Biscuit Topped Stew

Stews like soups, chili and chowders originated as a frugal way to stretch a little meat and vegetables during the long winter months.   While the type of meat varied the vegetables used were those that kept nicely in the root cellar.  Typically these vegetables were carrots, winter squash, potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, and cabbage. 

The nice thing about stew is you really don't need a recipe.  As a result there is a lot of possible variations.  I add whatever strikes my fancy when it comes to vegetables often adding corn, peas or green beans.

I made a typical beef stew in the slow cooker.  I browned the stew beef in a little olive oil and Montreal steak seasoning then poured that into the slow cooker complete with the liquid.  Next I added prepared carrots, potatoes, onion, water, and bayleaf.  I programmed the slow cooker for 7 hours on low.   About two hours before the cooking time was up I stirred in corn niblets followed by sliced mushtooms about an hour later.  Finally I added Worcestershire sauce, a cornstarch slurry to let the juices thicken in the last fifteen minute and set the slowcooker on high.

We enjoyed a hearty bowl of the stew that night for dinner.  The following day was cold, blustery do nothing day.  I topped the leftover stew with biscuit mix dropped by dessert spoonfuls on top of the stew.  My husband took care of the baking and getting the dish into and out of the oven.  The biscuits and stew were baked at 400ºF until the biscuits were golden brown and the stew warmed through. 

The following day my husband took the leftover biscuits and stew to the office to share with one of our kids.  There small batch of stew was enough for six healthy sized serving.

The biscuit topping added a nice dimension to the second dinner.  They were similar to dumplings on the bottom yet biscuit-like on the top.  It was a lovely, homemade meal perfect for a do nothing day!

The nice thing about both dinners was low prep that could be done sitting down and they were since pot dishes.  This was very much appreciated since I'm still on crutches.  It's times like this that all the home canning I do comes in handy.  However, we are getting the freezers ready for our annual purchase so need to work on using the meat in them up.