BEEF STEW WITH RED WINE AND DUMPLINGS
Lockdown day #249🇿🇦 Beef stew with red wine & dumplings, green beans and stewed peaches. I want to try this again but not according to the recipe. Next time will bake it in the oven after putting the dumpling dough (which is much like a drop scone batter but a bit more stiff so suspect it can be shaped into a small ball) on top of the meat stew to get a browned effect on dumpling.
Beef stew with red wine (Damhuis recipe)
Serves 6
- 2 kg beef shin on the bone, cut into cubes
- 1-2 cups cake flour
- ¼ cup cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 3 bay leaves
- 4 teaspoons garlic, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 5 carrots, sliced
- 1 leek, sliced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 cups red wine
- 2 beef stock cubes
- 8 cups boiling water
- 5 sprigs of thyme
- 4 potatoes diced
- 10 small pickling onions, cleaned
- For the dumplings:
- 4 tablespoons soft butter
- 500 g self raising flour
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
Put the meat and flour into a plastic bag and shake until the meat is well coated. In a heavy bottomed pot heat the oil to medium hot. Shake the flour off the meat and fry in the oil in batches until golden brown. Remove from the pot. Add the butter to pot followed by chopped onions, bay leaves, garlic, celery, carrots and leek. Sauté until soft and translucent. Stir through the tomato paste and sugar. Increase the heat, add the red wine and simmer until the with has been reduced by half. Add stock cubes and water and bring to the boil. Return the meat to the pot and immediately reduce the heat.
Simmer gently for 60-90 minutes. Remove the lid, add thyme, potatoes and small onions. Simmer for about a hour until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened.
The secret is to keep the temperature at a constant low while the meat is in the pot.
Make the dumplings while the meat is cooking.
Rub the butter and flour together until it looks like grains of sand. Cut in the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. The batter should not be too runny. Refrigerate to rest.
Spoon the dumpling mixture into the stew. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
Recipe and photo: Elsabie Templeton
