I love hearty stews in the colder months, especially with fluffy dumplings and a yummy bread or biscuit served alongside.
A hearty stew is always a great way to fill hungry bellies, not to mention an easy way to stretch a few ingredients. You can start out with just an onion, a bit of celery and a carrot, perhaps a potato or two and a handful of corn and peas plus whatever meat you like (today is beef, but you can easily change it to chicken or omit the meat altogether) with some broth and you have enough to make a wonderfully delicious stew to feed a family! We like dumplings, (and my daughter makes the best dumplings!), so we add those which makes the stew much more filling, but they can easily be omitted!
Let’s get started!
First, add chopped beef. It can be stew meat, steak or roast beef like I am using. You can also use game meat, chicken or omit the meat. Add a splash of oil, salt and pepper and dill.
Cook until browned.
Once browned (it’s ok if the meat is still pink inside because it’ll cook since we will be cooking the stew for about an hour), add onion and carrot.
Cook until onion is tender. Add flour and stir.
Add broth. I have store broth on hand, so today that is what I am using.
Add 2 cups of water.
Bring to a boil and add potatoes. Cook 20 minutes.
Add peas and corn. Stir well. Add more water. Taste for seasonings. Cook 20 minutes on medium-low.
Make dumplings (recipe below). Drop by spoonfuls. Place lid on. Cook on medium heat. Do not peak — cook for 15 minutes.
Once cooked, dumplings will look fluffy. carefully stir and serve. Stew will be extremely hot!
Beef Stew with Dumplings
1 lb beef stew meat
1/2 tsp salt
Sprinkle pepper
Sprinkle dill
1 onion, chopped
1 to 2 carrots, chopped
2 tbsp flour
2 cups beef stock or broth
4 cups water
2 cups potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup corn
Toss beef in pot with a splash of oil and seasonings. once browned, add onions and carrots. Cook until onion is tender. Add a splash of water if needed. Add flour and stir. Add beef stock and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and add potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender. Add peas and corn. Place lid on and simmer 20 minutes. Serve with dumplings and bread or biscuits.
Dumplings
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk or enough to make a dough that can be dropped into the stew
Combine flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Crumble in butter. Add milk. Drop dumplings into stew. Cook on medium heat. Place lid on and cook 15 minutes without peaking. Remove lid and serve.
