There was an Old Man of Peru,
Who watched his wife making a stew;
But once by mistake,
in a stove she did bake,
That unfortunate Man of Peru.

– Edward Lear

It has been such a cold, grey day.  This afternoon, the snow started blowing.  It just seemed like a good time to cook some nice warm comfort food; beef stew with blue cheese dumplings.

Now, I can’t take all credit for the recipe.  The dumplings were entirely my mother’s invention.  As for the stew, I never seem to make it the same way twice.  Anyway, it turned out to be exactly what we needed.  Delicious and warm.

If you decide to try it, I’d love to hear your comments.

Thanks for reading.

Beef Stew

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs stewing beef (Today, I actually had a roast that I cut into cubes)
• 3 medium potatoes, cubed
• 3 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 large onion cut into large pieces
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of peas (Today, I used 1/2 peas and 1/2 cup edamame)
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp steak spice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• (1 cup left-over mashed potatoes optional if you want to make the stew creamy)

Directions:

Heat 3 tbsp cooking oil in a large pot.  Sear beef a few pieces at time.  When all the beef is brown, add 4 cups of water and bay leaf.  Simmer for 40 minute to 1 hour.  Add remaining ingredients  and continue to simmer until potatoes are tender.

Blue Cheese Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of flour
• 2 tsp of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp butter or shortening
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 to 2 tbsp crumbled blue cheese

Directions:

Mix the dry ingredients.  Blend in butter and blue cheese add milk just
until blended.  Put about 8 small spoonfuls on top of simmering stew.  Allow stew to simmer until dumplings are cooked.