Burgundy Stew with Herb Dumplings

Mmm, warm beefy stew cooking up in the crock pot all day? Yes please! This delicious red wine broth really packs some flavor, and the puffy herb dumplings are an awesome topping to complete the meal. For this recipe I used a 7 bone roast (from the quarter of a cow in my freezer) and it worked great, although many cuts of meat can be used. Follow along and learn how to put this beautiful stew together.

Burgundy Stew

Recipe by Betty Crocker

*2 lbs beef boneless bottom or top round, tip or chuck steak, cut into 1-inch pieces ($8-$10) 

*4 Medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch slices (2 cups) ($0.50)

*2 Medium stalks celery, sliced (1 cup) ($0.30)

*2 Medium onions, sliced ($0.80)

*1 Can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained ($0.98)

*8 oz fresh mushrooms sliced, or 1 can (8oz) drained ($1.99)-fresh

*3/4 Cup dry red wine or beef broth (I recommend using the wine! YUM!) ($0.97)

*1 1/2 tsp salt ($0.01)

*1 tsp dried thyme leaves ($0.10)

*1 tsp ground mustard ($0.10)

*1/4 tsp pepper ($0.01)

*1/4 cup water

*3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour ($0.01)

*Herb Dumplings (below) ($0.89)

Total Cost to Make $14.66-16.66 including dumplings, makes 6-8 servings

Herb Dumplings

*1 1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix ($0.75)

*1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves ($0.05)

*1/4 tsp dried sage leaves, crumbled (I substituted dried savory) ($0.02)

*1/2 cup milk ($0.07)

Add the meat, carrots, celery, onions and mushrooms to the crock pot.

Top with the canned tomatoes, wine or broth, salt, thyme, ground mustard and pepper.

Cover and cook on low heat setting 8-10 hours (or high heat setting 4 to 5 hours) or until vegetables and beef are tender.

Mix the water and flour together and stir into the stew.  Also start preparing the dumplings.  In a small bowl mix the baking mix, thyme and sage together.  Stir in the milk just until baking mix is moistened.  Drop dough by spoonfuls onto hot beef mixture. 

Cover and cook on high heat setting 25 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of dumplings comes out clean.  

Enjoy!  

Dumpling tip: For fluffy dumplings that are not soggy on the bottom, drop the dumpling dough on the stew pieces rather than directly into the liquid.  The dumplings will steam rather than settle into the liquid and become soggy.  Also make sure the stew is piping hot, so the dumplings will start to cook from the steam right away and become fluffy.