When
I was a lad (a very long time ago) I used to come home from school and as I
walked through the front door I would instantly recognise the rich aroma of my
mum’s beef stew. There were six of us living in the house and everyone used to
look forward to steaming great bowls of stew with at least three dumplings on
each!
Once you had eaten a bowl of stew it was like being hugged all over from the inside. Sometimes we had lamb or oxtail, but beef was my favourite meat. The dumplings were made with beef suet then, but nowadays we use a light vegetable suet because it marginally better for you.
When I was first married I thought that making a stew must be hard work and difficult but actually it is so simple. My two sons love stew as well (including the vegetables) and often have second helpings. If you have young children in the house (yours or someone elses) then get them to help you prepare the vegetables and then they won’t be so picky when eating the stew.
If you are a vegetarian then you could exchange the meat for Qourn (a vegetarian alternative to meat) and add herbs or spices to your own taste.
Ingredients (serves 4 – 6)
 |
For
the Stew
2 Oxo beef cubes |
For
the Dumplings
6oz Self raising flour
|
 |
 |
Method
Before you start you will need a good sized stockpot – the one I use is about the size of half a bucket!
| 1. | Peel
the potatoes, carrots, swede and turnips and chop up into chunks that
are about ¾ of an inch square. Wash
the celery and cut into bite size chunks. (The vegetables can be prepared in advance and covered with
water if it is more convenient). |
| 2. | Put
the pearl barley in a jug or bowl and cover with boiling water and leave
to swell for 15 minutes or so. |
| 3. | Put
the stockpot on a medium heat and add the oil.
Once the oil has heated add all the cubed beef and using a wooden
spoon turn the meat over and over in the pan until all the chunks have
gone brown and lost all their redness. |
| 4. | While
the meat is browning, crush the two oxo cubes into a pint jug and fill
to the top with boiling water and give it a good stir. |
| 5. | Once
the beef has browned, add all the cut up vegetables, celery, pearl
barley and the beef oxo stock into the stock pot and top up with boiling
water leaving a space of about 2-3 inches from the top of the stock pot
to allow for the dumplings later on. |
| 6. | If
you find that there is too much beef, vegetables etc., then decant some
into another saucepan and top up with stock. |
| 7. | Bring
the whole lot to the boil and when it’s bubbling nicely, turn the heat
down low so that it is simmering or just about bubbling.
Cook for about 4 hours so that all the various flavours get to
work together. |
| 8. | While
the stew is bubbling away make the dumplings by putting all the dry
ingredients into a bowl with the beaten egg.
Mix together thoroughly and add a little water, then form the
mixture into balls about the size of a walnut. |
| 9. | About
15 to 20 minutes before the 4 hours is up, drop the dumplings in the top
of the stockpot to cook. |
| 10. | Serve
into good sized bowls and enjoy! |
| 11. | Any stew left over can be safely re-heated on the hob the next day but the dumplings don’t heat up very well so make some fresh ones if you want. |
Mike Clare