Comfort Food

As the days grow shorter and the weather turns bitter, it’s time to take comfort in hearty stews and rich casseroles. The bonus of this type of cooking is that it makes for seriously stress-free, yet crowd-pleasing entertaining at a time of year when none of us are feeling at our most energetic.

If you’re like me, by now you’ve most likely forgotten the warming winter recipes you perfected by the end of February. Don’t forget that your local library can help – Basingstoke Discovery Centre has a sizeable cookery section, and you can either browse the books while you’re there or borrow a couple to take home and try out some new recipes. If the books aren’t for you, you can take them back and try something new, plus you can head over to Waterstones to buy your own copy of your favourites.

Good-with-anything Dumplings

Throughout spring and summer I forget all about dumplings, but the first time you cook them again in late autumn, it’s like putting on your favourite cosy winter coat or getting the high-tog duvet out of the cupboard.

These dumplings are, of course, fabulous when cooked on top of a hearty beef or lamb stew, but you don’t need to stop there. Try adding them to soup for a satisfyingly warming lunch or make a sweet version to cook on top of poached winter fruit – gorgeous with lashings of golden syrup spooned over at the table.

Makes 8 dumplings (enough for 4 people)

150 g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
40 g suet
100 ml cold water

Flavouring suggestions:

Horseradish – stir 2 tsp horseradish sauce into the water. Great with a beef stew.
Grain mustard – stir 2 tsp wholegrain mustard into the water. Great with venison casserole or French onion soup (pictured).
Black pepper and rosemary – add 2 tsp finely chopped rosemary and ½ tsp cracked black pepper to the flour. Great with lamb stew.
Ginger – add 1 tsp ground ginger and 2 tbsp soft brown sugar to the flour. Great with poached pears.

- The important thing with dumplings is to make them just before you need them, otherwise the baking powder will have run out of oomph before it hits the hot liquid.
- Get your stew or soup simmering gently. If you are making the full recipe above, make sure your pan is wide enough as they will expand when cooking. Otherwise, divide the stew between 2 saucepans to increase the surface area.
- Stir the flour, baking powder, salt, suet and any dry flavouring ingredients together in a bowl.
- Stir any wet flavouring ingredients into the water, then stir it into the flour mixture.
- As soon as the two are evenly combined, use 2 spoons to divide the mixture into 8 rough balls and float them on the surface of the stew.
- Put a lid on the pan and cook, without peeking, for 25 minutes.
- When the time is up, remove the lid and cook uncovered for 10 minutes – this will dry out the surface of the dumplings and ensure they are cooked all the way through.

You can pick up all the ingredients for this recipe at M&S in Festival Place.

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Slow, slow, quick-quick, sloe…

These are some of my favourite cooking methods for the colder months…

Slow – for slow-cooked stews, hob-to-oven cast iron casserole dishes are a must. Start by searing the meat on the hob before adding the rest of the ingredients and cooking in a low oven. You can then return the dish to the hob for cooking those all-important dumplings! Procook sell a colourful range of casserole dishes at very reasonable prices and they’re beautiful enough to serve from at the table too.

Slow – the second ‘slow’ stands for ‘slow cooker’. Perfect for a busy lifestyle, you just put all the ingredients in before you go to work and when you get home they have been transformed into slow-cooked stew heaven! Debenhams stock a range of slow cookers which start at just £25.00 for their own-brand 3.5 litre version.

Quick-Quick – for slow-cooked results in double quick time, you can’t beat a pressure cooker. It’s my go-to gizmo for cooking gammon joints or beef brisket and the results are always tender and delicious. To make the most of yours, buy a copy of Pressure Cooking Properly Explained, just £5.99 from Waterstones.

Sloe – ok, so this isn’t a method of cooking, but my post on comfort food wouldn’t be complete without something comforting to sip at the end of the meal: sloe gin! Buy a 50cl bottle from M&S for £13.99 or have a go at making some yourself. Fill a 1 litre bottle 1/3 full of sloes and add an equal weight of caster sugar. Top up with gin (M&S sell a 70cl bottle for £11.79) then give the bottle a shake every day and it will be ready by Christmas. I also love adding a glug to venison casserole, using it in place of sherry in a trifle or simply drizzled over vanilla ice cream.

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Look out for the latest edition of Festival Place TV where I will be giving Ellie a sneak preview of my top foodie present ideas and a very special Christmas biscuit recipe.

Happy nibbling!
Fiona B x