Beef Casserole With Herb Dumplings

Total Time: 2 hrs 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1 1/2 kg chuck steaks
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 12 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 3 cups beef stock
• 2 swedes, peeled and chopped
• 3 potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• fresh thyme, to garnish
• 1 2/3 cups self raising flour
• salt and pepper
• 60 g butter, cold & chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Recipe

• 1 cut beef into 2 1/2cm cubes. toss in flour to coat all over, shaking off any excess.
• 2 heat half the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish (20 cup capacity). cook beef, in batches, until browned all over. remove from dish.
• 3 heat remaining oil to same dish. add onion, carrots and garlic. cook, stirring, until onion is soft. add wine. simmer 1 minute or until sauce thickens. whisk in stock until smooth. return beef to pan with swedes, potatoes and thyme. bring to boil.
• 4 cook, covered, in a moderately slow oven (160c) for about 2 hours, or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally during cooking.
• 5 meanwhile, to make dumplings, place flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl. rub in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. stir in parsley. using a butter knife, stir in milk until mixture forms a firm dough. turn dough onto a floured surface. roll dough until 1 1/2cm in thickness. using a 5cm cutter, cut 12 rounds from dough, rerolling dough if necessary.
• 6 remove casserole from oven. carefully discard thyme sprigs. arrange dumplings over top of casserole and brush with a little extra buttermilk.
• 7 cook, uncovered, in a very hot oven (240c) for about 20 minutes, or until dumplings are golden brown and cooked through.
• 8 serve garnished with extra fresh thyme.