Gluten Free: Dumplings

No stew is complete without a few dumplings perched on top, but suet (a fairly major ingredient in a suet dumpling, I'm sure you'll agree) contains gluten. A hearty casserole is made a million times more comforting with the addition of dumplings, it's just not fair that the gluten free among us should miss out. The good news is, that with the help of a freezer and a box grater, you can still have them.

To begin, you'll need something stew-y on the hob or in the oven. Can I suggest chorizo in red wine or  slow braised boozy venison? You can make dumplings in the slow cooker too, just add an extra 10 minutes to the cooking time.

Mustardy Dumplings (makes about 16 dumplings - serves 4)
You'll need:

• 80g block of baking fat, like Stork (butter or lard works too, but the baking fat worked best for me)
• 80g stale gluten free bread
• 100g gluten free self raising flour mix (Dove's Farm make a good one)
• ½ tsp dried thyme leaves or 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• pinch of salt
• 1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard (most are ok, but check to be sure it's gluten free)
• 2 eggs

Make it!

1. Pop the baking fat in the quick freeze drawer of your freezer for about 10 minutes before you start.
2. Finely grate the stale gluten free bread into a bowl and add the self raising flour mix. 
3. Get your baking fat out the freezer and coarsely grate it into the breadcrumbs and flour. Dusting the grater with a little GF flour first to stop the fat sticking to it.
4. Toss the grated fat into the flour and breadcrumbs then add the thyme and salt.
5. Beat the mustard into the eggs and add to the rest of the dumpling ingredients. Mix lightly and roughly roll the mixture into walnut sized balls.
6. Pop them on top of your stew and cover. Leave to cook for 30-40 minutes.
7. If you want to brown your dumplings a little, cook uncovered for the last 10 minutes.

If you don't have any gluten free bread, replace it for a further 60g of self raising mix.