beef stew with dumplings help

skaps

Just made this from Jamie Olivers Ministry of Food and my dumplings were a complete diaster. I used the amounts of flour and butter given but for some reason they did not cook - left them for an hour in the end and then had to chuck them away as they were too doughy. Any tips?

maman

I've only ever made dumplings with suet and flour, never just flour and mine always work. Anyone tried this actual recipe?

Rebob

Mum makes her dumplings with butter but I use suet. Dont know the recipe in the book but its half the amount of fat than flour with a little added water to bind. Form into ping pong ball size balls and add to the pan of hot stew. I found that it speeds the cooking if you put the balls onto a plate and microwave for a minute before adding to the hot stew. Hope this helps.

Swan_2

maman wrote: »

I've only ever made dumplings with suet and flour, never just flour and mine always work. Anyone tried this actual recipe?

it doesn't matter what fat you use as long as the proportions are right, the butter would take the place of the suet, so they should have worked

skaps wrote: »

Just made this from Jamie Olivers Ministry of Food and my dumplings were a complete diaster. I used the amounts of flour and butter given but for some reason they did not cook - left them for an hour in the end and then had to chuck them away as they were too doughy. Any tips?

I've just checked out the recipe in my daughter's book & I can't see anything wrong with it

did you use self raising flour? if you used plain they wouldn't rise & would be really solid


EDIT ... also, even using self raising flour, if you handle them too much it can make them doughy

meritaten

I have found that not adding enough water makes dumplings like cannon balls! the dough should be very soft and sticky, and your hands need to be well floured to form the dumplings and they should be made and dropped straight into the bubbling stew.
I use suet too - and like to make them with half wholemeal and half self raising flour (though if Ive only got plain I add the appropriate amount of baking powder according to instructions on the baking powder for making cakes.

Swan_2

meritaten wrote: »

I have found that not adding enough water makes dumplings like cannon balls! the dough should be very soft and sticky, and your hands need to be well floured to form the dumplings and they should be made and dropped straight into the bubbling stew.
I use suet too - and like to make them with half wholemeal and half self raising flour (though if Ive only got plain I add the appropriate amount of baking powder according to instructions on the baking powder for making cakes.

that's a good point, I've just had a closer look at the recipe & it says 'add a splash of cold water to help bind it into a dough'

now we're talking 250g of flour here, it's going to take more than a splash of water to make a dough of the right consistency, so you may well have hit the nail on the head meritaten

skaps

Thanks for all the replies. I probably didn't use enough water as it was so buttery I only used a splash. Should the dough be more like that of bread?

Swan_2

skaps wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I probably didn't use enough water as it was so buttery I only used a splash. Should the dough be more like that of bread?

hi skaps

yes, like bread the dough should be nice & soft with no floury bits, if you've ever made scones you'll know what you're aiming for

but, you don't want to knead it like bread, keep the mixing to an absolute minimum, I use a blunt edged knife
stop mixing as soon as the dough is formed, handle as little as possible when shaping & it helps if your hands are cool too

I'm sure you'll get the hang of it



PS ... sorry, I wasn't paying attention to the amount of water in the recipe I just checked the proportion of fat to flour was ok & assumed the liquid instructions would be ok too, Jamie

zippychick

i can't offer any advice myself (i've never even tasted dumplings!) but i'll merge this with our dumplings thread later

Zip

MaggieBaking

I've made dumplings a few times and never struggled. I've always used suet - it lasts forever in the fridge. I also only throw them in in the last 20 minutes to fluff up.

PM me for a beef stew & herb dumpling recipe if you want