If like me you love a traditional winter dish then look no further than traditional beef stew. It is great for making from your food leftovers or as a stand alone meal to keep you warm as the winter months fast approach us. Not to mention how much children love making the dumplings in the kitchen with you.

So here is our traditional beef stew recipe:

Ingredient:

1 Kg boneless stewing beef cut into small cubes
2 large chopped onions
3 parsnips peeled and cut into 4 cm julienne
6 carrots peeled and cut into circles
2 small turnips peeled and cut into cubes
Any other veggies in the cupboard, don’t overdo it
2 teaspoons of sugar
2 cups of beef stock, more if required
2 cups of red wine
3 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon rosemary chopped
500g of sliced mushrooms
8 to 10 small potatoes peeled and quartered
2 cloves of garlic grated or minced
Salt & Pepper to taste

Dumplings

2 cups of self raising flour
1 cup of beef suet
If you want more just ensure the mix is two flour to one with the suet

Method:

Sauté the beef until all sides are browned, don’t crowd or it will steam and not brown properly, cook it in batches if necessary. When finished transfer to a
large casserole pot with a lid.

Put the vegetables into the sauté pan, add butter, garlic and sugar, cover and
cook over medium high heat for approximately 10 minutes, then add them to
the meat in the casserole dish.

Put the wine into the sauté pan to deglaze, then add the beef stock and then
whisk in tomato paste and rosemary, allow to simmer for a few minutes before
pouring into the casserole dish.

Season with salt and pepper and gently stir ingredients so the meat is evenly
distributed throughout the dish.

Ensure the liquid covers the contents, add more stock if required
Place in a low oven (160 to 170) with the lid on and leave to cook for at least two hours, lower the heat if you need to cook it for longer.

Dumplings

Place the flour and suet in a mixing bowl. Turn the ingredients until well blended
Add water, a tablespoon at a time and mix, gradually add more water as required.

When you have formed a dough break off small pieces and role into balls of the
desired size.

20 minutes before serving place the dumplings into the top of the casserole dish.
Leave the lid on, the base of the dumplings will absorb the gravy and the tops will
brown.

If required add a little more stock or wine.

Note the dumplings will double in size so give them room to grow.

Thanks for reading my blog post and in the meantime if you would like to read more of my fantastic cooking tips and food recipes you can subscribe to my RSS feed or join my free online Ezine.

To your food heaven

Dominic