Mom's Hearty Beef Stew with Dumplings

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering, and place the onion and beef into the hot oil. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the steak seasoning, stir the meat and onions well, and sprinkle with 1 more teaspoon of seasoning. Add the celery, and cook and stir until the meat is browned, about 10 minutes.
2. Pour in 2 cups of water to just cover the meat, onion, and celery, bring to a boil, and stir and scrape the browned bits of flavor from the bottom of the pan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until the beef is very tender, about 2 hours. Remove the meat and celery pieces from the pan, set the meat aside, and discard the celery.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the gravy mix with 4 cups of water. Add the mixture to the juices in the pot, bring to a boil, and stir the meat back into the gravy mixture. Stir in the turnip and carrots, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the potatoes, cover, and simmer an additional 20 minutes.
4. To make dumplings, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture looks crumbly. Pour in the milk, and lightly stir the mixture just until it combines to form a dough.
5. Remove 2 cups of gravy from the pot, and reserve. Drop the dumplings by heaping tablespoon onto the meat and vegetables in the pot, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Do not peek until the time is up. Pour the reserved gravy back over the dumplings, stir lightly, and serve.

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Reviews (28)

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27

cassie

May. 3, 2010

"amazing! i just made this. made a couple changes to suit me and my boyfriends preferences. 1) used beef broth instead of the water and only added 1 package of the gravy mix (just to thicken) 2) used o..." See morenly 4 potatoes and added 1 large sweet potato 3) added fresh herbs to the dumplings other than that i followed the recipe to a "T" everybody loved it, i will deffinetly be making this again! thanks"

14

Krys

Jan. 25, 2010

"Very tasty stew. However, I used Swanson's beef broth in a carton instead of water simply because I prefer a richer flavor to the gravy. I also added about half a cu of Merlot wine. I used all the ot..." See moreher ingredients as given and it was excellent. My problem is with the dumplings, but maybe I jut don't understand dumplings. The recipe doesn't say how big the spoonfulls should be. Mine turned out gummy and tasted of flour. I tossed them out and served mashed potatos on the side. We enjoyed the stew just as well."

13

LA Harperman

Jan. 9, 2012

"Awesome! I had to tweak it a bit, but only because I didn't have a some of the ingredients. No olive oil, so I used canola. No gravy mix, so I used onion soup mix and a can of cream of mushroom sou..." See morep. No turnip, so I used a can of diced tomatoes - Italian style. I also used a bag of frozen stew vegetables instead of fresh. Because there was no gravy mix, I had to thicken it up with a bit of flour and cold water, which worked out great! Made the Bisquick dumplings to accompany and it was DELISH! There is no need for any other stew recipe, IMO."