Red Wine Turkey Stew and Dumplings

This recipe is slightly adapted from "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes For Two," by Beth Hensperger. The cookbook was given to me by my very kind grandmother; unfortunately, I never cook for two - I cook for four, and use the leftovers as lunch the next day. I also don't like to have half a thing of whatever ingredient sitting around going bad, and I always like to put more veggies into my stews so I don't have to prepare a separate vegetable dish.

So, I am always having to upsize the recipes in this book, and also my slow cooker is annoying and I often prefer to use the stove. Here is the stovetop made-for-awesome-leftovers version of this delicious and economical stew.

Ingredients:

1 package turkey tenderloin (2 tenderloins), cut into bite size chunks
Oil for the pan
2 regular yellow onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 carrots, chopped
6 parsnips, chopped
1 russet potato, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 cups red wine (since the wine makes up most of the broth, use a bottled wine from the liquor store, not salted cooking wine)
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme and 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (easy if you make herb ice cubes!)
1 package white mushrooms, quartered
Water
Beef bouillon

Heat a dutch oven or stew pot over medium-high heat and sear the turkey in it. Remove the turkey to a plate and saute the onions and garlic until the garlic begins to soften, about 4 minutes. Add the wine, scraping to loosen browned bits. Add the remaining vegetables (except the mushrooms) and bring to a boil.

Add enough water to bring the water level up to about 1 inch from the tops of the food - this means that there is still lots of veggies sticking up like icebergs out of the stew. That's okay. Now stir in enough bouillon to make the broth - for me, that's usually 1 tsp. Reduce heat and simmer about 1 1/2 hours.

Technically, you could actually skip the simmering stage, since turkey tenderloin is, well, tender. But simmering makes a better broth.

After the simmering is over, prepare the dumplings. You can make a half-batch of your favorite dumpling recipe, or you can use mine:

1/3 cup cake flour (if you don't have cake flour, use 1/4 cup white flour and 2 tablespoons cornstarch)
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour (if you don't have it, use regular white flour)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda (important!)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (less important)
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp butter
1/3 cup milk or buttermilk

Mix the dry ingredients together with a whisk, then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or butter knife until the pieces are like grains of rice. Then add the milk, stirring until just blended - don't stir too much.

Turn the stew to HIGH and, as soon as it's bubbling, drop the dumpling batter onto the surface, trying to make them land on solids instead of sitting in the broth. This should make 6 dumplings.

Cover and steam for 10 minutes. Then serve the stew right away, while the dumplings are fresh!