Scarborough Fair Stew

Day 14

♪ Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme ♫

Scarborough Fair Stew

Laura is making her yummy veggie stew today featuring fresh carrots and herbs chipped out of the ice in the garden. Haha! Kidding about the ice, although it really is snowing today, so she figured it was time to harvest the last of the carrots.

*Addendum: Apparently my joke wasn't not true. She really did chip them out of a layer of crusty, sleety snow/freezing rain pellets.

Start with Alliums

Step 1. Sauté the leeks and shallots in some coconut oil in a large stew pot.

Leeks and shallots, sautéeing

The Scarborough Fair Part

Step 2. Add the herbs:

• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 5 small sage leaves, about 1/2 tsp
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary needles, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

Stir for a minute until fragrant.

Carrots, leeks and herbs

Carrots, Liquid and Seasoning

Step 3. Add:

• 3 cups carrots, chopped in even 1/2" cubes
• 2/3 box vegetable broth
• 4 cups water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Everything except the dumplings and potatoes

Dumplings

Step 4. Make dumplings. Laura uses this dumpling recipe and doubles it. Add the dumplings to the boiling stew by the spoonful, cover and let cook for 15 minutes. Don't peek.

 Dumpling dough

Divided dumpling dough

Potatoes Are Last!

Step 5. Add 3 cups potatoes, chopped in even 1/2" cubes.

Laura always cooks the potatoes separately so they don't overcook and get all mushy and to eliminate some of the starch before adding them to the stew. They're not added until the end, after everything else is cooked.

Potatoes cooking separately

Scarborough Fair stew

Reviews/Comments

What's better than stew? Especially on the first day of snow this year. Laura's stew is always perfect, and those dumplings are to die for. I feel so sorry for everyone who isn't eating this right now. 

Make it Vegan

There is milk and butter in the dumplings, but substitutes would work. Here's a vegan dumpling ingredients and amounts. Same method as the other recipe can be followed:

Vegan Dumplings

• 1 cup white flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk like coconut or almond milk
• 2 tbsp olive oil 

Optional

• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp dried parsley