Soup and Stew

Beef and Barley Stew with Mushrooms

Although the days are getting longer, the sun just beginning to ride a little higher in the sky, the nights are still bone-chilling. Honestly, I never look forward to winter. But when I’m smack in the middle of it, I do appreciate its comforts—warm clothes, thick blankets, an excuse to use the fireplace, and a big pot of stew. And I mean a big pot. Heck, if you are going to go through all that trouble, you may as well make enough for plenty of meals during the week. This is one such stew, a hearty cousin of beef barley soup, but bulked up with carrots, celery root, and lots of mushrooms.

It’s a riff off a stew that Hank likes to make with goose, inspired by Russian stews he’s encountered over the years. The stew is served topped with sour cream, which when mixed in, gives a wonderfully creamy consistency to the stew with just a touch of tang.

Beef and Barley Stew with Mushrooms Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

If you can't find celery root, you can substitute turnips, rutabagas or potatoes. Just be sure to adjust your cooking times—potatoes cook faster than celery root. Save time in the prep work by prepping the onions and mushrooms while the beef is browning.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2-3 pounds beef chuck, cut into chunks
• Salt
• 3 cups chopped onions
• 1 pound button or cremini mushrooms, quartered if small or 1/4-inch sliced
• 1 quart beef or chicken broth
• 3 cups water
• 2 teaspoons dried marjoram
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 1 cup roughly chopped carrot
• 3 cups celery root, peeled and chopped into 3/4-inch to 1-inch chunks
• Black pepper
• About 1/2 cup sour cream (around 1 Tbsp sour cream per serving)
• Dill for garnish

Method

1 In a Dutch oven or other large, lidded pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add enough pieces of the beef to sear in the pot without crowding. You will need to brown the meat in several batches. Salt the beef as it cooks, and set aside browned pieces in a bowl.

2 When all the beef has browned, add the onions. As the onions release some of their water, use a wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Sprinkle a little salt over the onions as they cook. Lower the heat to medium and cook the onions until they begin to brown, 5-6 minutes.

3 When the onions have lightly browned, mix in the mushrooms and increase the heat to high. Cook the mushrooms until they release their water, about 2-3 minutes.
3 Add the beef back to the pot and sprinkle with marjoram. Add 1 cup of the stock and use the wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Add the rest of the stock and water and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot, lower the heat to low and simmer very gently for 1 hour.

4 Add the barley, celery root and carrots, stir well and recover the pot. Simmer gently until the barley and celery root are tender, between 40 minutes and an hour.
Ladle servings into bowls, then top with a dollop of sour cream and a few sprigs of dill. Grind a little black pepper over right before you serve. To eat, stir in the sour cream.

Yield: Serves 8-10.

Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and dumplings – the ultimate comfort food. When we were kids, my mother used to make chicken and dumplings for us by simply adding Bisquick biscuit dough to chicken stew. We would always fight over the dumplings. (Ever wonder why people from big families eat fast? The first kid who finished could get seconds on the dumplings.) Making dumplings that are tasty, light, yet hold together isn’t a given. The Bisquick version, although light and fluffy, tends to fall apart. At the other end of the spectrum, my dad remembers his mother’s dumplings which were, in his words “as hard as hockey pucks”. Leftovers would be grated the following morning and fried up like potatoes.

The dumplings in this recipe are firm enough to hold together without disintegrating even after multiple reheats of the stew, yet still manage to be light and fluffy. The key is to not peek into the pan while the dumplings are cooking. The dumplings need to gently steam in the simmering stew to result in a light texture. Using cake flour in place of all purpose flour will also help the dumplings be lighter, as cake flour has less gluten than regular flour.
To coax more flavor into the stew base, we brown the chicken pieces before cooking them in the stew, and we also create a roux by browning flour in the rendered chicken fat, before slowly adding liquid.

Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

Chicken and Vegetables:

• 3 to 3  1/2 pounds chicken thighs and breast parts, skin-on, bone-in, trimmed of excess fat
• 2 teaspoons butter or olive oil, or a combination of both
• Salt
• 1 quart chicken stock (homemade is best)
• 2 to 3 celery stalks, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped (about 2 cups)
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 cup dry sherry or vermouth (optional)
• 1 Tbsp of heavy cream (optional)
• 3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
• Ground black or white pepper

Dumplings:

• 2 cups (250 g) cake flour (can sub all-purpose flour, but use cake flour if you have it, your dumplings will be fluffier)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup minced fresh herb leaves such as parsley, chives, and tarragon (optional)

Method

1 Heat the chicken stock to a gentle simmer in a medium pot.

2 In a large (8 qt), thick-bottomed pot, heat the butter or olive oil over medium-high heat. Pat dry the chicken pieces and sprinkle with salt. Working in batches, brown the chicken pieces, placing the pieces skin-side down first; this will render out fat you will use to build the stew later.
3 Once the chicken pieces are browned on all sides, remove them from the large pot, and turn off the heat. Remove and discard the skin from the chicken pieces and put the chicken pieces into the pot of simmering stock. Poach the chicken in the stock until cooked through, about 20 minutes or so. Remove the chicken pieces and set on a tray to cool for a few minutes. When the chicken pieces are cool to touch, pull the meat off the bones and cut into 2-inch chunks. Set aside.

4 Return the heat on the large pot to medium-high. When the pot is hot, add the onion, celery, carrot and thyme and sauté until soft, but not browned, about 4-5 minutes. Add the flour and stir well. The flour will absorb the fat in the pot and will stick a little to the bottom. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir the flour vegetable mixture constantly for 2-3 minutes. Do not let it burn.
5 Get a ladle ready and have the pot of simmering chicken stock nearby. Add the sherry to the flour vegetable mixture. It will sputter and seize up. Add a ladle of hot chicken stock to and stir well. It will be goopy. Add another ladle, then another, stirring all the while, until the broth comes together. Add the rest of the chicken stock, the reserved chicken meat. Increase the heat and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer while you make the dumplings.

6 Make the dumpling batter by whisking together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add (optional) chopped fresh herbs. Add melted butter and milk to the dry ingredients. Gently mix with a wooden spoon until mixture just comes together. (Note: do not overmix! or your dumplings will turn out too dense.)

7 Drop dumpling batter into the simmering stew by heaping teaspoonfuls, over the surface of the stew. (Note that the dumplings will easily double in size as they cook.) Cover and simmer until dumplings are cooked through, about 15 minutes. Once you have covered the pan, do not uncover and peek while the dumplings are cooking! In order for the dumplings to be light and fluffy, they must steam, not boil. Uncovering the pan releases the steam. If after 15 minutes they are still not cooked through (use a toothpick or skewer to test) cover pan again, and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.

8 Gently stir in peas, parsley and cream, if using. Add more salt to taste. Ladle portions of meat, sauce, vegetables, and dumplings into soup plates and serve. Note that the stew will continue to thicken the longer it sits.

Yield: Serves 6 to 8.