Beef and Dumplings

Select the chuck roast based on your liking.  Look for even marbling. I’m not too fond of a lot of fat on my beef in stew or soup, so I trim it, and I look for pieces where the veins of fat are very definable, so they are easier to trim away but don’t throw them, they are valuable pieces that I will show you how to use Cooking With Fat.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

First, we’ll trim the beef and remove any large veins on the edges unless you enjoy fatty cuts of meat.

Coat the two pieces of the beef chuck with a generous dredge of seasoned flour.  You can buy one of the premade flours such as Kentuck Kernal or House of Autry, or you can make your own, using all-purpose flour, salt, and black pepper.  Seasoned Flour Recipe.

Render the fat you trimmed from the edges in a hot cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. If there wasn’t enough fat to trim off, you could use beef fat, lard, refined coconut oil, or avocado oil.

While the fat is rendering, clean celery with fresh cold water.

Cut the celery into 1/4-inch slices.

When the fat is rendered out, remove the fat cracklins’ and add your dredged beef chuck.  Cook one piece at a time. Cook both sides until they are golden brown (about 4-5 minutes), then stand the beef on its edges and brown the edges too.  When all pieces of beef are browned on all sides, place in the Dutch oven.

In the Dutch oven, sautee the onions or mirepoix in the beef fat.  I use one package of chopped onions or mirepoix that I purchase from Kroger.  They are chopped to the size I need, and frozen, and the package size is part of the module components for my recipes.  Season with a large pinch of salt, about .25 teaspoon. This helps draw the water out of the onions, so they caramelize more than steam. 

Add three cloves of whole garlic and continue to saute. When the onions are translucent and golden yellow, be careful not to let the garlic burn.

Add one 750 ml bottle of your favorite red wine.  Simmer this mixture until the wine is reduced by about half.  Add water, bay leaves, salt, thyme, oregano, and black pepper.

*Wine usage:  The use of wine is optional and adds a great flavor to the meat, but you can omit the wine and this step and replace it with 1 cup of water or low/no sodium beef broth.

Add the celery, place the lid on the oven, and place the Dutch oven inside your preheated oven.

Cook for 1 hour at 350, reduce oven to 275, and cook for 3 additional hours.  Or for a total 2.5 hours at 350.

When the need is tender, remove and discard the bay leaves.

Add the beef stock and bring to a boil.  Add the dumplings in 1 at a time, but quickly.  Stir between each handful of dumplings added to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Simmer until the gravy gets to the thickness you are looking for.

Serve in the pot or pan with French Bread and a salad.

Combine the water, oil, and salt.

Add the flour and combine until well mixed.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes.

Roll the dough into a thin layer on the floured surface to a thickness of about 2/8 - 3/8" thick.  Dust the top of the dough with more flour.  The trick to handling these dumplings is making sure that the dough is dry with a dusting of flour.  If they get sticky, toss some flour on them to dry them up.  Don't worry about the amount of flour, this will help thicken the chicken and dumplings.

Using a dough or bench scraper or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into strips and then into pieces about 1 x 2" long.