Beef & Beer Stew with Cheese Dumplings aka The Marriage Maker
And Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella
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1kg/2.2 pounds beef cut into 1 inch/walnut sized pieces
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2-3 tablespoons of oil
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3 large onions, sliced
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150g/5ozs bacon
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3 tablespoons flour
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2 cups beef stock
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1x 345ml/12 fl ozs bottle of beer (I used Blue Tongue Brewery Pilsener)
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3-4 bay leaves
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1 tablespoon brown sugar
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1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
For the dumplings
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100g/3.5ozs self raising flour
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1 teaspoon baking powder
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50grams/1.7ozs butter melted
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1 egg
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50grams/1.7ozs grated cheese
Step 1 - Prepare stew. Pat beef pieces dry with a couple of paper towels and heat a large frying pan or cast iron pot. Add oil and brown beef in 3 batches and set aside in a bowl. Then fry onion and snip in bacon into the pot with a pair of scissors and cook until onions are translucent and bacon is lightly cooked. Add flour and cook for 2-3 minutes making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan as if you don't, it will stick and become a terrible pain to clean. Add the stock, beer, bay leaves, sugar and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil, then turn it down to low to avoid it sticking and catching on the bottom and place lid on top leaving a small 1cm gap. Stir occassionally and cook until beef is tender (1 to 1 1/2 hours).
Step 2 - Fifteen minutes before the stew has finished cooking, make the dumplings. In a small bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder. In a measuring jug, mix the butter, egg and cheese with a fork. Add the wet mix to the flour and using a spoon, stir to combine. You may need 1 or 2 tablespoons of water to help it come together. Roll into 8 balls with your hands and place on top of the stew. I keep the lid on while I am making it so that the stew heats up even more and then once the dumplings are made, just put them in and replace with the lid. Turn the heat up to medium so that the dough has a chance to rise. Cook for 15 minutes.