Irish Stew

Quick recipe. Not sure how authentic this is, but my Irish Woman makes this occasionally, and I think I finally figured out her recipe.

Ingredients:

1 to 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut to 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes

2 quarts beef stock

1 can stewed tomatoes. Rotel goes well here.

1 large white or yellow onion, diced

4 stalks celery, diced

2 large bell peppers, diced

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch coins

4 to 8 cloves of garlic, minced (depends on the garlic and your tastes)

6 red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 8-ounce cans tomato paste

1 12-ounce package flat dumplings (usually found in the frozen bread aisle in the grocery store)

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a large crockpot, combine beef, stock, tomatoes, onion, celery, bell peppers, carrots, and garlic. Set crockpot to low and allow to simmer through the morning. Stir occasionally.

After about 6 hours in the crockpot, add potatoes and stir. Allow to cook on low until potatoes are fork tender.

1 hour before serving, add in tomato paste, dumplings, and ground cloves. Stir to dissolve tomato paste, then let simmer until it comes back up to a simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Stew will thicken quite a bit from the tomato paste and dumplings. Add salt and pepper to taste a few minutes before serving.

Goes well with your favorite crusty bread and a dark beer. Makes enough to serve 5 to 6 people, so for our family we get leftovers for a couple of days. Like most things with tomato in it, it’s better the next day.