Dumplings

The stew was ready this morning and so was I. I know, it's not really typical breakfast fare, but the house was cold and saturated with the smell of stew.




I decided to try my hand at dumplings, but the crock pot was too full, so I transfered some to a regular stock pot and got it simmering.




Then break one egg into a measuring cup and fill the rest of the way to 8 ounces with buttermilk.





Whip 1 cup of flour with 1 tbsp. baking powder.

Stir it into a batter and pour onto the stew. Cover and simmer for ten minutes.

It's not just for breakfast, but it's sure good that way.



This evening, after we didn't build a snowman, I thought I'd throw another batch of dumpling on the pot (which was still simmering away). I'd been asking Em and Mo to try the stew, with the usual 'Daddy's trying to poison us again' reactions.





But Em surprised me in saying she'd be game to try a bit of it. When I asked her about dumplings, she said 'maybe.' Of course, she didn't know from dumplings except I told her it was kind of like a steamed biscuit.

I had Joy of Cooking out (of course, it's my only cookbook if you don't count issues of Cooking Light) and I showed her some of the recipes. When she spotted 'Butter Dumplings' she was sold.



These so-called dumplings don't have any baking powder, nothing to make them rise. You crack two eggs and mix it with a couple tablespoons of melted butter, add 6 tablespoons or so of flour, and whip it into a batter. Ten pour that on the stew and steam for about eight minutes.



Em loved it at first. Gave it five stars. Then six stars. Raved about how tender the beef was and generally acted like some other kid, one that likes things besides peanut butter and grilled cheese sandwiches.



Her reviews cooled as she realized she was eating cooked tomatoes. Then she decided she wasn't that hungry, but that it was still a three star meal. In other words, she reverted to form and quit liking something she'd liked a few minutes earlier.



I preferred the buttermilk dumplings (which are basically Joy of Cooking's plain dumplings with buttermilk instead of milk). The butter dumplings weren't bad, but I doubt I'd make them a second time.