Dumplings ... Ah! Dumplings

You cannot beat a good dumpling.

Now, the Chinese cook dumplings as part of some of their excellent cuisine; but what does anyone but someone from th North of England know about the fineries of a suet dumpling? That was a rhetorical question. Here's my recipe for simple and straightforward recipe for a few dumplings:

100 grammes of self raising flour 50 grammes of vegetarian suet Cold water to mix to a stiff dough (I always find that the exact amount needed varies according to the water content of the flour) Salt and any other flavourings you like (eg pepper, chopped parsley)

Mix the lot together and if it is dry, add a bit more water; if it's too sloppy, add some more flour and suet in the 2: 1 proportion. You don't need to beat this mixture and I use a fork to turn it over for a couple of minutes. Use your hands if you like instead.

Let the mix stand for 10 - 20 minutes before using it. Then shape the dough into golf ball sized pieces and place them on top of a stew that you will be cooking in a covered pan or pot for a further 15 - 20 minutes. These dumplings should swell quite a bit and will be lovely and moist and open textured.

Please note, suet dumplings are BEST if cooked in the oven and if you cook them in the oven, do so on the top of a stew in a covered dish for around 45 - 60 minutes to ensure the dumplings are fantastically swollen, moist, open textured, golden brown and crispy.

Note the vegetarian suet in the recipe: that's because I'm a veggie. There is beef suet, too, if you are an animal muscle eater.

Now, I am using a new method to post this message and am trying to attach some photographs of my latest batch: as it came out of the oven and then shortly after I'd eaten some of them. It should be obvious which is which.

DW