2 onions chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
400-500gms lean beef cut into cubes
1/2 cup red wine (125ml)
5-6 mushrooms, sliced
2 sticks celery, chopped
4-5 white potatoes, washed and cut into chunks
2-3 carrots, scraped and sliced
1 small rutabaga or turnip cut into 1" chunks (2.5 cm)
dried parsley, oregano, ground black pepper
28 ounce can of tomatoes (796ml)
1/4 cup (60gm) pearl barley
dash of chili powder and curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp (3ml) Worcestershire Sauce
3 packages of beef bouillon (Oxo or equivalent)
1 cup (120gm) frozen peas ( add towards end of cooking)
Dumplings
Sauté onions and garlic in Dutch oven, add the meat in small batches, then add wine followed by mushrooms and celery. Continue to cook until mushrooms are tender. Add 4 cups (1 litre) water and all ingredients except frozen peas and dumplings. Bring to the boil, stirring frequently, break tomatoes into smaller pieces as they cook. Cover and simmer at low heat for 40-45 minutes, stirring often.
Add frozen peas and dumplings and cover - continue to simmer for 20 minutes until dumplings are fluffy and cooked. Thicken, if necessary with cornstarch dissolved in a cup or so of cooled liquid from the stew, after removing dumplings.
Variations: You can put the finished stew with dumplings under the broiler for a couple of minutes to make the dumplings golden and more pastry-like. Instead of dumplings, transfer stew to a casserole and top with pastry (either home-made or store-bought) Bake till pastry is crisp and golden brown.