Tracey's Easy English Beef Stew & Dumplings

Easy English Beef Stew & Dumplings ~ My sister-in-law, Tracey, makes a super easy, comforting, classic homestyle dinner in the crock pot.  Her recipe will soon be staring on the 'other side of pond', in my kitchen.  From England to America, dinner is served!

My sister-in-law, Tracey, (who lives in England) just shared a lovely looking photo of the dinner she made tonight, a delicious beef stew & dumplings.  I am now craving this exact meal for my dinner.  So, I asked her for her recipe.   I love sharing family recipes like this!  Just because we are so far apart, doesn't mean we can't share a meal together.  She just cooks it in her kitchen and I cook it in mine.  Thanks so much for my dinner inspiration, Tracey!  I'm dubbing your recipe...

Tracey's Easy English Beef Stew & Dumplings

Into a crock pot add ~  2 packs of cut-up stewing steak, chopped onions and carrots. Take 2 cups hot water & stir in some Marmite, an OXO Beef Cube and a packet of Colman's Beef Casserole Mix. Pour over the meat/veg.  Add more water, if needed, to just cover the meat/veg and give it a good stir.  (if the gravy/sauce is too runny, add some gravy granules to thicken it up)  

Cook it in the slow cooker/crock pot, on high, for 3-4 hrs or until the meat is tender and the veg is cooked. ~~ Then it's time to finish it in the oven, that's been preheated to 180c/350F.  Transfer the stew into an oven safe pot  (add/stir in some thawed, frozen peas if you'd like) and drop in the dumpling batter on top of the stew.  (dumplings made from a packet of dumpling mix or from the recipe from the back of the Bisquick box)  Cook the stew/dumplings, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until dumplings are a golden brown.  Serve with mashed potatoes and vegetables. x

Fat Flush Plan ~ Low Carb & Low Fat Meals

I am a huge fan of the Fat Flush Plan diet.  Here are some meals I enjoy when I'm following Phase 1 & 2 of the plan.  If you want to find out more about my success with this low carb / low fat way of eating, check out my page  ~ 'Fat Flush Diet'.

Quick & Easy Cioppino Stew - Quick & easy stew/soup made w/lots of veggies from the Fat Flush approved list, cod chunks, V8 juice & herbs. Simmer veggies in V8 juice & water on the stove until the veggies are almost done, add fish/herbs & continue to simmer until fish is cooked through. Really good & good for you.

 

Pepper Steak ~ I use the Beef Fajitas that I mentioned in my page ~ 'My Go-To Ingredients & Stuff''.  I add bell pepper, tomato, onions & Chinese 5 spice. Saute for about 8 minutes & it is done. It's really good.

 

Steamed Mussels & Shrimp ~  I have to get a loaf of french bread to soak up all of the flavorful broth. I will splurge on the carbs for this meal.  I figure the fish is so lean, I can treat myself.  Besides, J just LOVES this meal. I add 2T of butter & some diced tomatoes to the recipe, just because it tastes so good. :) http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1645,135190-248199,00.html

 

Sweet Curry Spiced Veggies ~ This is REALLY good. I just got a new spice blend from Penzey's Spices ~ Sweet Curry. Great flavor, no heat. Nice for a night when you want something tasty that isn't hot.  Nuke the veggies & then finish it off on the stove. http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyscurryswe.html?id=scwFqzah

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls - Found a recipe for these in an old 1979 copy of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Made a couple of changes to make it bit more low carb. They were great. Reminded me of the ones Grandma Bunni used to make.

Low Carb/Fat Whole Wheat Tortilla Bliss ~ This is my go to tortilla. It is REALLY low carb/fat/calorie (80 cal per tortilla/5 net carbs). Add some low cal Laughing Cow cheese (35 cal per wedge) & a bit of meat & veg (I like steamed spinach) & you have a tasty snack or quick meal for hardly more calories than one of those 100 calorie snack packs. I like to put Taco Bell hot sauce on it, I'm hopelessly addicted to their hot, hot sauce, have been since I was a kid. Some habits just can't be broken. :) Try this combo, you'll like it!

Veggie Stir Fry ~ I love my stir fry.  It's such an easy way to clean out the veggie bin.

Sweet and Sour Chicken w/Baby Bok Choy - Eating low carb is much easier than I thought.  I'll sometimes add a little bit of brown rice.

Teriyaki Stir Fry ~ I throw together a bunch of veggies that I nuked for a few minutes (just to get them part way cooked) & then add some of  the Beef or Chicken Fajita Strips.  Then I add some teriyaki sauce & nuts.  It's a quick & tasty dinner.  I usually skip the rice, but sometimes I'll add a little brown rice to the plate.

Matcha Green Tea & Protein Powder Smoothie ~ The goodness of green tea & protein powder collide, and don't forget the banana. Oh yeah! ~ http://www.matchasource.com/matcha-green-tea-smoothie-s/69.htm

~ http://www.sleepwarrior.com/matcha-green-tea

Fat Flush Soup ~ This is a picture of my Fat Flush Soup, using the recipe from the Sept. issue of Woman's World.  I won a random drawing from the Fat Flush fan page on Facebook. I submitted this picture & was chosen to win a Fat Flush kit!! Yipee! Taking pictures of my food is starting to pay off! ~ http://www.annlouise.com/blog/2011/10/04/my-famous-fat-flush-soup-recipe/

Tough Love ~ Bottom Round Steak ~ how to turn a cheap, tough, budget cut of steak into a tender meal

Swiss Steak ~ Have you ever bought some 'steak' on sale & then realized when you got it home it is not the kind of steak you can grill, but it is the really 'cheap steak' that must be braised to be edible? Well, then this is the recipe for you. It takes about 2 hours to make, but most of that time is just simmering. Roy really likes it, me too. :)

There I was, at the market, standing by the meat case, when I saw it.  ~ STEAK SALE! ~  My heart raced & I just knew it was my lucky day! I found a few nice sized steaks, for a really good price.  So, into the cart they went & I patted myself on the back for being such a thrifty shopper.

That night at home, I decided to treat myself to one of the steaks.  I seasoned & cooked it like I normally do and...it was a medium rare, tough, tough, tough piece of steak.  I was NOT a happy camper.  Then I went to the packaging & really looked at the tag & found out it was a ~ Bottom Round Steak...ut oh.  Cheap steak, unfamiliar name, better look it up on the net.  I found out all about it, mystery solved.

A Bottom Round Steak is a very lean cut that comes from a well exercised part of the cow.  It is a cut that is often turned into Cube Steak & also goes by the name Swiss Steak. (Swiss stands for the process of running the meat through rollers that cut into the meat & tenderize it, not for the country) For it to turn out tender, you need to slow cook it & braising is the best method.  Ohhh...that is where I went wrong...

Cuban Beef Stew ~ This was made using the leftovers from the Swiss Steak dinner.  It was amazing & really very quick since the meat was already cooked from the other night. I love it when you can create a new dish out of what is already in the fridge. Check out the recipe ~ here ~ if you're starting from scratch.

So, for the next few pieces of steak, that is what I did. I first made a traditional Swiss Steak recipe, with tomatoes, mushrooms & onions.  And then I make a Cuban Beef Stew.  Boy, what a difference!  When cooked the proper way, the tough, dry ol' pieces of steak become tender & tasty.  Of course whatever you braise it in helps in the flavor department - tomatoes, wine, sherry - I found out the list goes on & on.  Since it's a lean cut you're not getting any flavor from the fat, so ya gotta get it from somewhere. I say whatever it takes to make a good meal out of a cheap cut of steak/beef works for me...and my shopping budget.

Roy really liked the Swiss Steak.  He said it reminded him of some good meals he had back in England.  I really liked the Cuban Beef Stew that I made using the leftover meat from the Swiss Steak dinner.  Since the meat had already been braised, it was just a quick bit of adding a few additional ingredients & an entirely new meal was created.  There are a few other recipes I came across while trying to figure out how to cook the tough beef I had, so now I think I will keep an eye out for another ~ STEAK SALE! ~ and try my hand at those recipes.  I'll let you know how they turn out.

After learning about it, I think Tough Love is alright by me....  :)