**The Art of Comfort Food: A Hearty Beef Stew with Dumplings and Twice Baked Potatoes**

As we sat down to enjoy our delicious meal, I couldn't help but feel excited about the culinary journey ahead. Our chef had promised a hearty beef stew that would warm our bellies and soothe our souls, accompanied by twice-baked potatoes and a sweet pear and ginger galette for dessert. And, oh boy, was it going to be good!

"Alright, let's get on with our delicious hearty pet art," I said with a grin, eager to start cooking. "I've been looking forward to this." The chef smiled back, "You and I, Chef, I'm gonna prep the pears so if you peel, I'll top and tail into quarters." Pears are one of my favorite ingredients, and when paired with ginger and lemon, they create a match made in heaven.

The chef expertly peeled and chopped the pears, while I worked on creating a sweet and sticky glaze to coat the pastry. "You'll need to leave them whole, half or in quarter," I explained. The chef nodded, adding that the stem ginger would be an essential component of our dish. With its warm, spicy flavor, it added depth and complexity to the pears. A little of the stem ginger syrup was also added for extra sweetness.

Next came the fresh ginger, carefully grated over the pears to create a zesty and aromatic mixture. "This is a sweet pastry you can buy this stuff where you make it so easy to do," the chef said with a chuckle. I chuckled in agreement as we mixed everything together, creating a beautiful, crumbly crust for our tart.

With the pastry ready, we carefully placed the pears inside and created a golden-brown crust. "Egg wash acting like a bit of a glue that's right," the chef explained, expertly brushing the egg wash over the pastry to create a shiny, golden surface. Crumbling this with my finger helped the paste reform into a beautiful, even shelf-like structure.

The tart was finally complete, and we placed it in the oven for 20 minutes to bake perfectly. While it was cooking, I helped the chef prepare the dumplings. We used self-raising flour for a fluffy result, but if you prefer your dumplings hard, plain flour is the way to go. The essential ingredient was suet, which made the dumplings nice and moist.

To create the dumpling mixture, we rolled out our dough into thin strips and then added a generous dollop of grain mustard. The chef showed me how to use my fingers to roll and shape the dough into perfect little balls. We then sprinkled some flour on our hands and rubbed them together to remove any excess, before gently placing them inside the stew.

As we put the stew in the oven for 30 minutes, the aroma of beef, ginger, and lemon filled the kitchen. When it was finally ready, the chef carefully removed the tart from the oven and let it cool slightly. We then dusted it with a sprinkle of icing sugar to create a beautiful, snowy-like effect.

Just as we were about to serve, the chef checked on the dumplings, which had doubled in size overnight. "They've sort of doubled in size," they exclaimed with delight. The final touch was a sprinkle of chopped parsley on top, completing our stunning dessert tart.

With our stew finally ready, I couldn't help but take one last look at it before we served. It looked absolutely delicious – a hearty beef stew with mustard dumplings and twice-baked potatoes that would warm the hearts of everyone who tasted it. And to make sure our sweet tooth was completely satisfied, the pear and ginger galette was just what we needed.

As I took my first bite, I knew that this meal was going to be one for the ages. The beef stew was rich and flavorful, with a perfect balance of spice and sweetness from the pears. The dumplings were light and fluffy, with just the right amount of mustard kick. And those twice-baked potatoes? Absolutely divine.

But the real star of the show was our sweet pear and ginger galette. With its crunchy pastry crust and caramelized sugar topping, it added a delightful textural element to the meal. The flavors were complex and nuanced, with each bite revealing new layers of sweetness and spice.

As we sat around the table enjoying our delicious meal, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the chef's creativity and skill in the kitchen. From start to finish, this meal was a true masterpiece – a testament to the power of comfort food to bring people together and warm the heart.

And as for me? Well, let's just say that my sweet tooth was completely satisfied with the pear and ginger galette. It was the perfect ending to a delicious meal, and I couldn't help but wonder what other culinary adventures awaited us in the kitchen.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enmouth watering smokey pulled pork with a spicy chipotle mayonnaise that is the most amazing pork butt butts away butts away now this is incredible there's the shoulder yeah and look there's the shoulder blade if you go through here there's a knuckle there that's connecting the top and that's why it's called a butt the slower you cook it the more juicy it is and it's great for big parties because you just come along and get your fork and shred it a delicious smoky mayonnaise and you're away onions into half and half again okay i'm gonna leave the roots on okay because i want this to sit underneath the port it gives it a chance to cook evenly and doesn't get dry in the bottom really important okay now i'll peel the garlic okay i'd like you to crush the garlic we're gonna make a really nice little paste okay go on maggie come on come on come on nice good girl one more crush come on maggie i'm coming sorry about that little cup there now this is a beauty paprika smoked paprika i love it so three nice tablespoons in okay two large tablespoons of brown sugar salt please and pepper could go so gonna form a nice paste now olive oil in mix that some thyme in there so we got a sort of fragrant rub time stalks underneath so that's even more flavor going on on the bottom pour that all over it now this is where you gotta be really quick okay and sort of rub that mashed sausage in almost exactly that smells amazing honestly you just drizzle a little touch of olive on top of that for me i keep the pork nice and moist lovely like some of the best party dishes the marinading of the pork shoulder can be done days in advance so if i was doing this for a sunday and start marinating thursday friday so it gets even tastier right quite easy as well to make it's very easy five and a half to six hours in the oven at 140. while our pork butt slowly roasts meg and i are going to pimp some shot-bought mayonnaise i don't like just plain mayonnaise there's so many things you have to twist to us yeah there's so many things something exciting you can do with it right salt pepper and little touch of honey sweetness yeah sweetness but there's some heat coming okay and i've got a little bit of you know this chipotle smoked chipotle paste i love that once you've made this dressing you know it can sit in the fridge great for open sandwiches yeah you can use it for any sandwiches really any sandwiches but goes brilliantly well with pork now just have a little taste i've never had this before it's so good a nice spoon of mustard so that's our nice spicy mayonnaise after five and a half hours in the oven our pork is nearly ready just time to knock up a couple of tried and tested party favorites first deliciously simple cheesy crushed potatoes cut potatoes into even chunks and submerge in salted boiling water skins and all meanwhile finely dice sweet pickled gherkins or cornichons trim and finely chop spring onions and grate some nutty gruyere cheese when the potatoes are cooked through drain roughly crush and add your spring onions and gherkins season to taste and gently combine before a final sprinkling of grated greer these simple cheesy crushed potatoes are equally delicious served hot or cold now i want something sort of raw like a slaw something quite refreshing yeah so i'm gonna make a really nice fresh broccoli salad now these are called florets and that's the best part of the broccoli okay the bit that everybody wants once they're off i'm gonna slice the broccoli okay mm-hmm never had raw broccoli before it's always been cooked really when you dress this with the dressing it's incredible now a little season early on yeah okay now for the dressing fresh yogurt in a teaspoon of sugar please daddy little smell cider vinegar mmm there you go finely chopped shallot in with the broccoli so delicious roasted almonds into the broccoli currants i love them that gives that nice sort of chewy texture all right lift up your bowl please nice and gently half of that in the middle please thank you and stop and then mix that up with me okay a little taste so good and it's kind of salad that doesn't wilt a couple of hours later it's still crunchy because the broccoli is raw raw broccoli salad chipotle now let me be the poor cow for this look at this megan honestly that is amazing it's beautiful that is incredible now that goes to the table like that i thought we would have a tiny bit just before we go to the table just a little bit honestly meg don't tell mom thank you honestly do i do it i'm gonna do it that is incredible so good you promised me you don't give the recipe to your boyfriend let's go come on this is my ultimate easy party dinner melt in your mouth slow cook smoky pulled pork with a spicy chipotle mayonnaise and quick simple sides of crushed cheesy potatoes and a light and healthy broccoli slaw deliciously yummy dishes that will have your family friends and work buddies coming back for more right how's the ball a great stick to your ribs stew here's my favorite beef and ale with mustard dumplings and helping in the kitchen is my youngest tilly tilly first things first i'd like you to season the stewing steak a nice spoon of flour nice yeah good girl what's the flower going to do dad the flower helps to brown the beef a seasoned flour will also help to add flavor and thicken the stew i feel a bit like marshmallows they do feel a little bit marshmallow look at the size of the chunks of the beef i'm going to cut my carrots literally be similar similar size that's right does that mean they'll cook equally that's right now these are little pearl onions i'm going to put them in hole as well everything has to stay the same otherwise it could burn oh we've seen burn garlic before oh matilda she promised you weren't going to mention that what was that time time and what are they bay leaves bailey's good girl a tablespoon of oil in the beef goes in first okay in a really nice color got a beautiful color remember the carrots thyme in good go garlic pearl onions in good give that a really good mix up stews are very easy to make providing at the beginning you give it a little bit of love now that's all beautifully browned um is beer and that's going to deglaze the pan adding beer or stout helps to tenderize the beef and give it a hearty delicious flavor and that's the only way i want you to taste beer in a stew yeah i'm going to add in a couple of teaspoons of tomato puree please in fact three please because it's so nice and there's one final thing in there cover the steering steak with the beef stock give that a little mix with daddy please wow that's really nice it's not even cooked yet do you keep all these vegetables in when you serve it oh yes is the garlic going to be burnt no excuse me right and we always put the lid with a little bit just a little bit so it can breathe that's right not make the stew all watery into the oven at 150 please tails for about two and a half hours and now you can focus on your homework fun time to knock up two delicious hearty potato classics in one twice baked bubble and sweet jacket potatoes start by baking large potatoes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees shred one third of your savoy cabbage and saute in butter and add a dash of water until tender after about half an hour your potatoes should be crisp on the outside and cook through in the middle slice them in half and scoop out the soft potato center then mash with a couple of knobs of butter mix in the cabbage and season to taste spoon this mixture back into your potato shells and into the oven for a further 10 minutes or until the tops are nice and crispy and golden two delicious hearty potato classics in one twice baked bubbling squeak jacket potatoes right homework done yeah beef juice chewing stewing let's get on with our delicious hearty pet art i've been looking forward to this you and i chef i'm gonna prep the pears so if you peel i'll top and tail into quarters pears go soft in the oven very very quickly so we're gonna put them on a tart you'll need to leave them whole half or in quarter what's that in there ginger that's right a stem ginger so you stem ginger and fresh ginger next add your stem ginger a little of the stem ginger syrup good girl and some brown sugar to your quartered pears and then just grab some fresh ginger off you go so it's a bit of a um different one to grate this because it doesn't really come through like the cheese no i'm gonna make that little bit zesty now we've got some lemons some lemon zest in there right what we need to do now is give that a nice little mix now this is a sweet pastry you can buy this stuff where you make it so easy to do so give me your finger that's my center point i want you to get the pears going around like that in a really nice circle it's difficult isn't it because the pears keep on sliding all over the place yeah we've egg washed the outside and i'm going to show you a little trick so you lift that up so see egg wash acting like a bit of a glue that's right crimple this with our finger and the paste reforms this nice little shelf like a little money bag are you going to do anything with the spare pears oh yeah you start building that up then you see we've got the fresh ginger and those nice little bits of stem ginger let me go around mike with your we might glue just on top tilly's last job is to give our tart a good dusting of icing sugar so that caramelizes it and colors the pears beautifully it's a bit like snow isn't it now that glaze is the pastry so the pastry has this really nice shine on there as well finally the lemon on top and then put that there 180 and in she goes you smell the beef wow it's even gone down a bit more hasn't it look at that i want you to just i was hoping you'd ask just have a little taste how's that taste now i'm not allowed anymore dumpling time flour in please i'm using self-raising flour for a fluffy result but if you like your dumplings hard use plain flour next the dumpling essential suet that makes the dumplings nice and moist thank you followed by a generous dollop of grain mustard two fingers start rolling the fingers round and i've got a touch of warm water here your fingers are now a nice little whisk your fingers are getting tired right now put your hand in there now it should bring all that dough together i'll show you the best way to get that nice and clean sprinkle the flour on your hands rub them together all that will come off nice that's a good way isn't it now we've got this wonderful dumpling mixture how squidgy is that a little flour on your hands okay roll these lengthways and then i want you to fall in like that in your hand off we go smell that mustard in there huh come on you never trust you with something like that yes please silly gently let's go in at 12 o'clock one o'clock 12 in the center and put that back into the oven for 20 minutes to cook the dumplings now if you open the door for daddy i'm going to take out that tart oh it smells so nice doesn't it our pet art has had 35 minutes in the oven look at that baby that looks good would you like me to start dusting yes please nice and gently all the way around good girl little taps the others are gonna love this it looks a bit like a snowy cake doesn't it good job now very carefully carry that to the table how nice does that look delicious okay i'll check on the dumplings now look they've sort of doubled in size whoa definitely a final sprinkle of chopped parsley and our stew is ready for the table i might have to have a quick taste before we go just to check i mean we don't have to be sure we have to be very sure um that is an amazing hearty beef stew with dumplings right the twice baked loaded potatoes and we are ready this is my ultimate hearty dinner a comforting rich beef stew with mustard dumplings and twice baked bubbling squeak jacket potatoes and to make sure your sweet tooth is completely satisfied a rich and zingy pear and ginger galette let's go holly are you ready for some delicious beef stew yeah oh wow thank you very much delicious thank you we'll be able to heat this up for mom and jack when they come back easy even two or three days later tastymouth watering smokey pulled pork with a spicy chipotle mayonnaise that is the most amazing pork butt butts away butts away now this is incredible there's the shoulder yeah and look there's the shoulder blade if you go through here there's a knuckle there that's connecting the top and that's why it's called a butt the slower you cook it the more juicy it is and it's great for big parties because you just come along and get your fork and shred it a delicious smoky mayonnaise and you're away onions into half and half again okay i'm gonna leave the roots on okay because i want this to sit underneath the port it gives it a chance to cook evenly and doesn't get dry in the bottom really important okay now i'll peel the garlic okay i'd like you to crush the garlic we're gonna make a really nice little paste okay go on maggie come on come on come on nice good girl one more crush come on maggie i'm coming sorry about that little cup there now this is a beauty paprika smoked paprika i love it so three nice tablespoons in okay two large tablespoons of brown sugar salt please and pepper could go so gonna form a nice paste now olive oil in mix that some thyme in there so we got a sort of fragrant rub time stalks underneath so that's even more flavor going on on the bottom pour that all over it now this is where you gotta be really quick okay and sort of rub that mashed sausage in almost exactly that smells amazing honestly you just drizzle a little touch of olive on top of that for me i keep the pork nice and moist lovely like some of the best party dishes the marinading of the pork shoulder can be done days in advance so if i was doing this for a sunday and start marinating thursday friday so it gets even tastier right quite easy as well to make it's very easy five and a half to six hours in the oven at 140. while our pork butt slowly roasts meg and i are going to pimp some shot-bought mayonnaise i don't like just plain mayonnaise there's so many things you have to twist to us yeah there's so many things something exciting you can do with it right salt pepper and little touch of honey sweetness yeah sweetness but there's some heat coming okay and i've got a little bit of you know this chipotle smoked chipotle paste i love that once you've made this dressing you know it can sit in the fridge great for open sandwiches yeah you can use it for any sandwiches really any sandwiches but goes brilliantly well with pork now just have a little taste i've never had this before it's so good a nice spoon of mustard so that's our nice spicy mayonnaise after five and a half hours in the oven our pork is nearly ready just time to knock up a couple of tried and tested party favorites first deliciously simple cheesy crushed potatoes cut potatoes into even chunks and submerge in salted boiling water skins and all meanwhile finely dice sweet pickled gherkins or cornichons trim and finely chop spring onions and grate some nutty gruyere cheese when the potatoes are cooked through drain roughly crush and add your spring onions and gherkins season to taste and gently combine before a final sprinkling of grated greer these simple cheesy crushed potatoes are equally delicious served hot or cold now i want something sort of raw like a slaw something quite refreshing yeah so i'm gonna make a really nice fresh broccoli salad now these are called florets and that's the best part of the broccoli okay the bit that everybody wants once they're off i'm gonna slice the broccoli okay mm-hmm never had raw broccoli before it's always been cooked really when you dress this with the dressing it's incredible now a little season early on yeah okay now for the dressing fresh yogurt in a teaspoon of sugar please daddy little smell cider vinegar mmm there you go finely chopped shallot in with the broccoli so delicious roasted almonds into the broccoli currants i love them that gives that nice sort of chewy texture all right lift up your bowl please nice and gently half of that in the middle please thank you and stop and then mix that up with me okay a little taste so good and it's kind of salad that doesn't wilt a couple of hours later it's still crunchy because the broccoli is raw raw broccoli salad chipotle now let me be the poor cow for this look at this megan honestly that is amazing it's beautiful that is incredible now that goes to the table like that i thought we would have a tiny bit just before we go to the table just a little bit honestly meg don't tell mom thank you honestly do i do it i'm gonna do it that is incredible so good you promised me you don't give the recipe to your boyfriend let's go come on this is my ultimate easy party dinner melt in your mouth slow cook smoky pulled pork with a spicy chipotle mayonnaise and quick simple sides of crushed cheesy potatoes and a light and healthy broccoli slaw deliciously yummy dishes that will have your family friends and work buddies coming back for more right how's the ball a great stick to your ribs stew here's my favorite beef and ale with mustard dumplings and helping in the kitchen is my youngest tilly tilly first things first i'd like you to season the stewing steak a nice spoon of flour nice yeah good girl what's the flower going to do dad the flower helps to brown the beef a seasoned flour will also help to add flavor and thicken the stew i feel a bit like marshmallows they do feel a little bit marshmallow look at the size of the chunks of the beef i'm going to cut my carrots literally be similar similar size that's right does that mean they'll cook equally that's right now these are little pearl onions i'm going to put them in hole as well everything has to stay the same otherwise it could burn oh we've seen burn garlic before oh matilda she promised you weren't going to mention that what was that time time and what are they bay leaves bailey's good girl a tablespoon of oil in the beef goes in first okay in a really nice color got a beautiful color remember the carrots thyme in good go garlic pearl onions in good give that a really good mix up stews are very easy to make providing at the beginning you give it a little bit of love now that's all beautifully browned um is beer and that's going to deglaze the pan adding beer or stout helps to tenderize the beef and give it a hearty delicious flavor and that's the only way i want you to taste beer in a stew yeah i'm going to add in a couple of teaspoons of tomato puree please in fact three please because it's so nice and there's one final thing in there cover the steering steak with the beef stock give that a little mix with daddy please wow that's really nice it's not even cooked yet do you keep all these vegetables in when you serve it oh yes is the garlic going to be burnt no excuse me right and we always put the lid with a little bit just a little bit so it can breathe that's right not make the stew all watery into the oven at 150 please tails for about two and a half hours and now you can focus on your homework fun time to knock up two delicious hearty potato classics in one twice baked bubble and sweet jacket potatoes start by baking large potatoes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees shred one third of your savoy cabbage and saute in butter and add a dash of water until tender after about half an hour your potatoes should be crisp on the outside and cook through in the middle slice them in half and scoop out the soft potato center then mash with a couple of knobs of butter mix in the cabbage and season to taste spoon this mixture back into your potato shells and into the oven for a further 10 minutes or until the tops are nice and crispy and golden two delicious hearty potato classics in one twice baked bubbling squeak jacket potatoes right homework done yeah beef juice chewing stewing let's get on with our delicious hearty pet art i've been looking forward to this you and i chef i'm gonna prep the pears so if you peel i'll top and tail into quarters pears go soft in the oven very very quickly so we're gonna put them on a tart you'll need to leave them whole half or in quarter what's that in there ginger that's right a stem ginger so you stem ginger and fresh ginger next add your stem ginger a little of the stem ginger syrup good girl and some brown sugar to your quartered pears and then just grab some fresh ginger off you go so it's a bit of a um different one to grate this because it doesn't really come through like the cheese no i'm gonna make that little bit zesty now we've got some lemons some lemon zest in there right what we need to do now is give that a nice little mix now this is a sweet pastry you can buy this stuff where you make it so easy to do so give me your finger that's my center point i want you to get the pears going around like that in a really nice circle it's difficult isn't it because the pears keep on sliding all over the place yeah we've egg washed the outside and i'm going to show you a little trick so you lift that up so see egg wash acting like a bit of a glue that's right crimple this with our finger and the paste reforms this nice little shelf like a little money bag are you going to do anything with the spare pears oh yeah you start building that up then you see we've got the fresh ginger and those nice little bits of stem ginger let me go around mike with your we might glue just on top tilly's last job is to give our tart a good dusting of icing sugar so that caramelizes it and colors the pears beautifully it's a bit like snow isn't it now that glaze is the pastry so the pastry has this really nice shine on there as well finally the lemon on top and then put that there 180 and in she goes you smell the beef wow it's even gone down a bit more hasn't it look at that i want you to just i was hoping you'd ask just have a little taste how's that taste now i'm not allowed anymore dumpling time flour in please i'm using self-raising flour for a fluffy result but if you like your dumplings hard use plain flour next the dumpling essential suet that makes the dumplings nice and moist thank you followed by a generous dollop of grain mustard two fingers start rolling the fingers round and i've got a touch of warm water here your fingers are now a nice little whisk your fingers are getting tired right now put your hand in there now it should bring all that dough together i'll show you the best way to get that nice and clean sprinkle the flour on your hands rub them together all that will come off nice that's a good way isn't it now we've got this wonderful dumpling mixture how squidgy is that a little flour on your hands okay roll these lengthways and then i want you to fall in like that in your hand off we go smell that mustard in there huh come on you never trust you with something like that yes please silly gently let's go in at 12 o'clock one o'clock 12 in the center and put that back into the oven for 20 minutes to cook the dumplings now if you open the door for daddy i'm going to take out that tart oh it smells so nice doesn't it our pet art has had 35 minutes in the oven look at that baby that looks good would you like me to start dusting yes please nice and gently all the way around good girl little taps the others are gonna love this it looks a bit like a snowy cake doesn't it good job now very carefully carry that to the table how nice does that look delicious okay i'll check on the dumplings now look they've sort of doubled in size whoa definitely a final sprinkle of chopped parsley and our stew is ready for the table i might have to have a quick taste before we go just to check i mean we don't have to be sure we have to be very sure um that is an amazing hearty beef stew with dumplings right the twice baked loaded potatoes and we are ready this is my ultimate hearty dinner a comforting rich beef stew with mustard dumplings and twice baked bubbling squeak jacket potatoes and to make sure your sweet tooth is completely satisfied a rich and zingy pear and ginger galette let's go holly are you ready for some delicious beef stew yeah oh wow thank you very much delicious thank you we'll be able to heat this up for mom and jack when they come back easy even two or three days later tasty\n"