Dedicated to all culinary enthusiasts and those who simply love good food!

Recently, I decided to challenge my cooking skills and prepare something new and substantial. My choice fell upon beef stew with dumplings and pumpkin, a recipe I found on the BBC website. It sounded so appetizing and, seemingly, not too complicated.

However, reality introduced its own adjustments. What the recipe promised to be a one-and-a-half-hour adventure stretched into a full four hours! Yes, indeed… Four hours… And, by the way, a significant portion of that time was spent on preparation: I had to clean and chop a whole mountain of vegetables – pumpkin, carrots, parsnips, celery, onions, garlic. It was a true vegetable marathon!

Of all the ingredients, I decided to skip the balsamic vinegar – we simply don’t care for it much and I thought the dish would be wonderful without it. And, on the whole, I wasn’t wrong.

But what truly made me break a sweat were the dumplings. Oh, those dumplings! The proportions given in the recipe didn’t seem quite accurate to me, and I had to fuss around considerably to achieve the right consistency. This was the most challenging stage, requiring maximum concentration and a bit of improvisation. In the end, my dumplings didn’t turn out as they should have. They were too dense and ultimately undercooked.

Despite all the difficulties and time spent, the result, of course, was pleasing. The stew itself turned out very delicious. But now I know for sure that sometimes a “simple” recipe can hide unexpected surprises.

Here is that very original recipe and cooking method that became my culinary challenge. Perhaps some of you will dare to try it too? I’d love to hear your stories! Contact me on Telegram or at LinkedIn.

Ingredients

• spray oil, for frying
• 600g/1lb 5oz lean braising steak, all visible fat removed
• 1 litre/1¾ pints beef stock, made from 2 low-sodium cubes
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 3 carrots, 1 finely chopped, rest cut into chunks
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 parsnip, cut into chunks
• 300g/10½oz butternut squash (about half a squash)

For the dumplings

• 150g/5½oz self-raising flour
• pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or thyme (depending on preference)
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
2. Preheat a casserole dish on the hob, then spray with oil. Add the beef in batches, cooking each batch until browned all over and spraying with more oil as needed. Transfer the beef to a plate using a slotted spoon and set aside. Add a little stock to the dish, turn the heat up to high, and deglaze by scrubbing off the cooked-on bits with a spatula.
3. Turn down the heat and spray the dish with more oil. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the celery and finely chopped carrot and cook for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the tomato purée and balsamic and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Return the meat to the pan and stir in the rest of the stock, then bring to the boil.
4. Put the dish in the oven (without a lid) and cook for 1 hour.
5. Add the parsnip, butternut squash and carrot chunks, put the lid on the dish and cook for another 30 minutes.
6. For the dumplings, put the flour in a mixing bowl with the salt and pepper. Mix in the herbs. Add the egg and oil and mix, adding just enough cold water to bring it together as a dough (about 4 tbsp). Be careful not to add too much water as this will make the dumplings heavy. Knead the mixture a little.
7. Shape into eight golf-ball-sized pieces and put on top of the stew, pushing down a little to coat in the juices. Cover with the lid and return to the oven for 15 minutes, then remove the lid and cook for a further 15 minutes.
8. When the dumplings are golden-brown, lift them out of the stew into serving bowls and stir the stew (the squash will be very tender, which will thicken and flavour the sauce). Serve immediately.