This is yum. Make make, eat eat, now now.

I keep giving this recipe to people so thought I'd put it up here for ease of distribution...

Beef stew with dumplings

Takes 25 mins to prepare, 3 hours 40 mins to cook
Serves 6 (midgets) or 4 (normal people)
358 calories per serving, 12g fat (4g saturates) (based on midget-sized portions).

2tbsp sunflower oil
450g stewing steak, cut into 5cm (2inch) pieces
2 medium onions, finely sliced
2 carrots, sliced (not too finely)
350g swede, peeled and cut into chunks
2tbsp plain flour
150ml Guinness (or red wine if you're not a Guinness fan)
300ml hot beef stock
2tsp dark brown sugar
1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
1 thyme sprig

For the dumplings:
200g plain flour
3tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp dry English mustard (though I've just used normal mustard before and cut back slightly on the water added)
1/2 tsp salt
50g low-fat vegetable suet
2tbsp mixed freshly chopped herbs (like parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme)
150ml water (though you'll probably find that's too much)

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius (or 130 if you're using the fan oven). Heat 1tbsp oil in a large, flameproof casserole dish or heavy bottomed pan and brown the beef in batches. Set aside.

Add remaining oil to the pan and gently fry the onions and carrot for 10min until softened. Add the swede and cook for 2 mins

Return beef to the pan, sprinkle in the flour and cook for 1 min. Gradually stir in the Guinness and stock. Add sugar, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf and thyme and bring to the boil. If you haven't cooked in a casserole dish, transfer this mixture to a casserole dish now (it need to be fairly deep (about 10cm high by 15cm wide, or bigger). Cover and cook in the over for three hours. The beef should be so tender you can cut it with a spoon.

To make the dumplings, sift the flour, baking powder, mustard and 1/2 tsp salt into a bowl. Stir in the suet and mixed herbs. Using a flat-bladed knife, stir in around 150ml cold water (or less if you use wet mustard. Either way, stir the water in gradually and stop as soon as you've created a soft dough, you don't want it too sticky).

Divide dough into 12 and roll into balls. Drop on to stew, spaced evenly apart. Cover and cook for 20 mins until puffed up. Remove lid and return to the oven for 5 min to finish cooking dumplings.

Serve with seasonal vegetables.