For the Comfort Food throwdown which is here:
https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=301483
My initial thought was to try something I've never attempted before, so it might be a bit out of my comfort (food) range :mrgreen: - chicken and dumplings. However, we've had chicken a few times already this week and some creative food shopping turned tonight's dinner and Comfort Food TD entry into:
Beef Stew and Dumplings
Why not? It's not as common as its chicken counterpart, but let's give it a go.
Market Basket had a Chuck Roast marked down on Manager's Special, so I went with this -
After some trimming, a dusting of flour and Oakridge Santa Maria, it's ready -
Carrots, celery, potatoes, mushrooms, garlic and the beef cubes are all set to go on the cart in my bbq shed -
Heat up the Lodge Dutch oven, brown the beef in two batches -
Remove the browned beef, add in some more EVOO and get to work on the onions. Followed by the mushrooms, and some red wine to deglaze the Dutch oven -
Add Beef stock, carrots, potatoes, celery and the browned beef cubes -
Let simmer for about a half hour so everything gets tender. The veggies were precooked in the microwave to speed the process along -
Next up, add the dumplings -
Now here's where I began thinking that I should have just made biscuits. I covered the pot, let it simmer for 15 minutes. Are they done? Nope -
I let 'em go for another 10 minutes or so, after giving them a flip (hence they're no longer pearly white) -
And that seems to have cooked them through. Whew! I'll admit, these are not the most photogenic dumplings and won't win any awards, but they were quite good.
Some plated shots (again, these aren't the prettiest dumplings) -
The Beef Stew was awesome. Beef was tender, veggies were perfectly done, seasonings were right on. Dumplings were reasonably good. I liked them, my wife not so much.
For a first time attempt at dumplings, this turned out quite good. Dumplings of course, can be optional with the leftovers.
Thanks for reading through to the end of a somewhat long experiment on my dumplings ordeal. Any and all suggestions on how to make them better would be appreciated from you experts who grew up with these.
One of these pics will wind up as an entry into the throwdown.
Regards,
-lunchman
https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=301483
My initial thought was to try something I've never attempted before, so it might be a bit out of my comfort (food) range :mrgreen: - chicken and dumplings. However, we've had chicken a few times already this week and some creative food shopping turned tonight's dinner and Comfort Food TD entry into:
Beef Stew and Dumplings
Why not? It's not as common as its chicken counterpart, but let's give it a go.
Market Basket had a Chuck Roast marked down on Manager's Special, so I went with this -
After some trimming, a dusting of flour and Oakridge Santa Maria, it's ready -
Carrots, celery, potatoes, mushrooms, garlic and the beef cubes are all set to go on the cart in my bbq shed -
Heat up the Lodge Dutch oven, brown the beef in two batches -
Remove the browned beef, add in some more EVOO and get to work on the onions. Followed by the mushrooms, and some red wine to deglaze the Dutch oven -
Add Beef stock, carrots, potatoes, celery and the browned beef cubes -
Let simmer for about a half hour so everything gets tender. The veggies were precooked in the microwave to speed the process along -
Next up, add the dumplings -
Now here's where I began thinking that I should have just made biscuits. I covered the pot, let it simmer for 15 minutes. Are they done? Nope -
I let 'em go for another 10 minutes or so, after giving them a flip (hence they're no longer pearly white) -
And that seems to have cooked them through. Whew! I'll admit, these are not the most photogenic dumplings and won't win any awards, but they were quite good.
Some plated shots (again, these aren't the prettiest dumplings) -
The Beef Stew was awesome. Beef was tender, veggies were perfectly done, seasonings were right on. Dumplings were reasonably good. I liked them, my wife not so much.
For a first time attempt at dumplings, this turned out quite good. Dumplings of course, can be optional with the leftovers.
Thanks for reading through to the end of a somewhat long experiment on my dumplings ordeal. Any and all suggestions on how to make them better would be appreciated from you experts who grew up with these.
One of these pics will wind up as an entry into the throwdown.
Regards,
-lunchman
