Keep the chills at bay with Antony’s warming solutions

Beef in stout with dumplings
serves 6 to 8

Hints of Britain find their way into this wonderfully warming one-pot supper

2tbsp sunflower oil
50g unsalted butter
1.8kg chuck or blade beef steak, cut into 5cm/ 2in pieces
1 heaped tbsp plain flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
225g bacon lardons
450g shallots, peeled
1tbsp Dijon mustard
2tbsp dark muscovado sugar
175g ready-to-eat prunes, cut in half
175g pickled walnuts, cut into quarters
1 litre stout
850ml fresh beef stock (from a carton is fine)

For the bouquet garni:

2 strips leek
2 fresh thyme sprigs
4 fresh parsley stalks
2 fresh bay leaves
2 celery sticks, trimmed

For the dumplings:

250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1tsp salt
2tsp baking powder
2tbsp olive oil
4tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
4tbsp fresh chives, snipped
150ml milk Preheat the oven to 140°C/275°F/Gas Mark 1. Heat the oil and butter in a large non-stick frying pan. Place the beef in a large bowl and sprinkle over the flour and seasoning. Toss until lightly coated, shaking off any excess. Add half the beef to the pan and cook until the meat is lightly browned. Remove the beef from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a casserole dish. Repeat with the remaining beef. Add the bacon lardons to the frying pan and cook until sizzling and golden brown. Remove and set aside. Add the shallots and cook for another 2–3 minutes, stirring. Meanwhile, add the mustard, sugar, prunes and pickled walnuts to the beef in the casserole dish, then tip in the bacon lardons and shallots, stirring to combine. Pour about a quarter of the stout into the frying pan and allow to bubble down, scraping the bottom of the pan to remove any sediment. Pour this into the casserole dish, then stir the rest of the stout and the beef stock into the casserole dish. For the bouquet garni, tie the leek and herbs between the two sticks of celery and add to the casserole. Season to taste. Bring to the boil, then cover and place in the oven. Cook for 2–3 hours until the beef is completely tender but still holding its shape. Meanwhile, for the dumplings, sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the olive oil and herbs (reserving a little of the parsley to garnish), then pour in the milk and, using a fork, mix to form a soft dough. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Shape the dough into 16 walnut-sized dumplings. Remove the cooked stew from the oven, season to taste and place the dumplings on top. Increase the oven temperature to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Return the casserole to the oven and cook, uncovered, for another 35–40 minutes until the dumplings have risen and are golden brown. Remove the bouquet garni, then sprinkle over the remaining parsley and serve directly from the casserole dish with bowls of glazed carrots and steaming hot leeks.

Antony’s tip:
Any rich biscuit dough can be used for dumplings

Spicy meatballs in a butternut squash casserole
serves 4

Kids love meatballs, and this dish has the added advantage of introducing them to a sweet vegetable – butternut squash –
which in my opinion is underused

For the meatballs:

450g minced beef
1 onion, finely chopped, then cooked in butter until soft
1 clove garlic, chopped
2tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground coriander
1⁄2tsp sea salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
2tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Flour, for coating
4tbsp olive oil

For the butternut squash casserole:

2tbsp olive oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 chilli, deseeded and finely diced
1tsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
1 small butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 1cm/21⁄2in cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tbsp fresh mint, chopped

To serve:

Pitta breads, salad, Greek yoghurt For the meatballs, place the minced beef, onion, garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander, cayenne pepper, sea salt and coriander leaves into a food processor and blend until smooth. Using your hands (make sure they’re clean!), take a small handful of the mixture and roll it into a ball, then place it on a lightly floured tray. Repeat this process until you have used up all the mixture. Refrigerate until you are ready to cook, ideally for at least 2 hours. Roll the meatballs in flour until coated all over. Heat the oil in a frying pan and shallow-fry the meatballs until golden all over, remembering to turn a few times during cooking. Drain the meatballs on kitchen paper and set to one side. Meanwhile, for the squash casserole, heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan, add the onion, garlic, pepper, chilli and thyme leaves and cook until the onion is softened but not coloured. Add the butternut squash and cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, or until the squash is nearly cooked, then add the meatballs and cook for a further 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then fold in the chopped mint. Serve with warm pitta breads, a little salad and a dollop of Greek yoghurt. Oxtail stew with buttered macaroni
serves 6

This dish seems to have got lost in culinary time, which is a pity as it’s a wonderful winter warmer served with macaroni instead of the usual mash or new potatoes

2.5kg oxtail, cut into 4in pieces
2tbsp olive oil
300g salt pork or sliced streaky bacon, cut into 1in cubes
50g seasoned flour
450g baby carrots, peeled or scraped
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
450g baby onions, peeled
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 handful fresh flat - leaf parsley
450g macaroni
50g unsalted butter, cut into cubes

For the marinade:

4 cloves
450g onions, peeled and quartered
1 head garlic, cloves peeled and halved
450g carrots, peeled and cut into 3⁄4in slices
1 bottle gutsy red wine
1 bunch fresh parsley
4 bay leaves
6 sprigs thyme
1tsp black peppercorns For the marinade, stick a clove into 4 of the onion quarters. Place all of the marinade ingredients in a large non-metallic casserole dish. Add the oxtail pieces. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove the dish from the refrigerator from time to time to stir and evenly distribute all the ingredients. Remove the pieces of oxtail from the marinade and drain well; retain the marinade. Dry the oxtail with kitchen paper and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan over a medium to high heat, add the salt pork or bacon and cook until evenly browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Dust the oxtail with the seasoned flour and add to the bacon pan in batches, cooking until evenly browned. Return the salt pork to the pan, add the marinade and its ingredients and enough water to cover generously. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Carefully skim off any grease or impurities that rise to the top. Keep the mixture simmering gently for at least 3 hours until the meat is falling off the bone. Remove the oxtail, bacon and bay leaves from the pan and liquidise the remaining sauce, then pass through a fine sieve. Return the oxtail and bacon to the sauce, cool and refrigerate overnight. The next day, remove and discard any fat that has solidified on top of the stew. Return the stew to a pan, add the baby carrots, tomatoes, onions and seasoning and cook for 30 minutes, or until the carrots and onions are tender and heated through. Season to taste and fold in the chopped parsley. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the macaroni and cook until al dente, then drain well. Toss the macaroni with the butter, season and divide evenly between 6 shallow soup bowls.
Carefully remove the pieces of oxtail from the stew. Drain and place on a carving board. Remove the meat in big chunks and place them on top of the macaroni. Carefully spoon the sauce and the vegetables over the meat and sprinkle with a little coarse salt to taste. Serve immediately.

Antony Says
‘For a Sunday wintry lunch I would do a big Pot au Feu, with all the different mixed meats – lamb, beef, pork, duck and so on. Throw some root vegetables in there to produce a fantastic stew and serve it with Dijon mustard and Salsa Verdi.’