It’s still cold in the Yukon, and when it’s cold out, the foods I cook tend to be those of the warm and comforting sort! Yesterday I made a large 5 qt slowcooker of beef stew, with dumplings. There is enough leftovers for dinner today and to freeze into individual portions for take-to-work lunches.
It did warm up to 0 degrees this a.m., so I took the plunge and wore capris to work!
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
In a large slowcooker, add 10 cups of vegetables. I used what I had on hand: chopped carrots, baby potatoes halved, whole cherry tomatoes, chopped yellow onions, sliced mushrooms, frozen green and yellow beens (whole), and what was left of a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. Then add 3.5 cups of water, a good chugga chugga of cooking sherry, a beef boullion cube and seasonings.
In a frying pan, quickly brown in hot oil 2 or 3 lbs of stewing beef that has been dredged with a bit of flour. Add to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours. I time it so that it’s ready when I get home from work! If the stew is not thick enough, I’ll stir in one pouch of McCormick’s brown gravy mix or a bit of some other gravy thickner to the slowcooker.
The family likes dumplings with their stew, so I usually make up a small recipe of drop biscuits with herbs, then drop the dough by the spoonful onto the stew, put the lid back on and turn the slowcooker on to “high” for 15 minutes or so, until the dumplings are done.