Sourdough Beef and Guinness Stew with Sourdough Herb Dumplings

BEEF AND GUINNESS IRISH STEW TOPPED WITH SOURDOUGH HERB DUMPLINGS - RECIPE FEATURE IMAGE

Sourdough Beef and Guinness Stew with Sourdough Herb Dumplings

This hearty Irish inspired stew with beef and Guinness is thickened with sourdough starter and topped with fluffy sourdough herb dumplings for a one pot meal the whole family will love!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Irish

Keyword Sourdough Discard

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 4

Fermentation Time 2

Total Time 6 30

Servings people

Calories 548kcal

Ingredients

Beef and Guinness Stew

1.5 kg Beef Chuck Steak (Casserole Steak or slow cooking beef)
1 Onion (approx. 200g - finely chopped)
200 g Bacon (diced)
4 Cloves of Garlic
200 g Carrots (roughly chopped - around 3 carrots)
150 g Celery Stalks (roughly chopped - around 2 stalks)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
50 g Tomato Paste
70 g Sourdough Starter
400 g Guinness Beer (at room temperature)
400 g Potato (cubed - around 2 medium potatoes) - optional, see notes
200 g Beef Stock
4 Bay Leaves (I used dry leaves)
4 Thyme Sprigs (fresh thyme)

Sourdough Herb Dumplings

75 g Butter cold and chopped into small cubes
225 g All Purpose Flour
10 g Baking Powder (1 teaspoon)
10 g Salt (1 teaspoon)
2 tablespoon Fresh thyme or other fresh herbs of choice
225 g Sourdough Starter or sourdough discard
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk

Instructions

Before starting the stew, decide whether you want to have the sourdough dumplings fermented in the fridge for a little bit, or whether you are just doing to make them when you need them. If you want to ferment them, you'll need to prepare the dumplings before you start the stew. If you are just going to pop them in, you can wait until the stew is thickening before you make the dumplings.

How to Make Beef & Guinness Stew with Sourdough Starter

Start by adding a little olive oil to a heavy based pan over high heat. While the pan is heating, cube your beef into small chunks and then brown it off in the olive oil. Once the beef has browned, remove it from the pan and set it aside.
Now add the bacon to the pan and cook it for around 5 minutes before adding the onion and allowing it to get a little brown.
Now add the garlic, carrots and celery to the pot and cook for a few minutes. Allow the vegetables to deglaze all the flavor off the bottom of the pan. They will sweat a little and the excess water will dissolve all the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.
In a jug (not in the pan) stir the Guinness, stock and the sourdough starter together so that the sourdough starter isn't lumpy. Popping it into a batter jug to mix makes it easier to pour in later. Set aside.
Return the beef to the pot, along with the tomato paste, salt and pepper and stir through.
Pour the Guinness mixture over the beef and vegetables.
Add the potatoes, bay leaves and thyme and cover the pan with a lid. Allow the beef and Guinness stew to simmer for around 2 hours on a low heat, stirring occasionally to ensure the bottom doesn't catch.
After 2 hours, check the beef for tenderness, if it's not tender, stir and allow the stew to cook down for another hour.
Once you're happy with the beef, remove the lid and increase the heat slightly. Allow the stew to simmer uncovered for around 30 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken a little.

How to Make Sourdough Herb Dumplings

Make sure your butter is really cold and cut into small cubes or grated. You can pop it in the freezer to cool it faster if you need to.
Add flour and butter to a mixing bowl and rub the flour into the butter using your fingertips. The mixture should be crumbly, but still feel cold.
Add the baking powder, salt and herbs to the flour mixture and gently stir through with a spatula or spoon.
Now whisk the egg and sourdough starter together and then pour into the centre of the dry ingredients.
Gently bring the wet and dry ingredients together to form a dry dough (don't overwork it or your dumplings will be tough).
Using your fingers, form 12 small balls of dough (they don't have to be perfect and they might seem crumbly, that's perfectly ok). If you're going to ferment the dumplings in the fridge, pop them into a bowl and cover with plastic and leave them in the fridge for a few hours.
When you're ready to cook the dumplings, make sure your stew is gently simmering (not boiling). Carefully drop the dumplings into the top of the stew.
Pop the lid on the stew and leave to gently simmer for 10 to 12 minutes.
Serve your stew and dumplings!

Notes

STEW

Beef Stock - you can use chicken stock if you prefer. I used one beef stock cube dissolved in 200g of water. You can add more water if you prefer a more liquidy stew. I like a "drier" stew though so I only add 200g.

Potatoes - I used a white potato and a sweet potato in my stew. You don't have to add potato if you don't want to, but I find it makes the stew go a bit further.

DUMPLINGS

Overnight Ferment - If you wish to ferment the dumpling dough overnight, once you've formed a dry dough, pop an elastic food cover on the bowl and place it into the fridge for up to 2 days. When you want to cook the dumplings, take the dough out of the fridge and allow it to sit for around an hour before forming the dough into 12 small balls. Proceed with the instructions above.

Herbs - you can use any fresh herbs you like. I used fresh thyme and chives (because that's what was growing in my garden) but fresh parsley, rosemary or sage work well too. You could also use dry herbs if you prefer.

Sourdough Starter - you can use sourdough discard or active sourdough starter, it doesn't really make a difference for this recipe since the baking powder is the leavening agent here. The only caveat here is not to use discard that's too old or sour or you'll get unpleasant tasting dumpling.

Freezing Instructions - you can freeze these sourdough dumplings to use another day. Once you've formed the dumplings, place them on a tray lined with parchment paper. Freeze them like that and then when they are frozen, transfer them to a zip loc bag. You can then grab a few out when you need them. Just drop them into your stew frozen. So easy!

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