October 22, 2012 Dinner – Veal stew with German Potato and Guatemalan Blue Squash Dumplings

 

October 22, 2012 Dinner – Veal stew with German Potato and Guatemalan Blue Squash Dumplings

I finished work around 6:00 p.m.  I suggested veal stew and Suzette said she wanted to make German potato dumplings to go with the stew using some of the squash we had.  She had started organizing dinner by gathering the Guatemalan Blue squash when I drove to Pro’s Ranch Market to buy milk, carrots and onions.  When I arrived at Pro’s Market I saw that the prices were really good so I bought onions (4 lb./$1.00), carrots (2 lb./$1.00), milk, papaya (2 lb./$1.00), pineapple (2 lb./$1.00), and limes (3 lb./$1.00), chips ($1.25 per 12 oz. bag) and some sliced ham.

When I returned there were two long 1 inch thick rolls of dumpling dough lying on the table and two fist sized balls of dough in the fridge.

I cut up the one pound bag of veal stew meat I had bought on Thursday at Alpine Sausage Kitchen by removing the silver skin and reducing the size of pieces to ½ inch where they were larger.  We then separated the pile of cubed meat into two equal piles and we bagged ½ and froze it for a future meal.

Suzette peeled and chopped two carrots and ½ of an onion into cubes and a few cloves of garlic and began sautéing them in olive oil and butter and cut the rolls of dough into 1 inch sections.  I asked if Suzette wanted any turnips from the garden and she said that would be fine, but no beets, so I picked five small turnips from the garden and clean them and quartered them into about 1/3 inch pieces and threw them into the skillet.  After the onions, turnips, garlic and carrots had cooked for a few minutes, we added the veal and about two Tbsp. of sage leaves that I had sliced into strips.

Suzette then asked if we had a good German wine we could drink with this good German meal and I said that we had a Riesling in the fridge in the basement, so Suzette went to the basement and fetched a chilled bottle of Loredonna 2007 Monterey Riesling from Loredonna Wine Cellars, Manteca, CA.

When the water in the large pan came to a boil we put the dumplings into the pot and there was a cloud of steam and flour as they sank to the bottom as Suzette stirred the water in the pan.  After a few minutes dumplings started to float to the top of the simmering water in the pan and Suzette said they were almost cooked, so she added some of the flour water from the dumpling pot to the skillet to make a light sauce and after draining the dumplings, I opened the Riesling and Suzette grabbed a piece of sourdough bread and we filled two pasta bowls with the dumplings and then spooned the veal stew meat over them.  The butter and oil separated from the sauce but the combination of dumplings and veal stew was delicious.  The flavor of fresh sage permeated the dish and the dumplings were tender,  not doughy and had a more neutral flavor than if they had been made entirely with potatoes.

We loved the California Riesling wine.  It was fruity and a little buttery and citrusy and not too sweet. A real surprise.

Bon Appètit