. Cook the beef in batches in the oil in a large casserole on the hob until they are sealed/browned and then set aside on a warm plate.

3. Add the leeks and carrots to the casserole (once the meat has been removed) with a little more oil if necessary, then cook for a few minutes. Then add the mushrooms and stir in well. Add the thyme and the bay leaves and then return the beef to the pan.

beef 2

4. Mix well, then put in the stock and Worcestershire sauce and bring up to the boil.

beef 4

5. Once it has been brought up to the boil, then cover and put in the oven for 1.5 hours, occassionally giving it a stir.

6. For the dumplings, seive the plain flour and the baking powder into a bowl and then stir in the suet, parsley (maybe some thyme if you have any left) and generously season with salt and pepper. Stir in a few tablespoons of water until you have a soft sticky dough and then with your hands, make balls from the dough the size of a walnut.

7. Add the dumpling balls to the casserole (after the 1.5 hours is up) and spoon a little of the liquid over them.

8. Cook for a further 20-30 minutes or until the dumplings look nice and fluffy.

9. Serve with some mashed potato.

beef 5