Horseradish is almost invariably used to make a sauce and is seldom cooked.

The hot taste so appreciated with roast beef normally disappears during cooking, but the gentle and fairly brief cooking it receives here ensures a certain amount of bite is retained – but not too much.

The Chestnuts add richness and sweetness, helping to make these the best dumplings I have ever tasted.

The basic beef casserole is slightly stolen from Hugh’s River Cottage Meat Book.

I am sure he won’t mind.

Serves 4:

25g butter
250g onions, peeled and chopped
125g salt pork, pancetta or bacon off-cuts, cut into smaller chunks
750g boneless shin of beef or other stewing beef, cut into chunks
25g plain flour, sifted
500ml stout or beef stock (or any combination of the two)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp thyme leaves
For the dumplings
75g self-raising flour
25g Chestnut flour
A pinch of baking powder
50g freshly grated Horseradish
50g shredded suet
About 75ml water
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 120°C/Gas mark ½.

Heat the butter in a large frying pan.

Add the onions with the pork or bacon and brown lightly, then transfer to a casserole dish with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the pan.

Now brown the beef, in batches, in the pan.

Once it is all browned, return the beef to the pan, sprinkle on the flour and stir to mix with and thicken the juices.

Transfer the beef to the casserole dish.

Pour the stock/stout into the frying pan, stirring to mix with the sediment, then pour into the casserole dish.

Add the herbs and some salt and pepper.

Cover and cook in the oven for 2¾ hours if using shin, otherwise 2¼ hours, stirring occasionally.

If necessary, add a little water halfway through cooking to keep the meat moist.

Meanwhile, make the dumplings. Mix the flours, baking powder, Horseradish and suet together in a bowl, then incorporate enough water to make a soft dough.

Knead lightly and shape into balls, about 3cm in diameter.

Take out the casserole and sit the dumplings on top of the stew.

Put the lid back on and return to the oven for a further 25 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked.

• By John Wright, author of the River Cottage Hedgerow Handbook - available signed by the author in the River Cottage online shop.