It’s an unfortunate household that doesn’t occasionally sit down to a simmering pot of delicious moose or other wild-game stew. It’s a meal that can be made easily in camp or at home and it’s guaranteed to satisfy even the biggest appetite. There was a time when a stew wasn’t complete without including dumplings (bread-like balls) floating on the surface. An Internet search will probably reveal a complicated recipe but the ‘keep it simple, stupid’ (KISS) approach is the way to go.When the stew has simmered, and is within a half-hour or so of serving, the dumpling dough is spooned onto the stew. A second spoon is used to empty the dough-laden first spoon, while care is taken not to splash the hot stew on your hands.The dough balls can be arranged around the inside of the pot and also the open space in the middle of the pot. The tight fitting lid is then replaced on the pot, and requires only minimal peeking during the 10 to 20 minutes for the dough to cook through. No turning of the dumpling is required, as the hot steam under the lid cooks the top half while the simmering stew cooks the bottom half.When serving, the dumplings can be set aside to be placed on top of the stew, or just ladled out with the stew. On the slim chance they are underdone, just put them back into the stew for a few more minutes.Dumplings can be made with a packaged biscuit mix, but they are even better from scratch, using any bannock recipe.Depending on your taste, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, parmesan, 1 tsp dried or 1 tbsp fresh parsley, and finely chopped red onion or onion powder can be added for flavour and colour.Milk or water can be used for the liquid portion, and if water is the only choice, you can but don’t need to add skim or whole milk powder to make it richer. Thoroughly mix all the dry ingredients before adding the liquid. After mixing the batter, let it sit for 10 minutes before spooning it into the hot stew.
BASIC BANNOCK MIX
2 cups all-purpose flour (or multiple of 2 cups)4 tsp baking powder½ tsp salt1 cup milk or water (add or delete liquid to get the thick doughy consistency.)Just the same as the stew itself, the dumplings are delicious reheated the next day and can also be frozen for another day right in the stew. Dumplings are also a pleasant addition to home-made or even canned soup.
