Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Dumplings

Ingredients

• 800 g beef chuck steak, cut into 4cm chunks
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 300 ml beef stock
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 3 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 celery sticks, sliced
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• salt and black pepper
• 2 leeks, trimmed and sliced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 175 g self-raising flour
• 8 tbsp cold water, approximately
• 75 g shredded suet
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• Crusty sourdough bread, to serve
• Fresh parsley, to serve

Method

1. Pat the beef dry with kitchen paper — water means steam, and steam means no browning. Toss the chunks in the plain flour seasoned generously with salt and pepper.
2. Heat the oil in a large heavy frying pan or casserole over high heat until it shimmers. Brown the beef in two or three batches for 3–4 minutes a side, until each face wears a deep mahogany crust. Don't crowd the pan — all at once and the meat steams in its own juices instead of catching. Transfer each batch to the slow cooker.
3. Drop the onion and celery into the same pan and cook for 5 minutes, scraping at the brown fond on the base as they soften and turn glossy. Add the garlic and stir for just 30 seconds, until fragrant and pale gold — don't let it burn, or the whole stew turns bitter.
4. Stir in the tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, and thyme. Cook for a minute until the purée darkens a shade and smells sweet rather than raw. Pour in the beef stock and scrape every last stuck bit off the base — that fond is half your gravy. Tip the lot into the slow cooker.
5. Add the carrots, parsnips, leeks, butter beans, and red lentils. Stir gently so everything is coated in the dark stock. Cover and cook on LOW for 7–8 hours, until the beef collapses under a fork and the gravy has thickened to a glossy, deep brown.
6. About 30 minutes before serving, make the dumplings. Combine the self-raising flour, suet, mixed herbs, and a generous pinch of salt in a bowl. Add cold water a splash at a time, mixing with a knife, until it just comes together into a soft, slightly tacky dough — overworked dough means heavy dumplings. Divide into 8 and roll lightly between floured palms.
7. Turn the slow cooker to HIGH. Lift the lid, sit the dumplings on top of the stew with space between them so they can swell, and replace the lid. Cook for 25–30 minutes, until they're puffed, cloud-light, and a skewer comes out clean.
8. Fish out the bay leaves. Taste the gravy now — it should be rich, savoury, and properly peppered. Adjust the seasoning at the pot, not at the table; salt added now actually melts in.
9. Ladle into deep bowls, dumplings perched on top, and scatter the chopped parsley over each portion so the green hits the steam.