- 6 shallots
- 2 carrots
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tomato
- 1 beef stock cube
- 250g beef stir-fry strips
- 5 juniper berries
- 150g button mushrooms
- 150g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ x 100g cheddar
- A handful of flat leaf parsley
- 1 tsp caraway seeds
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 3 tbsp yogurt
- 100g kale
- 400ml boiling water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1.
Heat your oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Peel the shallots and halve them if they’re large (to speed this up, soak your shallots in boiling water for 2 mins to soften the skins). Peel the carrots and cut them into 2cm-thick diagonal slices. Peel and grate or crush the garlic. Finely chop the tomato. Dissolve the stock cube in 400ml boiling water.
- 2.
Place a large, heavy-based pan on a high heat for 2 mins. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, the beef strips and the juniper berries. Fry for 2–3 mins till browned all over. Lift out of the pan with a slotted spoon and pop into a bowl.
- 3.
Keep the pan on the heat. Tumble in the shallots and the carrots. Fry for 4–5 mins till the shallots are browned on most sides. Stir often. Add the mushrooms and garlic to the pan and cook for 2 mins. Add the beef back to the pan with the chopped tomato. Cook and stir for 5 mins.
- 4.
Sprinkle 1 tbsp flour into the pan and stir to coat the beef and veg. Cook for 1 min. Pour in the beef stock. Place a lid on the pan and bring to a bubble. Simmer for 10 mins.
- 5.
While the beef is simmering, tip the rest of the flour into the bowl. Add 1 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt. Grate in the cheddar. Finely chop the parsley stalks and add those. Add 1 tsp caraway seeds. Stir with a fork to mix together.
- 6.
Crack in the egg. Add 1 tbsp mustard and 3 tbsp yogurt. Beat everything together to make a thick dough. Add more yogurt if you need to. The mix should be slightly sticky.
- 7.
Finely shred the kale, discarding the thick cores. If the pan your beef is cooking in isn’t ovenproof, spoon the stew into an ovenproof dish. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Stir in the shredded kale.
- 8.
Scoop ping pong ball-sized chunks out of the dough. Place them on top of the beef. They won’t cover the beef, so don’t worry about that. Just drop them on top of the stew.
- 9.
Slide the dish into the oven and cook for 20 min till the cobbler is golden. Spoon the beef cobbler into 2 shallow bowls. Roughly chop the parsley leaves and scatter over the top to serve.
- Tip
Please Cheese Me
You just need half the cheddar for this recipe, the rest will keep in the fridge, wrapped, for 3 days. Cheddar is delicious grated over jacket potatoes, grilled on toast or just sliced and eaten as a snack with wedges of crisp, tart apple.