Ingredients

Step by step

1. Preheat oven to 160°C, fan 140°C, gas 2. Season the flour. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan. Dust a handful of diced beef in the seasoned flour, add to the hot pan and brown all over. Don’t overload the pan – fry it in at least 2-3 batches. Once caramelised all over, transfer to a casserole then repeat with more oil and beef, keeping any leftover flour.
2. Heat another 2 tablespoons of oil in the same frying pan, add the chopped onions and carrots and cook, stirring, until golden brown. Add the garlic, cut sides down.
3. Once all of the veg are caramelised, stir in the leftover flour. Pour in the beer (keep back 50ml to finish) and stir to loosen all the sticky bits in the pan, then tip it all into the casserole
4. Add the stock and Marmite. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours.
5. Just before the time is up, make the dumplings. Mix all the ingredients together with some seasoning and add 4-5 tablespoons of cold water until you have a workable dough. Shape into 12-18 small balls and add to the casserole. If the sauce is looking too thick, stir in another 100ml water before adding the dumplings. Turn the oven up to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4, return the casserole to the oven and cook, uncovered,for 30 minutes.
6. Remove the stew from the oven – it should have a rich sauce and the dumplings will be half steamed, with the top half beautifully baked. Add the remaining 50ml of beer to the sauce to enhance the beer flavour then bring to the table, ready for everyone to help themselves.