Beef Stew with Dumplings
Ingredients
For stew:
- 3 T. shortening lard, or oil
- 2 lbs. beef stew meat cubed
- 2 T. flour
- 1½ tsp. salt
- ⅛ tsp. pepper
- 1 quart boiling water
1 tsp. lemon juice
- For dumplings:
- 1 cup flour
- 1½ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 egg
- 2-3 T. milk
- 1 T. butter or shortening melted and cooled slightly
Instructions
To make stew:
- Melt shortening in a Dutch oven or large, deep skillet with a lid.
- Add the meat cubes and brown well on all sides.
- Sprinkle flour, salt, and pepper over the meat; add the boiling water and lemon juice and then cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer for about 3 hours.
- Check occasionally to see if additional water is needed.
To make dumplings:
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In another bowl, mix together the egg, milk, and melted butter.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the egg mixture into the well.
- Mix just until incorporated—you don’t want to overmix the dough.
- Drop dough by large spoonfuls into simmering stew; cover the pot and allow the dumplings to cook without raising the lid for 15 minutes.
- (You might need a bit more cooking time, especially if the dumplings are on the large side, but it’s better to have smaller and more dumplings than large ones.
