Dumpling Delicious

We don’t have central heating, so our homes are sometimes colder inside than outside. This has advantages: we warm our homes with huge log fires, burn candles, have heaps of blankets and throws, wear pyjamas and bed socks, fill our hot water bottles and switch on heated blankets. Meals are heart-warming, wholesome, slow-food affairs, and we try to “celebrate” the old casserole or stew. If you’ve grown up on a farm, you’ll remember the warmth of the AGA stove, the smell of anthracite permeating the kitchen, and the coal scuttle always full. Dumplings are traditional. Soups with crusty bread are a staple. A winter without Dumplings, sago, bread and butter pudding or Melk Kos (a milk pudding made with corn flour) and venison pie would be disappointing.

I made a huge beef stew with dumplings on Friday. We filled our bowls, wrapped up in beanies, and enjoyed a comforting, soul-nourishing meal that connected us with winter traditions and with each other.

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DUMPLINGS:

METHOD:

1. Dust the meat with flour seasoned with brown onion soup.
2. Heat the butter and oil in a large casserole dish; for this occasion, I use an ancient blue-and-yellow AGA casserole dish.   
3. Stir-fry the onion, then add the garlic, chili, and ginger. 
4. Sauté until the onions are glassy and the garlic is sweet.
5. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon and set aside.
6. Brown the meat.  Add the marrow bones, but do not add them to the casserole yet. 
7. Remove the marrow bones. 
8. Leave covered with cling film until 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time to add to the stew.
9. Return the onion to the casserole dish, add the beef short ribs, beer, sugar, rosemary, tomato puree, celery and carrots.
10. Place in a preheated oven at 170֩C for 60 minutes until the meat softens.
11. Remove from the oven, check seasoning, add salt and pepper if needed, and if the gravy is too thick, add another bottle of beer or 250ml of water. 
12. Add the remaining vegetables and marrow bones, cover with a double layer of tinfoil, and return to the oven for a further 30-45 minutes.

Prepare the dumplings:

1. In a food processor, I add the flour and butter and pulse until it resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Mixing in rosemary, yogurt, and water,  I create soft, tender dumplings-  simple steps that bring a sense of satisfaction and joy in preparing comforting food.
3. Serve with boiled rice or cauliflower mash. 

We didn’t feel the need for an accompaniment, so we enjoyed ours without another starch.

Bon Appétit, amigo!