No.171 Scottish Mince & “Doughballs” Suet Dumplings

This was, is, and will always be, a quintessential Scottish dish. Mince & tatties (potatoes) is filling and simple. Being from North East Scotland I would have had mine with Mealies growing up, however, when I learned how to make this myself I adopted the fatty suet dumplings south of the border, “doughballs”.

This is simple fare. The mince can easily be frozen for a simple dinner another night if you want to make a big batch. You might think there is a lot of fat in this and yes there is, but that’s where the flavour really comes from.

Serves: 4

Time: 40 Minutes

Difficulty: Straight Forward

Mince

500g of Beef Mince (20% fat)

1 Carrot

1 Onion

500ml of Beef Stock

2 tablespoons of Plain Flour.

1/2 teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce

1 Bay Leaf

Salt and Pepper to taste

Suet Dumplings

100g of Self Raising Flour

50g of Suet

1/4 teaspoon of Salt

Water

1. Finely dice the onion and carrot.

2. In a large pan add the mince and fry on a medium heat until browned. Remove from the pan.

3. Now add the onion, carrot and bay leaf. Cook until softened.

4. Return the mince to the pan and add the flour over the mixture. Cook out on a medium heat for 2 minutes.

5. Add the beef stock and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer.

6. Add the flour, suet and salt for the dumplings in a bowl. Slowly add a tablespoon of water at a time and then mix until you have a stiff dough. Scoop in tablespoon sized dumplings on top of the mince.

7. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes until thickened and the suet dumplings are cooked. Salt and pepper to taste.