Friday, May 24, 2013

Mushroom stout stew with potato dumplings

May 19, 2013

We had friends for dinner on a chilly Sunday night and Cindy had the perfect PPK recipe bookmarked - doubly perfect given our morning was taken up mushrooming on the Mornington Peninsula.


Sadly we didn't forage quite enough mushrooms for this stew recipe, but we had a good stash of button mushrooms on hand to cover the deficit. It's a very hearty recipe - rich with gravy, beans and mushrooms, but really topped off by the glorious dumplings on top - perfect for a cold winter's night. The stew itself has a nice flavour - peppery and herby, with some sweetness from the carrots and a bit of a celery tang. It's really all about the dumplings though.


There's a bit of time involved, but it's not particularly complicated. Probably best to leave it for a weekend. We took a few shortcuts - swapping in a mushroom stock cube for porcinis and skipping all the dough kneading for the dumplings - the dish didn't seem to suffer for it.


Mushroom stout stew with potato dumplings
(slightly adapted from this recipe at Post Punk Kitchen)

stew
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
150g button mushrooms, sliced
50g pine mushrooms, sliced
3 celery ribs, finely diced
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 teaspoons dried thyme
250g carrots, sliced into thin half moons
1 1/4 cups of Coopers stout
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 cans kidney beans, rinsed
3 cups veggie stock with a cube of mushroom stock powder crumbled through it
1/3 cup flour whisked into 1 cup of cold water until there are no lumps

dumplings
1 cup mashed potatoes (however you like them - we mashed ours with a bit of soy milk and a splash of oil)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup cold water

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and throw in the onion with a shake of salt. Cook for about ten minutes, until the onion is soft. Add in the garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute or so.

Add the mushrooms, celery, thyme and rosemary. Cook for another ten minutes or so, until the mushrooms start to cook. Throw in the carrots, stout, tomato paste, pepper and salt and bring the mix to the boil. Boil the pot for about eight minutes, until the liquid has reduced substantially.

Add in the mushroom/stock mixture and bring it all back to the boil and cook for another five minutes or so.

Gently pour in the flour mixture while stirring the stew.  Cook for about five minutes until the stew starts to thicken up nicely.

Kill the heat and add the beans, preheat the oven to 220°C and get cracking on the dumplings.

Combine the mashed potatoes with the oil and water and stir well.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour the potato mixture into it. Mix together to form a loose dough.

Transfer the stew to a baking tray and then dollop big spoonfuls of the potato mix on top.

Pop the whole thing in the oven and then bake for roughly twenty minutes - the dumplings should be nice and brown on top and deliciously soft in the middle. Let it all sit for ten minutes to cool and before serving.

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We're submitting this kidney bean-rich stew to Catherine's legume-themed blog event.


12 comments:

  1. I've made this with gluten free flour and it turned out PERFECT. I did make the mash extra buttery though for moisture. This recipe is bomb!

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    1. Thanks for the g-f tip, Carla! I think this recipe will be getting a few repeat runs over winter.

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  2. The potato dumplings seem pretty close to gnocchi minus the egg. The last time I made something with stout I found the boozey flavor a bit overwhelming so I might try this with red wine, otherwise it seems like the perfect antidote to the cold.

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    1. Hi Elizabeth - I'm sure you could swap out the stout! I didn't find it particularly prominent here anyway.

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  3. It is such dumpling weather now - this sounds like a great dish with lots of flavour and I love the addition of potato into the dumplings - definitely must try it.

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    1. Hi Johanna - these dumplings definitely reminded me of the potato scones that you make.

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  4. Whoa this looks incredible! I love the whole dumpling saucy thing - so comforting for these freezing nights in Melbourne. I've never foraged for my own mushrooms - sounds like fun!!

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    1. Hi Lisa! Mushrooming foraging is great, though it's important that you can safely identify edible from inedible. Pine mushrooms are pretty easy to spot and very, very good to eat. :-)

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  5. This looks delicious, and so right for this wintry weather!

    I'm also very curious about mushrooming - it's not something I've ever done. Could I invite myself along with you sometime?

    Catherine

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    1. Hi Catherine! Actually we're the n00biest of n00bs when it comes to mushrooming and we rely on a friend for expertise and a car. :-D

      I'll gladly message you if there's ever a spare seat. Alternatively, there are a bunch of tours and info sessions that pop up around Victoria at this time of year. (We went on one last year and had a great time.) Whatever you do, take care with identification! There are more inedible than edible mushrooms out there. :-)

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  6. That looks so damn good! I was looking at one of Johanna's recipes on GGG the other day.. It was a Mexican bake with corn dumplings and now I've seen your mushroom/potato version and I'm totally drooling all over again! Must give something like this a go - totally perfect for winter.

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    1. Hi AA! Yes, it really is time to get your baked dumpling on. :-)

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