Beef Stew & Dumplings

Good Morning!  Breakfast on this sunny day is Cream of Wheat (minus the cream) and apples.  Is it weird that I no longer put milk in my Cream of Wheat?  Or, I guess, I should just say Wheat.  Instead I add cinnamon and use it as a dip for apples.  That's just how I like it.

Hey, did ya notice the blocks of Styrofoam, aka Barbie furniture?   I thought I'd make Gladys some furniture for her Barbies.  Shhhhh, it's a Christmas gift.  A few weeks ago, I was out fishing with Jean and our buddy Donny, when we spotted a gorgeous dream house up for grabs.  It was just sitting out there by the side of the road waiting for someone to take it home, along with a few really nice lawn chairs (real people sized).  Of course, we went and loaded the truck up.  WoooHooo for garbage shopping!!  More on the Barbie furniture later though.

So the other day, I'm surfing through Internet recipes and came across this one pictured below:

 
Photo from Simply Delicious.

It's Beef Stew with Parmesan Dumplings and it looked delicious to me.  I happened to have some beef stew meat on hand, so I gave it a try, making a few adjustments here and there.  To start with, I heated a splash of olive oil to brown the meat. This step gives it a yummy roasty flavor and perks up the pan juices from the start, creating a wonderful foundation.

Then I got a phone call wanting to know if I could go fishing.  Now, how can I pass that up?  "Sure, just lemme speed this up a bit."  Tossed in some celery, onion, garlic, basil, and cilantro.  My house smelled so good, I didn't want to leave; even for fishing!  After browning, I added the liquids and a bay leaf, then stuck the lid on it and turned the burner off.  It was supposed to simmer, but I don't dare leave the stove top on while I'm gone.

I enjoyed being out on the White River.  Catching a few nice tree bass. :) 

 The thought did occur to me that perhaps I should have left my family a note, regarding the stew, in case Jean or the hubby came home for lunch.  "Nahh, who needs a note."  Apparently Jean did, cause a few hours later, I came home and there's an empty bowl in the sink and it appears a large portion of the stew meat is missing! 

I hardly even cooked the meat and still had not added any carrots!  She came home and told me the stew was delicious.  "Wow, she likes it raw, just wait till I cook it the rest of the way and add a few more goodies!"  This is gonna be some yummy stew!  

And it was!  The Parmesan  Dumplings are so very comforting.  Believe it or not, the meat was super tender and cooked all the way through just by staying warm while I was out fishing.  I added the matchstick carrots because it's what I happened to have on hand (for salads mainly), plus they cook fast, as do the dumplings.  It was a super easy supper and I was lucky Jean didn't totally clean it out before I had the chance to add the carrots & dumplings.  :)

Beef Stew & Dumplings
(Modified from Simply Delicious)

Ingredients:

• Beef Stew Meat
• 1 onions, finely chopped
• 1 celery stick, finely chopped
• 1 cup matchstick carrots
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 15oz can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 bay leaf
• thyme
• basil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil

Parmesan Dumplings:

• 1 stick butter
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
• 1/2 cup milk
• pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Season the beef with salt and pepper and sear in a heavy-based pot in a splash of oil until browned.
2. Add the onion, celery and garlic.
3. Pour in the tomato sauce, sugar, wine and soy sauce and allow to come up to a simmer.
4. Add the bay leaf, basil and thyme.
5. Turn the heat down, add carrots and cover. Allow to simmer for 2 hours until the beef is tender. 
6. To make the dumplings, place the butter, flour, baking powder, salt and Parmesan in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles rough breadcrumbs.
7. Add milk and form dumplings, just slightly smaller than golf balls.
8. Place the dumplings on top of the simmering stew and cover with the lid. Allow to steam for 10 minutes.
9. When the dumplings are cooked through, remove the lid and serve immediately.