Vegetarian Stew, it is yummy!
Okay, sooo, I had some nice, yummy organic stewin' beef settin' on the counter, fresh from his mama's farm, when. . . *scary music*. . . da da da . . . I realized it was Friday. Doh! My husband's workdays and odd hours make it very hard for me to figure out what day it is. Yes, I'm that. . . special. Anyhoo, I had planned to make a nice, thick stew for dinner since the weather had taken a turn for the cooler, and with this revelation my dinner plans were rooned! So, I decided to make it anyway, without meat. It turned out really good! For you hard core stew people, I know it's like sacrilege to take the beef out of the stew, but hey, you should try it. Even my husband liked it, and went back for seconds, and to tell you truth, I liked it much better. So here goes the recipe:
Stewin' Ingredients:
4-6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2-4 tablespoons organic, unbleached, preferably whole wheat (now I'm just joshin' ya') flour
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped pretty good
3 carrots, chopped
3-4 large stalks of celery, chopped
2 large bay leaves
1 cup of vegetable stock/broth per person you are serving PLUS
1 cup of beer (your choice) per person you're serving (you can substitute more stock for the beer, but you're a wimp if ye' do)
Salt and Pepper
Dumplin' Ingredients (4-6 servings; double if you really like dumplings):
3/4 cup flour (whole wheat will make this really heavy; you should have some un-bleached white flour in the house too)
1/2 cup cornmeal, any grade will do
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cold butter
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk
Okey doke. Set the heat under the pot on medium to high, and when the oil is hot toss in the onions and garlic. Stir that around a bit, then toss in the other vegetables. Cook them until you get some brown showing and the onions are clear and tender, about 10 minutes, stiring occasionally. I also crack some sea salt and pepper over them while they're in there. Myth buster: the salt does not cook out of your food. When the vegetables are nice and browned, sprinkle the flour on top and stir everything well. This will soak up all the oil. Cook for about 3 more minutes, lettng the flour brown slightly. Toss the bay leaves in and stir. Add whatever other spices you're going to use, I'll leave that up to you. I think I just sprinkled in some marjoram, but I really wouldn't do too much more. Okay, now pour the vegetable stock in (you can either have the canned variety or get a really good organic powdered stock that you can add to water, making sure there is no msg in it) and when it starts boiling, reduce the heat so that it BARELY bubbles. You are going to braise your veggies, which will imbue them with all kinds of nice flavors here. Take this opportunity to grab a metal spoon and scrape the bottom of the pot, stir up all that good stuff into the mix and then let it sit. When it is simmering, slowly pour in the beer. You want the beer to meet with as little motion as possible. Make sure the pot stays at a bare simmer, don't boil the beer. Don't stir the stew either after this.
Simmer this for about one hour or more, until the vegetables are the tenderness you desire. Now comes the nice part :-D I hope your pot has a tight fitting lid, because I forgot to mention that earlier. He he he. You're supposed to read the recipe all the way through before you begin to cook, anyways.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together the flour, corn meal, baking powder and salt. With a fork, cut the butter into this dry mix, until the butter is incorporated and it's crumbly, just like you're making a crumb crust for cobbler or pie. In a separate glass or bowl, whisk the egg and milk together until they are well mixed and a little fluffy. Fold this carefully into the butter mixture, DO NOT BEAT. Keep folding it gently (folding: take your spoon or spatula and slice it down the middle of the bowl, scoop the spoon up to your left and turn it and its contents over. Turn the bowl and repeat these motions; this is done gently) until it is a dough. Scoop up tablespoon fulls of the dough and drop it right on top of the stew, do not dunk the dumplings. These are going to steam right on top of the stew. When dough is all used up, put the lid on the pot (I have to put something heavy on mine) to keep the steam in, and simmer the stew for another 20 minutes or so, until the dumplings have risen and are fluffy. It really does take about 20 minutes for them to cook all the way.
To serve, take a big metal spoon and scoop under a dumpling, getting some stew and leaving the dumpling settin' on top. Transfer to bowls. I don't serve anything with this, as it is a meal all itself.
It sounds like it takes a long time, but it really doesn't. If you have kids helping you cut stuff up it takes no time at all. Read or play a board game with the family while it's cooking:-D
Enjoy!
Stewin' Ingredients:
4-6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2-4 tablespoons organic, unbleached, preferably whole wheat (now I'm just joshin' ya') flour
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped pretty good
3 carrots, chopped
3-4 large stalks of celery, chopped
2 large bay leaves
1 cup of vegetable stock/broth per person you are serving PLUS
1 cup of beer (your choice) per person you're serving (you can substitute more stock for the beer, but you're a wimp if ye' do)
Salt and Pepper
Dumplin' Ingredients (4-6 servings; double if you really like dumplings):
3/4 cup flour (whole wheat will make this really heavy; you should have some un-bleached white flour in the house too)
1/2 cup cornmeal, any grade will do
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cold butter
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk
Okey doke. Set the heat under the pot on medium to high, and when the oil is hot toss in the onions and garlic. Stir that around a bit, then toss in the other vegetables. Cook them until you get some brown showing and the onions are clear and tender, about 10 minutes, stiring occasionally. I also crack some sea salt and pepper over them while they're in there. Myth buster: the salt does not cook out of your food. When the vegetables are nice and browned, sprinkle the flour on top and stir everything well. This will soak up all the oil. Cook for about 3 more minutes, lettng the flour brown slightly. Toss the bay leaves in and stir. Add whatever other spices you're going to use, I'll leave that up to you. I think I just sprinkled in some marjoram, but I really wouldn't do too much more. Okay, now pour the vegetable stock in (you can either have the canned variety or get a really good organic powdered stock that you can add to water, making sure there is no msg in it) and when it starts boiling, reduce the heat so that it BARELY bubbles. You are going to braise your veggies, which will imbue them with all kinds of nice flavors here. Take this opportunity to grab a metal spoon and scrape the bottom of the pot, stir up all that good stuff into the mix and then let it sit. When it is simmering, slowly pour in the beer. You want the beer to meet with as little motion as possible. Make sure the pot stays at a bare simmer, don't boil the beer. Don't stir the stew either after this.
Simmer this for about one hour or more, until the vegetables are the tenderness you desire. Now comes the nice part :-D I hope your pot has a tight fitting lid, because I forgot to mention that earlier. He he he. You're supposed to read the recipe all the way through before you begin to cook, anyways.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together the flour, corn meal, baking powder and salt. With a fork, cut the butter into this dry mix, until the butter is incorporated and it's crumbly, just like you're making a crumb crust for cobbler or pie. In a separate glass or bowl, whisk the egg and milk together until they are well mixed and a little fluffy. Fold this carefully into the butter mixture, DO NOT BEAT. Keep folding it gently (folding: take your spoon or spatula and slice it down the middle of the bowl, scoop the spoon up to your left and turn it and its contents over. Turn the bowl and repeat these motions; this is done gently) until it is a dough. Scoop up tablespoon fulls of the dough and drop it right on top of the stew, do not dunk the dumplings. These are going to steam right on top of the stew. When dough is all used up, put the lid on the pot (I have to put something heavy on mine) to keep the steam in, and simmer the stew for another 20 minutes or so, until the dumplings have risen and are fluffy. It really does take about 20 minutes for them to cook all the way.
To serve, take a big metal spoon and scoop under a dumpling, getting some stew and leaving the dumpling settin' on top. Transfer to bowls. I don't serve anything with this, as it is a meal all itself.
It sounds like it takes a long time, but it really doesn't. If you have kids helping you cut stuff up it takes no time at all. Read or play a board game with the family while it's cooking:-D
Enjoy!
posted by Therese_Rose_Morning at 5:14 PM
3 Comments:
I read it, I read it. Thanks for your help. You know Sarah, you've given me some things to think about, I thank you for that. I don't think I'll be engaged soon, because after our conversation I've decided to go on a women's retreat, and Geoff will go on a men's retreat. I really want to make sure I don't have a religious calling, because that doubt you were talking about is still there in my heart, and I had really better go and see before I can make any decisions in concrete. You really hit the nail on the head dear, I am having a hard time embracing my cross, and I am a selfish person. I keep thinking of all the things you and your husband have gone through, and I feel so weak. Please pray for me and Geoff. I'm not mad at you (anymore anyway).
Oh crap I'm sorry, I used your real name. You can delete my comment if you want, I just wanted to let you know that I read your post.
This vegetarian stew sounds like the perfect supper recipe. I usually do not eat too many vegetables but I love a good vegetable stock based dish. Bonus points for being kid friendly.
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