Duck Stew with Dumplings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
6 tablespoons finely chopped onions
1/4 cup finely-chopped celery
1/4 cup finely-chopped carrots
1/4 cup finely chopped parsnips
1/4 cup finely-chopped turnips
2 cups finely-chopped raw duck meat
2 tablespoons peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon plus 1 tsp minced garlic
3 cups duck stock (or brown chicken stock)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup beer
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions

In a large pot heat oil over high heat. Add 4 tablespoons of the onions, the celery, carrots, parsnips and turnips and sauté 2 minutes. Add duck meat, tomatoes, basil and 1 tablespoon of the garlic, Stir in stock and 1 cup cold water; season with 1 tsp salt and 3 turns of black pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmering, cover and cook 25 minutes, until duck is cooked through and tender.

In a bowl combine egg, beer, remaining 1 teaspoon garlic, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 turns pepper, 2 tablespoons of the onions, flour and baking powder in a bowl; whisk batter until smooth.

Uncover stew, increase heat until bubbling briskly and add about 16 golf-ball-size spoonfuls of batter to stew. Cook dumplings 2 minutes, reduce heat to simmering and cook 1 minute more. To serve, ladle stew into each of 4 shallow soup balls and top each portion with 4 to 5 dumplings.

Yield: 4 Servings