Until I reached my teens, 'dinner' was always eaten at lunchtimes and 'tea' was the meal I had in the evening. After that I joined my older siblings and my parents and dined at night. I say joined, we used to eat in shifts, those of us at school ate first, then my Mum and the older ones on their return from work, and finally, my father who as a night-worker ate his main meal for breakfast before he left the house. However the one meal we always shared was Sunday lunch. It's a great institution, the British Sunday lunch, and traditionally of course, it is usually a roast. Since I became a vegetarian, I've mostly given up on Sunday lunch, especially eating it 'out'. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've been offered mushroom risotto, penne arrabbiata, or salmon caesar salad, and it's just not the same.
So today, with heavy rain forecast and the weather due to deteriorate over the next week, I decided it was time to reclaim Sunday lunch and have some proper comfort food. It was a close run thing but in the end, stew and dumplings won out over nut roast!
Half a punnet of mushrooms, onions, garlic, parsnips, carrots and whole chestnuts. I added dried mushrooms that had been soaked in boiling water, and then made stock with the soaking liquid, a stock cube and strong cup of tea! Normally I'd have added red wine (scary how often I cook with wine), but as that's off the menu, a strong cup of tea helps provide the body and tannin taste. (Jack Munroe provided this little tip in her book "Cooking on a Bootstrap). The colour wouldn't be right of course, so I also added two rather old beetroots that I microwaved for a few minutes first to soften up.
I made eight dumplings, adding two to the pot about 20 mins before the end of cooking. The remainder I placed uncooked on a floured tray and put in the freezer. I served my meal with potatoes (from the garden), steamed with green beans and cabbage.
The pot of stew made five large portions so four are going into the freezer. When I next fancy stew, I shall defrost a portion and a dumpling, and roll it out to make a suet pastry top before cooking. And I'll still have two dumplings left over.
As chestnuts are not a usual store cupboard ingredient for most people (they are for me -- I always buy them whenever I see them, as they tend to be seasonal) I've deducted the cost of the chestnuts (£2.20) from my budget. In total the dish worked out at 60p a portion which is not bad for a Sunday lunch, and with porridge and apple for breakfast and homemade soup and bread for supper it easily falls within the budget.
All in all a very satisfying meal. My constant companion in the kitchen was less happy though, I think he was hoping for a bit of fish!
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