I just can’t get enough of stew at the moment. It’s just so comforting and such a pleasure to come home to. The nights have grown cold and it’s always dark by the time I get home. What better way to warm my cockles than with a hearty stew of meat and vegetables served with dumplings. I have already brought you my chicken and lamb stews so here is that old classic beef. I bought a cheep cut of beef at my local butcher. I just got a slice of frozen meat, then cut it into chunks myself. I served this stew with roasted cabbage steaks. I’m not fond of boiled cabbage at all, but roasted it is delicious. It really brings out the sweetness and I would definitely recommend that you give it a try.

Ingredients

Beef Stew

500g of Beef or steak chunks

1 large onion

1 carrot

3 cloves of garlic

A glass or two of red wine

1 litre of beef stock

2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

A  few sprigs of fresh herbs or 2 tablespoons of dried (thyme, rosemary, parsley)

Dumplings 

100g of butter

200g of flour

1 tablespoon of mixed herbs

salt & pepper

ice cold water

Cabbage steaks

1/2 a large cabbage

Salt and pepper

A drizzle of olive oil

Directions 

1. Chop the onion and garlic into chunks and fry off in a little olive oil for a few minute until translucent. Then put them into your stew pan. Chop the beef into chunks then toss in seasoned flour and fry for a minute or two until browned on all sides. Do this in small batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. Then add them to the stew pan. Then chop the carrots and potatoes into large chunks and fry off in the same pan for a few minutes and add to the stew pan

2. Put the stew on a medium heat and add the herbs, Worcestershire sauce and wine, then cook off for a few minutes. Add the stock to the pan and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat so it is simmering. It will need to cook for about 2 hours. If the stock gets too low, you can add a little more. The stew is done when the beef is tender. If you used a cheap cut be patient as it will get to the falling apart stage in the end.

3. To make the dumplings  mix the herbs, salt, pepper, and flour together and then grate the butter into the flour. Gently mix it together. Add the cold water a spoon at a time and very softly bring it together in to a loose dough. Do not work it into a ball, keep it loose then break off lumps and roll them gently to form balls. Add them to the top of the  stew, then cook for another 20 minutes.

4. To make the cabbage steaks, slice the cabbage into one and a half inch slices. Lay them onto a flat baking tray then sprinkle with salt and pepper and brush them with olive oil. Be careful not to use too much oil as you don’t want them to be greasy. Bake them in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes then flip them over and bake them on the other side for 10 minutes. They may be a bit hard to handle so be careful they don’t break apart.

Taipei was not the foodie trip I had imagined it to be, as we spent a large quantity of out time drinking. I did manage to pack in a few culinary delights for you to enjoy which I shall present to you now.

Most of the eating that we did went on at our Hotel. We decided to treat ourselves and stay at the W. It certainly did not disappoint. The food was all spectacular, especially the breakfast buffet. Highlights included the french toast, fried rice, Eggs Benedict, and Caesar salad served in a giant bowl made from Parmesan.

Lazing by the pool can really take it out of you so to keep up our strength we ordered some chicken quesadillas and french fries with truffle mayo’ and a truffle, rocket, and fontina cheese pizza.

Being the lazy trollops we are we also enjoyed various delights from the room service menu, including a Reuben sandwich, a club sandwich and some bircher muesli.

The star of the W show really was the cocktails, I was too drunk to remember all the names so i’ll just show you the pictures instead. They also came served with the best free bar snacks ever, test tubes filled with potato chips and wasabi peas. I dread to think how many of these I consumed. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t account to your daily calorie allowance if they are free though.

You possibly know how I adore the 7-11 . Although no Hong Kong, Taipei 7-11 still had a few favourites within its grasp, inclusing malteasers, mixed berry skittles and Kinder buenos. So not too bad a haul.

I had made plans to visit Din Tai fung whilst there but didn’t get around to it. We still managed to have plenty of soup dumplings though, as there was a handy restaurant in the department store next to the hotel. We tried the usual pork ones, a curry and leek, and a few vegetarian varieties. We came here twice so I am quite sure I managed to get my quota of dim sum.

Sadly our trip ended on a bad note when we managed to lose my bag filled with duty free goodies somewhere between the taxi and the house. Some lucky son of a gun will be feasting upon my Godiva goodies and Mango vodka as we speak. There’s $60 I’ll never see again. Though as they say worse things have happened at sea. All in all it was a great trip and a good time was had by all.

I love a good a good stew on a Winter’s eve. There’s nothing better than a hearty chicken and vegetable stew filled with dumplings. This is also a great recipe to use up any leftover chicken or turkey you have lying around. Forget the sandwiches and sort yourself out a great big stew. I’m a big fan of dumplings, especially if they come swimming in gravy. At first I thought you couldn’t make dumplings without suet so I got a box sent from home. However I since tried the same recipe with ice cold grated butter and they worked just as well.  This is going to be one of my favourite dinners for quite some time to come as it’s so cheap,easy and tasty.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken cut up into 4-6 pieces

1 large onion

1 large carrot

5 cloves of garlic

4 potatoes

1 courgette

1 bay leaf

1.5-2 litres of chicken stock

1 tablespoon of mixed herbs

7-8 mushrooms

A glass or 2 of wine (optional)

Dumplings

200g of all purpose flour

100g of butter (ice cold)

5-7  tablespoons of ice cold water

1 teaspoon of mixed herbs

1 teaspoon of sage

A pinch of salt and pepper

Directions

Cut your chicken into 4- 6 pieces then coat in seasoned flour and fry in a little oil  for a few minutes until it has browned on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pan and throw in the chopped onion and garlic. Fry for about 5 minutes or until translucent then add the chopped carrot to the pan and cook for a further two minutes. Put the chicken, carrots, onions, and garlic into a large saucepan then top with the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Meanwhile chop the potatoes into chunks then add them to pot once the stock is simmering. Add a bay leaf and a tablespoon of mixed herbs and a little pepper. Throw in a glass of wine if you have some lying around, red or white is fine. Leave to cook on a low simmer with a lid on top for about 2 hours. Make sure the chicken is covered in the stock. After about an hour you can add the chopped courgette and mushrooms.

To make the dumplings mix the herbs, salt, pepper, and flour together and then grate the butter into the flour. Gently mix it together. Add the cold water a spoon at a time and very softly bring it together in to a loose dough. Do not work it into a ball, keep it loose then break off lumps and roll them gently to form balls. Add them to the top of the  stew, then cook for another 20 minutes. The gravy may be a bit watery so mix two or three tablespoons of cornflour or flour in a bowl with about a cup of the stock. Mix it thoroughly before adding it back into the pot to let it thicken. Serve by itself or with extra green vegetables.  Voilà a Winter warming stew.