Mushroom Stew and Dumplings

This will warm you right up, with simple ingredients that are easy to keep on hand. A long cook after adding the roux guarantees a silky smooth finish. Comfort in a bowl.

Ingredients

Stew

• 3 small onions, quartered
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4 cups of mushrooms, halved or chopped. I used portobello, shiitake, and white button mushrooms.
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 3 small potatoes, quartered
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup of red wine
• 8 cups of broth

Roux

• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

Dumplings

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup shortening or vegan butter, chilled
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup non-dairy milk, unsweetened

Directions

Stew

Warm one tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Sauté onions and garlic for 3 minutes, then add mushrooms and soften for another 5 minutes.

Add rosemary, paprika, and wine, mixing to deglaze the pan. Pour broth into the pot and add the potatoes, carrots, bay leaves, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.

Warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small pan over medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, mix 3 tablespoons of flour into the oil until. Continue to stir until a thick paste forms. Remove from heat. Pour the roux into the stew, stirring continuously. If you don’t mix then it will harden into a little roux-clump. We don’t want that to happen.

Sometimes I toss in 1/2 cup of green peas right at this point.

Dumplings

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Cut the in the shortening with two butter knives, until it is in pea-sized pieces. Mix in the soymilk until just-combined. Not over-mixing will keep the dumplings light and fluffy.

Using two spoons, scoop about 1/4 cup of the batter and drop one at a time onto the top of the stew, covering the whole surface.

Cover again and simmer for 15 minutes over low heat. Don’t peek during cooking! The steam inside cooks the dumplings on top of the liquid.

When serving, watch for and remove the bay leaves.