2 pounds Cipollini onions
2 ½ pound chuck roast cut into about 16 pieces
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons softened butter divided
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound whole baby bella or button mushrooms
½ cup white wine
1 tablespoon sugar
2 quarts beef stock
½ cup port wine
Small bunch of thyme tied together with twine
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon gravy flavoring such as Kitchen Bouquet
Additional 1 teaspoon salt, as needed
Additional ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, as needed
2 tablespoons flour

To make the Dumplings
1 ¼ cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
â…“ cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons milk

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and plunge in all of the onions; skin, root and all. Boil three minutes then plunge into cold water. Drain and bring to the cutting board. Cut off the root end and squeeze from the other end and the onion will pop out. If the other end has a long stem, you may want to trim a little off so the stem does not hold the onion from sliding out. Set onions aside. Salt and pepper both sides of the cut up beef. In a large Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat, place two tablespoons of butter with the two tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot and starting to get frothy, add half of the beef (do not crowd meat) and sear on all sides. Once browned on all sides (8-10 minutes per batch), repeat for second half of beef. Set all of the seared beef aside. Reduce to medium and add one more tablespoons of butter and then add onions. Sauté three minutes then remove to a separate bowl. Add whole mushrooms and sauté for three more minutes. Add onions back in with mushrooms and add white wine and sugar. Cook for two minutes scraping up and bits from the bottom. Strain onions and mushrooms out to a bowl and refrigerate until later in this recipe. To the liquid left in the pot, add reserved beef and any liquid from the beef, beef stock, port wine, thyme bundle, bay leaves and kitchen bouquet. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cover. Cook on simmer for two hours. After two hours, remove cover and taste. If needed, add additional salt and pepper. Mix last two tablespoons of softened butter with two tablespoons of flour to form a paste and add to hot stock and beef. Stir to combine and add in reserved onions and mushrooms along with any liquid in the bowl. Bring back to hot. While beef is reheating, in a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in thyme, yogurt, horseradish and milk to form a gooey dough. Drop by spoonfuls into the hot beef mixture, close lid and reduce to a simmer. Cook covered for 15 minutes. Serve the dumplings in a bowl with the beef and onions.