Chef Thomas
Beef and Ale Stew
Braising steak surrendered to dark ale and slow time, with onions and mushrooms, until the gravy turns thick and malty and the kitchen smells like the kind of evening you want to stay in for.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Root Vegetable Stew with Herb Dumplings
Created by Chef Thomas
A pot of root vegetables simmered in cider and thyme with suet dumplings steamed on top, the kind of dinner that fogs the kitchen window and makes you glad you stayed in.
Soups & Stews
British
Weeknight
Budget Friendly
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
1 hr 15 min cook•1 hr 40 min total
Yield4 servings
The kitchen window has steamed up again. It does this every time something slow is on the hob, and tonight it's a pot of roots that have been quietly giving themselves over to thyme and cider for the best part of an hour. Outside it's the sort of dark, damp November evening that makes you want to lock the door and stay put. Inside, it smells like exactly the right decision.
This is not a recipe that tries to be more than it is. Carrots, parsnips, swede, turnips: the unglamorous end of the vegetable stall, the ones nobody photographs. But simmered slowly in good stock with a splash of dry cider and a few sprigs of thyme, they become something worth sitting down for. Sweet and earthy and savoury all at once, with a broth that thickens as it cooks into something that coats the back of a spoon.
The dumplings are the thing, though. Suet dumplings, herbed and dropped onto the surface of the stew to steam with the lid on. They puff up into something impossibly light on top while their undersides turn damp and savoury from the broth. I've tried making this without them and it felt incomplete, like a sentence that stops before the full stop.
I wrote it down in the notebook last winter: roots, dumplings, Tuesday, rain. The kitchen smelled of thyme and the windows were blind with condensation. There are few better feelings than putting a warm plate in front of someone on an evening like that.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
carrots
Quantity
2 medium
peeled and cut into chunky rounds
parsnips
Quantity
2 medium
peeled and cut into thick half-moons
swede
Quantity
half a medium one
peeled and cut into rough 3cm pieces
turnips
Quantity
2 small
peeled and quartered
onions
Quantity
2 medium
halved and sliced
garlic
Quantity
3 cloves
sliced
unsalted butter
Quantity
30g
olive oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
plain flour
Quantity
1 tablespoon
dry cider or white wine
Quantity
200ml
vegetable stock
Quantity
750ml
thyme
Quantity
a few sprigs
bay leaves
Quantity
2
Dijon mustard
Quantity
1 teaspoon
fine sea salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
self-raising flour
Quantity
175g
suet
Quantity
85g
beef or vegetable
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
small handful
finely chopped
fresh thyme leaves
Quantity
1 tablespoon
fine sea salt (for dumplings)
Quantity
pinch
cold water (for dumplings)
Quantity
90-100ml
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| carrotspeeled and cut into chunky rounds | 2 medium |
| parsnipspeeled and cut into thick half-moons | 2 medium |
| swedepeeled and cut into rough 3cm pieces | half a medium one |
| turnipspeeled and quartered | 2 small |
| onionshalved and sliced | 2 medium |
| garlicsliced | 3 cloves |
| unsalted butter | 30g |
| olive oil | 1 tablespoon |
| plain flour | 1 tablespoon |
| dry cider or white wine | 200ml |
| vegetable stock | 750ml |
| thyme | a few sprigs |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| Dijon mustard | 1 teaspoon |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
| self-raising flour | 175g |
| suetbeef or vegetable | 85g |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | small handful |
| fresh thyme leaves | 1 tablespoon |
| fine sea salt (for dumplings) | pinch |
| cold water (for dumplings) | 90-100ml |
Equipment Needed
- •Large heavy-bottomed casserole pot with a tight-fitting lid
- •Sharp vegetable peeler
- •Ladle
Instructions
- 1
Build the base
Melt the butter with the oil in a heavy casserole pot over a medium heat. Add the onions and a good pinch of salt. Let them cook gently, stirring now and then, until they've softened and gone glassy, ten minutes or so. You're not trying to colour them, just coax out the sweetness. Add the garlic for the last minute or two, until you can smell it warming in the pan.
The butter and oil together is deliberate. The oil stops the butter burning; the butter gives flavour the oil can't. They work as a pair. - 2
Add the roots
Tumble in all the root vegetables. Stir them through the softened onions and let them sit in the heat for a few minutes, just long enough to take on a little colour at the edges. Don't fuss over it. Scatter in the flour and stir until it disappears into the vegetables, coating everything in a thin, starchy film. This is what will give the broth body later.
- 3
Deglaze and simmer
Pour in the cider or wine. It will hiss and bubble and smell suddenly, sharply good. Let it reduce by about half, scraping up anything caught on the bottom of the pan. Add the stock, the thyme sprigs, the bay leaves, and the mustard. Stir it through. Bring everything to a gentle simmer, put the lid on slightly ajar, and let it cook for thirty to thirty-five minutes until the vegetables are tender but not falling apart. A knife should slip through a piece of swede without resistance.
Dry cider works beautifully here. Not sweet cider, the proper scrumpy sort. It gives the broth an acidity that stops the sweetness of the roots from cloying. White wine is a fine substitute. - 4
Make the dumplings
While the stew simmers, make the dumplings. Tip the self-raising flour into a bowl with the suet, the chopped parsley, the thyme leaves, and a pinch of salt. Mix it with your fingers until combined. Add the cold water gradually, stirring with a fork, then bring it together gently with your hands. You want a soft, slightly sticky dough, not a dry one. Don't knead it. Handle it as little as possible. Tear or roll it into eight rough balls. They don't need to be neat. Imperfect dumplings taste the same as perfect ones.
Cold hands and a light touch. That's the whole secret to dumplings. Overwork the dough and they'll turn heavy and sad. A few lumps are fine. They'll sort themselves out in the steam. - 5
Steam the dumplings
Taste the broth and season it properly. More salt than you think. When you're happy with it, fish out the thyme stalks if you can find them and nestle the dumplings on top of the stew, leaving a little space between each one. They'll swell as they cook. Put the lid on firmly and let them steam for twenty to twenty-five minutes without lifting the lid. This matters. Every time you look, you lose steam, and steam is what makes them light. When you do finally lift the lid, they should have puffed up and gone pale and pillowy on top, with damp, savoury undersides where they've soaked up the broth.
- 6
Serve straight from the pot
Bring the whole pot to the table. Ladle the stew into warm bowls, two dumplings per person, making sure everyone gets a generous share of the broth and all the different roots. A scattering of chopped parsley over the top if you have some left, but it doesn't need it. Serve with nothing except perhaps a green salad afterwards, if you feel the meal needs balancing. It probably doesn't.
Chef Tips
- •Cut the roots into generous, uneven chunks rather than precise dice. They're going to cook for a while and you want them to hold their shape and offer something to bite into. A stew of mush is a stew that has given up.
- •Vegetable suet makes the dumplings suitable for a fully meatless meal without losing anything. Beef suet has a richer, more savoury quality if you're not concerned about keeping it vegetarian. Both work. Your kitchen, your rules.
- •The stew improves overnight. The dumplings do not. If you're making this ahead, cook the stew the day before and make fresh dumplings when you reheat. Ten minutes of effort for a meal that tastes like you spent the afternoon on it.
- •A teaspoon of Dijon mustard stirred into the broth is the quiet detail that ties everything together. You won't taste mustard. You'll taste a stew that somehow has more depth than its ingredients suggest.
Advance Preparation
- •The stew base can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. The flavour deepens overnight. Reheat gently on the hob and make fresh dumplings before serving.
- •The dumpling dough can be mixed and shaped up to two hours ahead. Keep the balls on a floured plate in the fridge until you're ready to cook them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 650g)
Calories
620 calories
Total Fat
30 g
Saturated Fat
15 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
14 g
Cholesterol
30 mg
Sodium
1200 mg
Total Carbohydrates
77 g
Dietary Fiber
11 g
Sugars
18 g
Protein
9 g
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