Herb Dumplings in Mushroom Stroganoff

Firstly, I'm a big fan of the concept of "Meatless Monday". Unfortunately, my schedule is not. Mondays tend to be that day where I am exhausted after dealing with the deluge of problems that have occurred at work over the weekend, and by the time I come home, I either (a) hopefully have something I was smart enough to pre-prep on Sunday or (b) go for something ultra convenient.

But either way, I do try to have 1 meatless dinner a week. And this usually is the day I try something a little new.

Now this week isn't new, it's more taking 2 very tried and true concepts and mixing them together to make a rib sticking, hearty winter meal (now that the cold weather seems to have finally kicked in).

So I bring you this week: "Herb Dumplings in Mushroom Stroganoff".

Pretty simple theory, take dumplings - English, made from flour, butter and water. Not German made form milk and stale bread and not Chinese made form wrappers and yummyness. Then serve in/on. under a cremy yummy mushrooms stroganoff. Simple.

Yes I know the photo looks terrible. I took it halfway through plating up and then forgot to take another one before we ate it all.

Now a few quick changes to the recipe below. I had some left over "garlic sautéed kale and mushrooms" from the other night, so I have added this to the version in the picture but not to the recipe below. For the wine, use whatever you have lying around, substitute with sherry, marsala or brandy or anything that pleases you omit it all together, it just depends on your preferential taste. Feel free to mix the herbs up. As always I just used whatever happened to be available in the garden.

Herb Dumplings in Mushroom Stroganoff - Serves 2

• 1 Cup Self Raising Flour
• Pinch Salt
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 2 Tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Herbs (we used Thyme, Caraway Thyme, Rosemary and Parsley)
• 1/4 cup Butter or Shortening
• Ice Water
• 2 cups Vegetable Stock
• 2 cups Large Diced Mushrooms (we used a mix of Portobello and Button as this was what was on hand in the crisper)
• 1/ White Onion, Diced
• 2 cloves Garlic, Crushed
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Wine
• 1/2 cup Cream
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• Large Pinch Smoked Paprika
• Pepper and Salt to taste.

To start with, let's make the dumpling. I love dumplings because they are super easy. Place your flour, baking powder, herbs and salt in a bowl. Mix it around a bit to disperse everything. Add your butter and rub in with your fingertips until completely incorporate (they always say at this stage in recipe books that it should resemble the consistency of sand or breadcrumbs, but it's never looked like any sand or breadcrumbs I've ever seen).

Now pour in a little ice water and mix it up. Keep adding ice water until it come together as a soft, slightly sticky dough. set aside.

Place your vegetable stock in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, divide your mixture into 4 (2 large dumplings each) and pop them into the stock. Cover with a lid and turn the heat down to low. They should be ready in about 7 to 10 minutes and will double in size. Once ready, just turn off the heat and keep the lid on an they will stay warm.

For the mushroom stroganoff (more a sort of creamy mushroom sauce), sauté the onion in the oil until soft. Add the mushroom and sauce for 2 minutes, then add the garlic and stir through. De glaze with the wine, and once cooked off, add the cream and sour cream and stir through. Raise the heat to a good simmer and reduce by 1/3rd. season with Paprika, Salt and Pepper.

Now to Serve, remove your dumplings form the pan with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Top with the sauce. If you want to be fancy, you could pour the sauce into the bowl first and delicately place the dumplings on top. Honestly, it doesn't really matter, just eat up the deliciousness.

Bon Appetite