Friday Food for Thought—Comfort Foods

This month’s food for thought here on The Writer Side is comfort food. Those delicious, delectable foods that make me feel as though I’ve just been wrapped in a soft, warm quilt and transported back to Grandma’s kitchen.

One of my favorite meals is a one-pot stew with dumplings. Chicken stew is my all-time fav, but beef comes in a close second. I’ve been using the same dumpling recipe since grade nine Home Ec. In other words, I’ve a lo-o-o-o-ong time! More recently, I started adding a little rosemary and now I love dumplings even more.

Lee’s Rosemary Dumplings

1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cups milk

Combine the flour, baking powder, rosemary and salt. I pummel the rosemary with a mortar and pestle to break it up and release more of its pungent flavor and aroma. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender. Add the milk and stir.

Bring the stew to a boil and drop the dough by spoonfuls onto the vegetables and meat. Reduce heat. Continue cooking uncovered for 10 minutes, then cover and cook for another 10 minutes. You might have to reduce the heat a little more to prevent the stew from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

I always make enough to have leftovers because stew with dumplings is every bit as comforting the next day!

Until next time,
Lee