Winter Vegetable Stew with Rosemary Biscuits

My kitchen has been a bit quiet lately. I’ve been feeling a little down, and often when that happens, I start to rely on those culinary staples that are simple, and basic, and designed to make sadness feel a little lighter: minestrone, pizza, big pots of lentils. Macaroni and cheese is right around the corner, I can feel it.

This root vegetable stew is just right for sad, grey winter days. It’s warming and hearty, and fluffy biscuits are the very definition of comfort food. Plus, it’s easy, and allows for plenty of time to sit on the couch watching re-runs of your favorite television shows while it burbles away on the stove.

Root vegetables are pretty terrific, and the great thing about this recipe is you can use whatever vegetables you can find. Potatoes would be such a natural here, I’m surprised I didn’t use them. I have to admit, I’m not even completely sure what I did use: I found these gnarly, dirty vegetables at the farmers’ market, and I don’t know what they are. I probably could have asked the farmer, but sometimes I’m shy, and I don’t like to ask strangers questions.

The mushrooms are totally key, though. Don’t leave those out. I kept mine in large chunks, only cutting the especially huge mushrooms in half. I wanted them to stand up to the chunks of turnips in this stew. They become very soft and chewy after their new long stew in broth. These are not to be missed.

I halved the biscuit recipe from the original recipe, because I wanted a different stew to biscuit ratio, and I was cooking this in a deeper pot than the recipe recommended. It would be easy to double if you want more biscuits. You could also use the leftover biscuit-less stew and top it with mashed potatoes to make a vegetarian-style shepherd’s pie. I wanted to do that originally, but I ate all the mashed potatoes, because, well, talk about comfort food.

Winter Vegetable Stew with Rosemary Biscuits

Adapted from Bon Appetit

For the stew

• 1-2 T. olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion
• 2 cups Cremini mushrooms
• 2 carrots
• 3 small turnips
• 3 small rutabaga
• 1 celery root
• about 3 cups vegetable (or chicken) stock
• water
• about 1-2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon herbes de provence
• 3 T. butter
• 1 tsp minced rosemary
• 3 T. flour
• 1/4 cup. heavy cream

For the biscuits

• 1 1/8 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup chilled buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Remove the stems from the mushrooms and cut the bigger specimens in half. Chop all the vegetables into small cubes, about 1/2 inch to 1 inch.

Heat the olive oil, and cook onions until soft. Add mushrooms and salt, and cook until the mushrooms are soft and shrunken down a bit. Add in the rest of the vegetables. Sprinkle with aleppo pepper and herbes de provence. Add the stock, and enough water to cover, if needed. Cook for about 10 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables from the pot and set aside. Set the pot with the stock aside.

In a medium skillet, heat the butter until melted. Stir in the rosemary until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Whisk in the flour, and whisk until you have a smooth paste. Cook for about a minute, until the paste starts to turn light brown. Whisk in the cream, then a small ladleful or two of the hot stock. Stir the whole roux mixture back into the larger pot of stock, and whisk until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking frequently, for about 8 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken. Stir the vegetables back into the pot. Cover, and put in a 400F oven for 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the biscuits. Stir together the dry ingredients, then cut the butter into small chunks, and cut it into the flour mixture with your fingers or a pastry mixer. Stir in the buttermilk just until the mixture comes together. Keep in the refrigerator to chill until ready.

When the vegetable stew has cooked for 50 minutes, drop the biscuit mixture over the top of the stew in large pieces. Put it back in the oven, uncovered, for 45 minutes. It’s ready when a knife inserted into the biscuits comes out clean.