A Trip To France!!

Alas, no, I'm not jumping on a plane to fly off to this romantic destination ... but it got your attention, didn't it! Tee! Hee! Hee! My imaginary trip to the home of the Eiffel Tower and the Fleur de Lise is the result of a request from my bloggy buddy, Miss Chookyblue. Chooky was popping her slow-cooker on over the weekend and wondered if any of her bloggy buddies had any good slow cooker recipes. I told her one of our faves is "Burgundy Beef With Cheese and Herb Dumplings" and she asked if I cared to share ... and since we can't all travel to the Burgundy region in France to indulge our gastromic extravigances, I thought you might like to take your taste buds on a French holiday instead, so get your pencils and notebooks out! :0)

Burgundy Beef With Cheese & Herb Dumplings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 750g diced beef (I have a lovely local butcher who does the dicing especially for me! :0D)
• 1 large chopped onion
• 2 large chopped cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons plain (all purpose) flour
• 300ml Burgundy red wine (I think grape juice would work if you don't have wine available)
• 300ml beef stock
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 4 large potatoes chopped to bite-size chunks
• salt & pepper to taste

Dumplings

• 150g self-raising flour
• 75g butter/olive oil spread
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• handful of finely chopped fresh herbs (chives, parsley, basil, rosemary) or 2 teaspoons dried Italian herbs
• salt & pepper
• 5-7 tablespoons of water (I add 5 spoons to start and add more as needed so mix isn't too soggy)

Method
1. Preheat slow cooker if necessary (as per manufacturers instructions)
2. Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add onion, garlic and diced beef and brown, stirring to avoid sticking or burning for about 5 minutes.
3. Stir through flour until beef is coated, pour in wine and stock and stir well. Add tomato paste, salt and pepper, stir well. Add chopped potato. Stir and bring to a simmer. Transfer to slow cooker and cook on high for five hours before adding dumplings.

Dumplings

1. Place all ingredients except water into a bowl and mix to combine. Gradually add water and mix to form a soft but not sticky dough.

2. With floured hands, shape dough into 8 balls. Give stew a stir to avoid any sticking, then place dumplings gently in cooker and replace lid. Cook for a further hour or until dumplings are cooked through.
3. Serve generous portions into shallow bowls with a couple of dumplings each and ... Bon Appetite, mes amis! :0) Sorry about the terrible French accent! Tee! Hee! Hee!

I hope you enjoy your own version of Burgundy Beef With Cheese And Herb Dumplings ... I would love to hear what you think of it! :0) And don't forget to hop across to Chookyblue's blog to find some links to even MORE yummy slow-cooker recipes! Hmmm ... perhaps I've found ONE thing I don't mind about winter, after all! Tee! Hee! Hee!

 

Hope you're all having a fabulous start to your week ... OPAMers ... Don't forget it's nearly THAT time again, so remember to update your sidebar lists ASAP and email your final tally for May through to Sweet Peg or me. In the meantime ... I wonder if I have any diced beef in the freezer for tomorrow night's dinner! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

 

CHEERS!

KRIS