Stewed Brisket & Potatoes

 

There is an old saying that the sure way to a man's heart is through his stomach.   I am not sure where the saying comes from, but I am sure it is true.  

If I had to re-phrase it to describe my husband, it would be that the sure way to my man's heart is through a good stew!  He loves stews.

 

And if there are dumplings on top, well . . .  so much the better.  

He is a real Stew and Dumpling aficionado/lover!  Meat and gravy and starch. That is the way to his heart. 

 

Of course the dumplings are not totally necessary, but you will surely love these.  You whisk them together,  and drop them onto the stew for the last 20  minutes of cook time.  

Since the stew is cooked in the oven, they end up being a bit like little biscuits/breads . . .  all crusty and golden brown and going perfectly with that delicious oven baked stew! 

 

The stew itself is very simple.  Browning onions in hot butter in a Dutch oven  . . .

I love the smell of onions cooking, don't you?  It is a smell that really fuels the appetite.

  

Once the onions are done you begin adding in the remaining ingredients one at a time, until they are all involved  . . .

 

Cubed beef brisket, garlic, paprika  . . .   

 

 . . . marjoram, caraway seed, salt, tomato ketchup and a good beef stock  . . . some quartered peeled potatoes. That's it.

Nothing else added.

 

There are no other vegetables in the stew, which is a bit different for me.  

I grew up with stews that were resplendent with carrots and swede, parsnips . . . those vegetables were always in the stews of our childhood.

 

This has none of those in the stew  . . .  just the  potatoes.  

Instead you cook another vegetable and serve it on the side.  It works . . . totally.

 

You end up with a delicious stew, filled with tender pieces of beef brisket and chunks of potato, in a rich and luscious gravy  . . .

 

I chose to serve carrots on the side, but you could serve green beans, or cabbage, sprouts, whatever you wanted to serve  . . .  whatever you love most.  We like carrots.

 

Like I said the dumplings are totally optional, but why not go for it . . . 

   

Crusty, buttery little drop biscuits . . .  tender in the middle and going oh-so-well with that beautiful gravy and those tender chunks of meat!

Yield: 6Author: Marie Rayner

Stewed Brisket & Potatoes

prep time: 15 minscook time: 1 hour and 30 minstotal time: 1 hours and 45 mins

This is a real man-pleaser.  Serve with some cooked carrots or beans on the side. Dumplings are optional, but if your man is like my man, they are a sure way to his heart.

ingredients:

• 2 large onions, peeled and chopped
• 2 - 3 TBS butter
• 2 pounds Beef brisket, trimmed & cut into cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 3 TBS sweet paprika
• 3/4 tsp dried marjoram leaves
• 1/2 tsp caraway seed
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• 62g tomato ketchup (1/4 cup)
• 480 - 950ml beef stock (2 to 4 cups)
• 6 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered

Optional Dumplings

• 140g sifted flour (1 cup)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 TBS chopped fresh parsley
• 1 egg, beaten + milk to make (120ml) 1/2 cup in measure
• melted butter to drizzle over top

instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180*c/350*F/ gas mark 4.
2. In a large Dutch oven saute the ovens in the butter until lightly browned.  Add the remaining ingredients in the order given, only using 480ml (2 cups) beef stock to begin with. Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours, until the meat is tender, adding more stock as needed to keep it from drying out.
3. 20 minutes before the stew is done, make the dumplings. Measure the dry ingredients into a bowl.  Beat together the egg and milk and add all at once.  Stir together with a fork to form a stiff dough.
4. Drop the dumplings on top of the hot stew.  Drizzle with butter. Return to the oven and cook for a further 20 minutes, uncovered.
5. Spoon the stew and dumplings out into heated bowls to serve, along with your favourite vegetable on the side.

Created using The Recipes Generator

  

My husband was in comfort food heaven with this.  And there is plenty left for him to enjoy another time.  The beautiful thing about stews is that they taste even better on the second day!  

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