Homestead Beef Stew & Dumplings

Serves 6

Ingredients

For the Beef Stew

  • 2 lbs stewing beef, cut into 1½ inch pieces
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil or butter
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 carrots, cut into chunks
  • 3 celery stalks, chopped
  • 4 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 4 cups beef broth
  • 1 cup red wine, or additional beef broth
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 cup frozen peas

For the Dumplings

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ cup cold butter, cubed
  • ¾ cup milk
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, optional

Method

1. Brown the beef

Pat the beef dry, season generously with salt and pepper and toss lightly with the flour.

Heat the oil or butter in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Brown the beef in batches so the pieces develop a good crust. Transfer to a plate.

2. Build the stew

Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for another minute.

Pour in the wine and scrape up all those browned bits from the bottom of the pot.

Return the beef to the pot. Add the broth, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves.

Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook over low heat for about 1½ hours.

3. Add the potatoes

Add the potatoes and continue cooking for another 30 to 40 minutes, or until the beef and vegetables are tender. Stir in the peas and taste for seasoning.

If you prefer a thicker stew, mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water and stir it into the simmering stew before adding the dumplings.

4. Make the dumplings

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Stir in the milk and parsley just until a soft dough forms. Don't overmix.

5. Cook the dumplings

Drop generous spoonfuls of dough directly onto the gently simmering stew.

Cover tightly and cook for 15 minutes without lifting the lid. The trapped steam is what makes the dumplings light and fluffy.

Remove the bay leaves and serve in big bowls with plenty of gravy spooned over the dumplings.

Homestead Tip

This is a great recipe for making the most of economical beef cuts. Chuck, blade or stewing beef all become incredibly tender with a long, gentle simmer. And like most stews, it may taste even better the next day.