Hand Diced Beef

Recipe

Beef Stew and Parmesan Dumplings

       For the stew

• 1 kg Organic Pasture fed beef sliced or diced

• Approximately 100g Organic plain flour (to coat beef)

• 2 Organic onions finely chopped

• 1 Organic celery stick finely chopped

• 2 Organic carrots peeled and roughly chopped

• 3 Organic garlic cloves sliced as thin as possible

• 1 x 400g tin Organic chopped tomatoes

• 2 tablespoon Organic tomato paste

• 2 tablespoons Organic Worcestershire sauce

• 300 ml Organic Malbec red wine (needs to be a robust and fruity variety)

• Approximately 500ml Organic beef broth or good stock (use more if required to almost cover the meat)

• 2 bay leaves

• 6 large sprigs fresh thyme

• 250 g portobello mushrooms halved

• salt & cracked black pepper to taste

Parmesan dumplings

• 150g Organic butter

• 300g Organic self-raising flour

• 170g Organic Parmesan grated

• 100 ml Organic milk

• Pinch of salt and a pinch of cracked black pepper

Prep 25 mins > Cook 4-5 hrs > Serves 6

Preheat your oven to gas mark 2 / 150 oC

To make the stew, mix the plain flour and a little salt and pepper, coat the beef in a light dusting of the plain flour mix, pat off any excess and sear in a heavy-based pot in a splash of oil until nicely browned on both sides, do not over crowd the pan, do this in several batches if needed.

Remove the beef from the pot and set aside.

In the same pot, place the onions, celery and carrots and fry over a medium heat until slightly soft and a little colour is appearing

Add garlic and fry for another 30 seconds.

Pour in the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, wine and Worcestershire sauce, allow to come up to a simmer.

Add the beef back into the pot and pour in the beef stock (add more to almost cover if needed), add the bay leaf and thyme.

Turn the heat down and cover with a lid, place in your preheated oven for around 4 hours until the beef is soft.

Add the mushrooms and allow to cook for 10 minutes uncovered then adjust the seasoning to taste.

To make the dumplings, place the butter, self-raising flour, salt + pepper and Parmesan in a bowl using your fingertips, rub the mixture until it resembles rough breadcrumbs.

Add in the milk slowly and mix with a spoon until the mixture comes together in a ball, be careful not to over work the mixture.

Remove and form dumplings, around golf balls – or larger if you prefer.

Place the dumplings on top of the stew and cover with the lid. Allow to steam for 10 minutes. (Make sure the stew is simmering gently otherwise the dumplings will fall apart), turn the heat up to gas mark 8 / 230 oC remove the lid for 5-10 minutes until you get a small crust appearing on your dumplings

When the dumplings are cooked through, serve immediately with vegetables of your choice, and a nice glass of Malbec (or the same wine you have used in the cooking).