How to Cook Beef Stew with Dumplings

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 2 hours

Ingredients needed to make Beef Stew with Dumplings:

For the stew:

• 1 lb beef steak, chopped into bite sized chunks
• 6 oz baby onions, peeled
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 5 oz carrots, chopped into large chunks
• 5 oz celery, chopped into large chunks
• 7 oz swede, chopped into large chunks
• 2 leeks, coarsely chopped
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 18 fl oz beef stock
• 5 fl oz red wine
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• Worcestershire sauce, as required
• 1 oz butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the dumpling:

• 4 ½ oz all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 ½ oz suet
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Dash of salt to taste
• Water, as required

For serving:

• 1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Mashed potato

Cooking instructions for Beef Stew with Dumplings:

• Warm up your oven to 350 degrees F.
• Add a dollop of butter to an oven proof casserole and drizzle some oil over it.
• Heat them over moderate flame and throw in the beef chunks.
• Cook the beef, while stirring at times, until it browns evenly.
• Dust the meat with small amount of flour and continue to cook for another couple of minutes.
• Throw in the garlic, as well as rest of the veggies and stir-fry the mixture for a minute or two.
• Add a splash of wine, followed by beef stock as well as the herbs, and give it a nice stir to mix.
• Drizzle the Worcestershire sauce as well as the balsamic vinegar over them and season with lots of black pepper and salt.
• Stir the mixture several times, put a lid on and place the casserole into the oven.
• Cook the stew for a couple of hours or until the meat is cooked through.
• To make the dumplings, sift the flour, salt as well as baking powder together into a large mixing bowl.
• Add the water, followed immediately by the suet and knead the mixture into a thick and soft dough.
• Pinch out small portions of the dough and roll them into small balls with your floured hands.
• After the cooking time is over, uncover the stew and place the dumplings into it.
• Put the lid back on and return to the oven to cook for another 20 minutes or until the dumplings puffs up and softens.
• Transfer the mixture to four serving plates and top it up with a dollop of mashed potato.
• Sprinkle chopped parsley on top and serve hot.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons