Braised Beef w/ Semolina Dumpling
Ingredients
- -1 bunch good-sized carrots (6 to 8). About 1 1/4 pounds (520g)
- -3 pounds (1.4kg) chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-to-2 (2.5- to 5-cm) pieces
- -Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- -2 tablespoons olive oil
- -1 large onion, finely chopped
- -2 ribs celery, finely chopped
- -1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro or Italian parsley, plus more for garnish
- -1 teaspoon hot or sweet paprika, or a mix
- -2 large cloves garlic, minced
- -3 Roma tomatoes, grated, and 1 tablespoon minced sun-dried tomato or tomato paste, or 1 can (8 ounces/225 g) tomato sauce
- -About 2 cups (480 ml) homemade beef stock (page 66), or 1 cup (240 ml) canned beef broth diluted with 1 cup (240 ml) water
- -1 pound romano bean or snap beans. preferably blue lake
- -Semolina dumplings (recipe follow)
- -Basic White Rice (page 21) or thick slices of country bread for serving, optional
Instructions
- Finely chop 1 of the carrots. Heat a large, wide pot over medium-high heat. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Working in batches to avoid crowding, add the beef to the pot and brown well on the sides 5 to 10 minutes for each batch. Transfer the meat to a plate and drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pot. If there is not enough fat in the pot, add olive oil as needed.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the onion, chopped carrot, celery, and cilantro and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and the paprika. Stir to scrape up any brown bits from the pot bottom and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, wait a moment, and then add the grated and sun-dried tomatoes and 1 cup (240 ml) of the stock. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Cool until the tomatoes have lost their raw look and are slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Return the meat to the pot and reduce the heat to low. The liquid in the pot should come about halfway up the sides of meat. If necessary, spoon out some of the liquid and reserve.
- Cover and braise the meat until tender, 1 to 2 hours, checking from time to time to be sure there is suffcient liquid and that the juices are simmering rather than boiling. Add the reserved juices or stock as necessary to maintain the original level.
- While the stew is cooking, prepare the dumpling dough and the remaining carrots and beans. Peel the carrots and cut crosswise into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces (cut in half lengthwise first if the carrots are very fat). Trim the stem end from the beans and either fillet them first or simply cut crosswise 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces.
- When the meat is tender, add the carrots and beans to the pot and continue cooking until the meat and vegetables are very tender; about 1 hour more. (The dish can be made to this point up to a day ahead, cooled, covered, and refrigerated. Remove any fat that hardens on the surface before continuing.) Use a large spoon to skim off any fat from the surface. Add the dumplings to the pot during the last 30 minutes of cooking.
- Serve the stew in shallow bowls over rice or with thick slabs of bread on the side, if desired, to soak up the juices. garnish the stew with cilantro.
Notes
- Pareve/vegan variation: Substitute equal amounts of winter squash and waxy all-purpose potatoes, cut into 2-inch (5-cm) chunks, for the beef, use vegetable stock in the place of the beef stock. The stew will take 1 hour to cook instead of two hours.
- Not Included in Large Kitchen Box: Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Olive OIl, Paprika, Beef Stock, White Rice or Bread
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8