Cawl and Dumplings from Wales

Cawl is a meaty broth loaded with veggies in season.  You can use lamb or beef, and as this is perfect for the slow cooker, the cheaper cuts of meat are fine.  You can make it the day before as the flavours improve over time.  For those operating on a tight budget, this dish is relatively cheap to make.  This recipe can be adapted to whatever vegetables you can lay your hands on.  Traditionally, the Welsh farmers would drink the broth and then eat the meat and vegetables.  If you don't want to be bothered with the dumplings you can serve it with slices of fresh bread.

500g beef or lamb cuts into cubes
10 cups water
2 large onions cut into quarters
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 bay leaf or 1 teaspoon ground bay leaf
2 stock cubes
6 potatoes cut into quarters (skin optional)
2 carrots cut into thick slices
2 leeks thinly sliced
2 cups shredded cabbage
2 cups roughly chopped veg (parsnips, swedes, green beans, etc)
4 rashers bacon cut into blocks
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped thyme or 2 teaspoons dried thyme
Dumplings
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon margarine
1/2 cup luke-warm water
To make the cawl, put the water in a large pot together with the meat cubes, onions, salt, pepper, bay leaves and stock cubes.  Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for 2 hours until the meat can be broken apart with a fork.  Add in the potatoes and other vegetables and let it simmer for 30 minutes.  In a pan fry the bacon and add that to the stew.  Add the parsley and thyme and the dumplings and let it simmer with a lid on for another 30 minutes.  To make the dumplings, rub the margarine into the flour, salt and baking powder with your fingers until you have a mixture resembling bread crumbs.  Add the water a little at a time, stirring it in with a spoon.  You'll have a soft dough.  Drop spoonfuls of the dumpling dough onto the top of your stew.  By putting the lid on your pot you are enabling the dumplings to be steamed.  You'll need a soup ladle to serve this tasty stew in bowls.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv in Ukraine. She is the author of Hush Baby, Defective, C U @ 8, Not Telling and The Case of Billy B. All her books are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format. http://cindyvine.com