World Cup Meringue Cake

Posted on 25/11/2013 by Anna

So called because we had this for dinner whilst watching the final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. My husband is South African so clearly this was a night for some rejoicing and this cake has ever after been associated with celebration and happy days. Crispy, chewy meringue against a smooth rich chocolatey filling – fabulous. Oh and yes, I do realise 2007 was a few years ago but the name has stuck!

Anyway, it is supremely easy to make and the meringue layers will be fine in an airtight tin for a couple of days. In fact, if you have room in your freezer to keep the layers flat then that is another option. Should you have a bottle of Baileys, Kahlua or similar in the cupboard then this is the perfect time to use a couple of tablespoons in the ganache filling. Cointreau or Grand Marnier now I think of it would take you the chocolate orange route…. If you are serving this to the underage leave out the alcohol and perhaps go 50/50 milk and plain chocolate, this is what my children prefer. I like this with very cold pouring cream – my husband however likes it with whipped cream providing another layer between the ganache and the meringue, but you can take your pick.

Whatever your sporting affiliations, please make and enjoy.

World Cup Meringue Cake

4 egg whites

200g caster sugar

1 teaspoon wine vinegar (red or white)

1 teaspoon cornflour

300ml double cream

150g chocolate, plain or 50/50 plain and milk chocolate

Icing sugar, to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 140. Cut out 3 x 20cm circles in baking parchment and put onto baking sheets. Whisk the egg whites until stiff then gradually incorporate the sugar. When all that is mixed in add the vinegar and cornflour and mix until all is smooth and satiny. Divide the mixture between the 3 circles and smooth. Cook for an hour then turn off the oven and leave them in there for a further 30 minutes. Take out and leave to cool. Meanwhile put the cream and chocolate in a small pan and heat gently until melted and smooth, add the liqueur now if using. Decant this ganache into a bowl and leave to cool until thick, I find the fridge best for this. Keeping the best looking meringue for the top, divide the ganache between the other two, pile them up, dust with icing sugar and serve to applause. Serves 6 generously.

Feta and Spinach Parcel and a couple more make ahead tips…

Posted on 22/11/2013 by Anna

As you know in the run up to last Christmas I had pretty much packed my freezer in order than I might make it out of the kitchen from time to time! On Christmas Eve a few things came out to defrost which fortunately made room for me to bung a couple of things in. So we made lots of little sausage rolls with bought puff pastry and good sausages from the farm shop – fun to do with my children and a good way to keep them from staring (almost at fever pitch now) at the goodies under the Christmas tree. Following that we made a buche de noel – again, a great way to keep little people occupied and straight forward enough too. It was a little cracked but with a good fall of icing sugar snow and a robin sitting on top was the perfect way to finish lunch later that day, brought to the table with great pride by my children.

For that lunch we had a ham, so easy and such good value. It simmered away gently whilst we got on with the sausage rolls and then I covered it in a mix of brown sugar and dijon mustard and popped it in the oven for half an hour. I served it with red cabbage (from the freezer, of course) and my Firecracker Red Cabbage recipe earlier this month would be just the ticket, perhaps minus the chilli. Plain boiled potatoes covered in a blanket of chopped parsley (a hint towards ham with parsley sauce) and a quickly rustled up Cumberland sauce, with orange juice, port, redcurrant jelly and stock all being around anyway.

That evening, Christmas Eve proper, we had a spicy, fragrant chickpea and mushroom curry which, you’ve guessed it had been lying in wait in the freezer for a week. With rice and chutneys from the larder, bought naan and a quick raita this was simplicity itself and not only a meat free moment before the following day but also meant we could all eat the same thing including my veggie brother. Followed by little mince pies (frozen!).

The Feta and Spinach filo parcel or tart you see in the photographs was what I made for same vegetarian brother for Christmas Day. It may seem a little cross cultural with the trimmings that go alongside the turkey but I knew he would love it and I wanted him to have a real treat that day, the same as the rest of us. Everyone wanted to try a little so just as well I had made a good size one, in fact one that my husband and I will happily have for lunch with a good crisp green salad alongside.

It is by no means an authentic Greek spanokopita but with the feta and greens is a nod in that direction. I have added spring onions and either chopped red chilli – which gave it the perfect red, white and green of Christmas – or you could easily use a pinch of cayenne. Now, this is very nearly the last time I will say it but….. I made this a few days before and froze it – thawed it that morning and reheated it in the same pan I made it in. Crunchy crisp and delicious.

Filo wrapped Feta and Spinach

3 sheets of filo

200g fresh spinach, wilted,

100g feta, chopped

3 spring onions, finely chopped

1/2 red chilli or a good pinch of cayenne

Olive oil for brushing, about a tablespoon

Brush the inside of a 20cm (roughly) frying pan with oil and lay the sheets of filo in it, brushing each sheet with oil as you go, overlapping at angles to each other so the whole pan is covered with the surplus hanging over the edges. Make sure all the water is squeezed out of the spinach and then chop it a little and mix with the sping onions, feta and chilli or cayenne. Give a good grinding of pepper and a small pinch of salt – you do need a little salt for seasoning but go easy because the feta is of course salty. Put the mix into the filo lined pan, pat it flat and then fold the overhanging sheets of filo over, brushing the top with oil. Tuck in any extra bits until you have a neat circular package. Put it on a gentle heat and cook for about 5-6 minutes until when you peek gently underneath the bottom is golden and crispy. Turn it over by sliding onto a plate, or I find easier a flat pan lid (then you have a handle underneath) and gently slide back into the frying pan to cook the other side. When this bottom is crispy and bronzed it is done.

As above, this served one on Christmas day (with a bit of sharing) but could serve two for lunch. Or you could slice it once cooked, wrap it in foil and take it out on a picnic. Finally, it makes a great party canapé, just cut your filo a little smaller and use a metal cupcake tin. Proceed as above but bake in the oven rather than on the hob. With this I would be inclined to serve a mint spiked yogurt sauce for dipping.

Do ahead Christmas tips and Spiced Cherries in Bacon

Posted on 15/11/2013 by Anna

I read something recently about preparation for Christmas being over-rated. Hhhm, I thought, not written by someone who has to squeeze the buying, wrapping, cooking and all other prep into an already busy life and actually wants to spend some of Christmas with their family!

So call me a swot but I do believe in a bit of list making and using the freezer where I can. Last year we had 10 here over Christmas (3 meals a day for 3 days plus a few extras) and I was so pleased (and relieved) with what I rustled up and stashed away beforehand. Here are some of my tips of what worked and suggestions that might help you this year.

For Christmas Day I pre-prepared the roast potatoes. King Edwards peeled, parboiled, given a good shaking to rough up the edges and then frozen. I cooked them from frozen in hot vegetable oil (no goose fat, vegetarian present) and they were amazing, the best roasties and what a pleasure not to be peeling a hundredweight of potatoes and steaming myself over them before lunch. We will be a far smaller gathering this year but I will still do these, not just to minimise work whilst my children are beside themselves with yuletide excitement but also because they were so crunchy and fluffy. Highly recommended.

For the big day I also made stuffing, both a sausage and vegetarian one which were both then reheated in the foil containers they were frozen in and decanted into nice dishes for lunch. I made two gravy bases which I froze the week before and they helped enormously to make a full flavoured gravy at the last minute without any hassle. Cranberry sauce, pigs in blankets made and frozen, bread sauce too, I just added a bit of extra milk on reheating.

Now I know none of these things take long to make on their own but when you’ve got to do all of them at once (and find a saucepan for each one) it can be a headache. Also, wouldn’t you rather see your family and friends unwrapping presents (which you’ve then got to build/play with etc) and perhaps enjoy a glass of champagne yourself….

I also made some little canapés which were great to have tucked away to be whipped out whenever a festive drink was in order. Cheese gougeres, sausage rolls, courgette polpette, crunchy seeds (Things with Drinks, October 2012) cheese sables (December 2013) and these spiced cherries in bacon.

This might sound like the craziest recipe in the world and you may well raise your eyebrows at me but seriously give them a go. They are sweet, savoury, tangy, salty juicy little bundles of deliciousness and so good with a cold glass of something. On that note, if I could steer you towards my Sloe Vespa, the Christmas cocktail (December 2012), then all the better!

Spiced Cherries in Bacon

Once you’ve got over laughing at this recipe, get cracking on it now, the cherries only get better the longer they languish in the Worcester sauce. Remember too that once the first lot of cherries are gone you can top up the tub with some more as the WS will be good for another batch (or pour the sauce into the next tub of cherries, if you see what I mean).

1 tub of glace cherries

Worcester Sauce

Streaky bacon, half a slice per cherry

Take the lid off the cherries and pour in Worcester sauce until the cherries are submerged. Put the life back on and keep in the fridge until you are going to use them – at least two weeks but a couple of months ahead is fine. Preheat the oven to 180 and line a baking sheet with parchment. Wrap a cherry in a half slice of bacon and secure with a cocktail stick. Repeat with the rest of the cherries and bacon. Cook for 15 minutes until the bacon is cooked and starting to caramelise with the sweet sticky juices. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then serve. Makes around 24.

More tips next week!

I first posted these tips in November 2013 but I thought now a useful time to offer them again plus you need to get those cherries soaking!

Firecracker Red Cabbage and Sausages

Posted on 07/11/2013 by Anna

It took me a while to come around to Guy Fawkes night as a child. I found the whole Guy business both slightly mad and macabre. Firstly because they always looked like a giant pair of tights stuffed with old clothes tied with baler twine and sporting a huge hat over the grinning face. Rarely worth a penny I thought. Macabre because I didn’t really like the idea of burning anyone although I did realise it was purely symbolic. Childish anxieties I guess.

What would cheer me up however was the promise of something good to eat whilst standing around an enormous bonfire. I can see it now on our village green, almost two storeys high, a huge beast of a fire shooting sparks into the night sky and belting out heat. There was usually the promise of a toffee apple, good for nibbling the toffee off only to be left with a rather sticky green apple on a wobbly stick. Or cinder toffee, crunchy, splintering and sticking your teeth together. Always on offer were hot dogs, proper sausages rather than frankfurters with a good squirt of ketchup which inevitably found its way onto your woolly gloves.

Sadly our fireworks were rained off this week but if they hadn’t been this is what we would have been eating as a relish with our hot dogs. Sweet, tangy and with a good kick of chilli it is delicious in a bun with a good banger on top. It would be just as at home served on the side with some sausages or perhaps with roast pork or maybe a ham. Ideas, ideas….

Firecracker Red Cabbage

As I was making this I cast an eye over a jar of chilli jelly which you could very easily use in place of the redcurrant jelly and chilli flakes – the reason I didn’t was because they vary so much in their heat so difficult to suggest how much to use. You could give it a try and taste as you go. This amount of chilli means my children are happy with it, add more if you want.

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 red cabbage, quite finely chopped

Good pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes

2 tablespoons redcurrant jelly

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and stir. Add the red cabbage and give it a good stir and then add the remaining ingredients. Cook gently for half an hour with a lid on and half an hour with the lid off to allow the liquid to bubble down to a syrup which will coat the cabbage. Taste, it might need a little more salt or a spritz of balsamic. Serve with sausages in buns or on plates, enough for 4.

Flapjacks

Posted on 30/10/2013 by Anna

I don’t know if you can beat a flapjack. Not only because it is quick, so easy and made from things you probably have in the cupboard. No, more in terms of what it delivers. Sweet, chewy, toffeeish (is that a word?) and supremely satisfying. A perfect mouthful.

My children have just been for an adventure in the woods, along with two friends, and part of the supplies taken on this expedition were flapjacks. Just the thing on a chilly and breezy half term Wednesday. They came back pink cheeked and jolly from their jaunt and all with room for one more piece – in the nick of time I might add as the friends’ Mother and I were slowly working our way through the rest of the tin.

I have always loved Flapjacks and homemade are infinitely better than bought. You can customise as you please, chewy or crisp (cook a bit longer) – add raisins, seeds, nuts or chocolate chips. In short, these are the ideal treat to whip up this half term. Yes there are many more exotic cakes and confections that you can make if you have the time (and energy). For me though these hit the mark exactly, quick, easy and somehow just right.

Flapjacks

I think of flapjacks as old fashioned and nostalgic and for some reason always make them with Imperial measurements. I find this the easiest way to remember them and I know these amounts make flapjacks just how we like them. You can use 4oz of sugar if you want them a little gooier but I find 3 is just right.

5oz butter

3oz demerara (or any brown) sugar

2 tablespoons golden syrup

Pinch of salt

8oz oats

Preheat the oven to 170 and line a tin around 8 x 26cm with baking parchment. Put the butter, sugar, syrup and salt into a large pan and melt gently. Add the oats, give it all a good stir and spread in the prepared tin. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave for 5 minutes before marking into bars. Leave for a further 10-15 minutes before trying to separate – any sooner and they might fall apart.

Marble Cake

Posted on 21/10/2013 by Anna

I have felt a little caked-out recently following my Macmillan coffee morning but it is a dreary rainy October day in Dorset so there is only one thing to do – bake. I make no secret of my fondness for a well stocked cake tin (Lemon Cake and the 1970’s, May 2013), perhaps because when I was young a slice of cake was a proper treat. It still is actually and ideally a weekly one and not something just for high days and holidays.

I may be sporting my rose coloured specs, the ones I usually view the 70’s with (blazing hot summers and superb music, forgetting strikes and power cuts etc) but I’m sure cakes were always homemade and whipped out triumphantly for weekends tea. The only bought ones I can remember were something called a Country Manor Cake, a sort of light fruit cake with a demerara sugar topping which I was strangely fond of and the fabulous fluorescent Battenburg which enthralled me with its colours and the marzipan which I would peel off.

A marble cake was often the star at these teas and it seemed somehow exciting and exotic, what with its different flavours and swirls. Many (many) years on I decided to make a marble cake and was delighted that my children were just as excited by the pattern and having both chocolate and vanilla flavours in one cake. So much so that my son requested a marble cake, and it absolutely had to be a marble cake, last week when he had a friend from school over for tea.

You will see from the photographs that my marbling and swirling isn’t brilliant, artistry in cakes not one of my strengths and I doubt I will be troubling Paul and Mary any time soon. The pictures are also the best I can do on a grey overcast day but I hope they convey the lovely texture of this easy and delicious cake. Please, please do make it.

Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cake

I use both milk and plain chocolate for the icing, all milk I find too sweet and all plain my children find too dark. The mix of the two seems just right but as ever, adjust to your own tastes.

200g caster sugar

200g butter, soft

3 eggs

200g self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

25g cocoa

Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons milk

For the icing

100g chocolate, milk or plain as you prefer, see introduction

20g butter

1-2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 170 and grease a 20cm tin which is at least 6-8cm deep. Whizz the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time each with a spoonful of flour. Once these are incorporated sift in the reminder of the flour along with the baking powder and salt then add the milk and vanilla. Put half the mixture into another bowl and sift the cocoa into one lot, mix well. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the prepared tin alternating vanilla and chocolate. Run a skewer through the blobs marbling as you go and then bake for 55 minutes. Check after 45 in case it is browning too much on top in which case lay a piece of foil over it. When a skewer comes out clean leave to cool and then remove from the tin.

For the icing, melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water then add the milk until you get the consistency you are after for the icing, I find one tablespoon is usually enough. Pour over the cake and dig in.

Kale, Lentil and Bacon soup

Posted on 10/10/2013 by Anna

Don’t call me a swot but I just love vegetables. More so than fruit I think and this time of year brings an amazing vibrant selection. Beautiful and delicious, pretty as a picture and so good to eat. My vegetable garden is coming to the end of its growing season and just has a few courgettes and late runner beans on offer, but no matter, my wonderful farm shop down the road (Washingpool Farm Shop, near Bridport) is full of earthy seasonal treasures.

So far this week we’ve had Celeriac and Spinach soup, Beetroot and Parsley soup with a little horseradish cream and Cauliflower Cheese. Ahh, Cauliflower Cheese, shockingly overcooked and watery at school but a thing of pure delight when done well. Whether you go for a proper béchamel with cheese or the quick creme fraiche with grated cheese route, I love this supper.

Looking back at what we were eating last time it was chilly I found the Late Autumn Salad (November 2012) with earthy roast beetroot and salty crumbly feta. Another favourite is the Kale, Mushrooms and Chilli on Sourdough Toast, pictured above (January 2013) which is not only delicious but feels so full of goodness. To go with a cup of tea you can’t beat Patrick’s Plum Cake (October 2012) squidgy and delicious with almonds and plums.

What I am looking forward to now is Plum Crumble, hot juicy tangy plums with a sweet crunchy blanket of crumble on top, the purple juices seeping up making it sticky and chewy. Or celeriac remoulade, at once both crunchy and creamy with some lovely air dried Dorset ham – what could be better on a crisp sunny day with perhaps a glass of cold cider on the side….. Or maybe this Kale, Lentil and Bacon soup.

A super cosy, warming yet fresh and healthy soup if ever there was one. Earthy lentils, verdant good for you kale and a little salty hit of bacon. So good. As ever, I feel a splash of dry sherry enhances a veg based soup but it is up to you. A really cracking result depends on a good stock, I don’t always make my own (I know, I know) but ensure I buy a top quality one. I used chicken stock here but you could use a vegetarian one, omit the bacon and make this vegan should you so wish.

Kale, Lentil and Bacon Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 rashers streaky bacon, chopped

100g puy lentils

1 litre stock, chicken or vegetable (see introduction)

A splash of dry sherry

A few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked

100g kale, chopped

Cook the bacon and onion in the oil until soft. Add the lentils, give it a good stir then add the sherry. Let it sizzle briefly, pour in the stock and cook until the lentils are just about done. Stir in the kale and thyme and cook for a minute or two until the kale is wilted. Serve with some good crusty bread. Enough for 3-4 depending if there is anything else for lunch.

My life in hamburgers

Posted on 05/10/2013 by Anna

There are some things that follow you through your life and so it is with what we eat. We might cast some aside if they become dated or our tastes change, for instance I don’t miss the Vesta Chop Suey, Smash or Instant Whip. A Crispy Pancake has never graced my table and I must admit to not being a fan of the Arctic Roll…. Others though follow and accompany you. One such friend that I am always delighted to come across is the burger, slider or hamburger as they used to be called.

I remember the excitement of my first Wimpy, enthralled by the red restaurant on the side of the road and this funny little patty in the soft, slightly sweet bun. Then, a real childhood treat, the Hard Rock, that noisy rocking joint on Piccadilly in London with the waitresses dressed as proper American diner gals and guitars on the walls. The burgers were big and juicy and the milk shakes so thick your straw really did stand up in them.

As I got older we would frequent a place on the Fulham Road called Parsons which had a monster called an All the Way, and I’ve enjoyed many Tootsies burgers with that real flame grilled flavour. The veal burger at The Boxwood, the superb GBK and the likes of Dirty Burger bring us nearly up to date.

During these years there were of course the hamburgers at home. Regular patties, usually beef were (and still are) a favourite lunch. The table would groan under plates of tomato, lettuce, pickles and cheese so you could build and create your own bespoke masterpiece. There was ketchup, American mustard, mayonnaise and do you remember Cubits pickles, green, red or yellow.

The burger remains on my party list to this day. Now though it might be lamb or turkey mince, salmon and tuna can make a fine fish burger too. Chopped herbs and spices are added, various chutneys, salsas and mayos offered on the side. It might be a normal two handed number or one of these new fangled little sliders. It doesn’t matter, the principle remains unaltered and why shouldn’t it, a good burger is pretty much perfection.

Turkey Burger with Harissa and Garlic Mayo

Turkey, rather like a puppy, is not just for Christmas (does that sound a bit wrong? You know what I mean). Yet for so many that is the only time it makes the table. Turkey is good for us, not too expensive and makes a very good burger – give this one a try.

500g turkey mince

2 teaspoons harissa paste (add more if you like, this is just right for my children)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Black pepper, a good few grinds

Small bunch parsley finely chopped

A handful of breadcrumbs

Mix everything together really well, your hands are best for this. Fry a very small amount and taste. You may need more seasoning or harissa if you want things a little more fiery. When you are happy with the mixture, divide into 4, roll into balls and then flatten into the traditional patty shape. Heat your griddle or frying pan and cook – the ones you see pictured took about 8 minutes on each side, you can make a little cut into one and check if it is done. Serve with the garlic mayo and any other accompaniments you want.

Garlic Mayo

100ml mayonnaise

1 clove garlic, crushed

Juice of half a lemon

Mix it all together in a bowl and serve with the turkey burgers.

Cakes and Chutney

Posted on 27/09/2013 by Anna

I know, I know, it sounds as if I have become the embodiment of the WI and will shortly start belting out Jerusalem whilst stoveside. The reason behind my tweed clad, pearl strung transformation is twofold.

This morning I hosted a Macmillan Coffee Morning. You don’t need me to say what an amazing job Macmillan do and I hope all the other events today were fantastic and raised a huge amount. A big thank you to all my fabulous friends who came and ate cake and bought chutney and biscuits and more cake.

At the same time as my baking frenzy was taking place I found the garden full of green tomatoes which are now unlikely to turn scarlet red. So a plan was hatched, make some chutney to sell in addition to all the sweet goodies on Friday. I must tell you that whilst surrounded by all this chocolate, sugar, golden syrup, buttercream etc the one thing I have been craving is a cheese and chutney sandwich, the perfect salty savoury antidote.

My green tomato chutney will have to wait 6-8 weeks until suitably matured (although initial tasting is very promising) but that should make it tip top for Christmas and meanwhile I will have to rifle around the larder for something else to put in my sandwich…. oh for a red tomato.

Green Tomato Chutney

As with all chutneys you can play around a little with this recipe. In the past I have used 3 eating apples but also once used 1 enormous bramley. This time I only had green tomatoes but in the past I have used all green or a mixture of red and green. Go with what you have.

1.5 kg tomatoes (see above) cored and chopped

3 eating apples, cored, peeled and chopped (you don’t have to peel but I prefer to)

3 onions, peeled and chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1 thumb ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

4 cardamom pods, split

100g raisins

400ml cider vinegar

250g sugar

Good pinch of salt

Put everything into the biggest pan you have, bring to the boil then simmer gently for 4 hours stirring occasionally. It will reduce by more than half and become dark, thick and pulpy with no excess liquid. You may need a little longer, it rather depends on the size of your pan and the surface area simmering/evaporating etc. When it is done you should be able to draw a wooden spoon across the bottom and see the base of the pan clearly before it slides back. Decant into steralised pots, I find it easiest to put these through the dishwasher, label and put away for 6-8 weeks before tucking in . Makes 5 jars.

The vanilla and chocolate biscuit recipe can be found in a previous post of mine, Biscuits du Jour (November 2012)

Cosy Beef Stew and Parsley Dumplings

Posted on 18/09/2013 by Anna

This summer has been fantastic, I have loved the sun, the heat and eating a lot of salads. Whilst basking in all this however, there was a tiny bit of my happy in the knowledge that come September it might cool down a little and I would be able to light the fire and make some cosy autumn food.

Now, I realise I seem to have dived right into ‘freezing outside, possibly even snowing winter food’ but you know what I couldn’t resist. It has been months since my last stew (I feel that should have been confession) and it was time for a fix. Added to that my little boy asked earlier in the week when we would be having stew and dumplings. Sooner than you think my little treasure I thought to myself.

Here it is and it is a beauty. Very simple, 30 minutes work tops and then a few hours in the oven. What you are rewarded with however, far exceeds that brief effort you put in. Tender falling apart beef, soft carrots, crispy and fluffy dumplings with masses of glistening savoury gravy. You can then sit around the table, enjoy this with some greens and perhaps raise a glass of good red wine to the fabulous summer of 2013.

Beef and Carrot Stew with Parsley Dumplings

1 kg braising beef, cubed

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion, chopped

7/8 medium carrots, peeled and halved lenthways

1 heaped tablespoon plain flour

500ml beef stock

200ml red wine

1 teaspoon redcurrant jelly

Sprig of thyme

A bayleaf

For the dumplings –

100g self raising flour

50g suet

A handful of parsley, finely chopped

5 tablespoons cold water

Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 150c. Heat the oil in a large casserole (that has a lid) and brown the meat in batches and set aside. Then fry the onion (you may need a little more oil) until softened. Return the meat to the pan, sprinkle over the flour and stir it in well. Pour over the stock and wine and redcurrant jelly, give it a mix then add the carrots, thyme and bay leaf. Put into the oven for 3 hours.

Just before the time is up, mix the ingredients for the dumplings and form into little balls about the size of a walnut and turn the oven up to 180. Remove the pan from the oven, quickly (and carefully) check the seasoning and then place the dumplings onto the surface of the stew. Put the lid back on and return to the oven for 20 minutes, then remove the lid and cook for a further 20 minutes to crisp up the outside of the dumplings. Enough for 4.

We followed this with a fabulous custard tart (I know, I know, bikini appropriate food clearly now forgotten) and it made me proud of British Food!