Guinness Beef/Lamb Stew with Herbed, Butter Dumplings

4 pounds organic, Australian lamb meat, cubed into 2-inch pieces, fair-wage, owned by a South Asian-Australian grandmother

OR

Use the traditional beef cubes ingredient for this hearty, Irish stew. Look for organic, grass-fed only, free-range, locally-raised beef cubes in 2-inch cubes or order it from your Whole Foods butcher, if it's not available in two inch-sized cubes.

4 cups Guinness (an Irish stout/dark beer with roasted, malted barley & hops for flavoring, tenderizing the meat, and lowering the bacterial food poisoning risk)

4 organic bay leaves, dried

2 cups organic, fresh lemon thyme, stems removed, washed, then chopped into 1/4-inch pieces

3 - 4 large, organic, fresh, Maui/Vidalia onions, diced into 1/4-inch pieces, oven-roasted, 325°F, center rack for 5 minutes with carrots
(stir it halfway through, at two and a half minutes)

8 cups fresh, organic baby carrots, pre-peeled, washed, oven-roasted, center rack, 325°F, for 5 minutes with onions (stir it halfway through, at two and a half minutes)

4 teaspoons organic, dark brown sugar, fair-wage, packed firmly, leveled

4 teaspoons finely-ground, sea salt (mix this with the flour)

4 teaspoons organic black pepper, coarsely-ground (mix this with the flour)

1/2 cup organic, chestnut flour (to coat the lamb meat cubes with the salt, and pepper seasonings)

Large Ziploc bag for coating the lamb meat cubes with the seasoned flour, in batches

Directions:

First, make sure the oven is preheated to 325°F with the center rack. Next, put the lamb meat cubes into the Ziploc bag in batches with the seasoned flour, coating it well. Keep the remaining seasoned flour to add to this oven-baked stew, before putting it in the oven.

Then, brown or sautee the lamb meat in a large, deep-dish, non-stick, pan in batches with the oven-roasted carrots and onions. Use 4 TBL organic hazelnut oil, over medium heat, for ten minutes at least, stirring frequently.

Next, get a large pasta pot out. Put in the browned, drained lamb meat, carrots and onions into that. Then, add in the Guinness, dark sugar, lemon thyme and bay leaves. Stir in the seasoned flour and make sure to stir the sugar so it's well-incorporated into the stew. Bring this to a high boil for ten minutes on the stovetop.

Then, transfer all ingredients and liquids to an extra-large, deep-dish, non-stick, metal, lasagna pan. Cover it with foil completely.

To bake it, finally:

Put this into the oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes, at 325°F, preheated, on the center rack.

Afterwards, take the pan out, remove both foil covering and bay leaves. Add the freshly-formed herb dumplings on top of the uncovered casserole. (Dumpling recipe is below).

Then, it will still need to bake an additional 30 minutes, this time, uncovered, to cook the dumplings and fully finish the stew meat. Check the lamb meat cubes with a meat thermometer at the end of the additional 30 minutes.

Dumpling recipe (sea-level):

2 cups organic chestnut flour

1 tsp sea salt, finely-ground

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup cubed, softened, unsalted, organic butter, pasteurized, from grass-fed, free-range cows only

1/2 cup cold water

4 TBL fresh, organic parsley leaves stems removed, washed, then chopped into 1/4-inch pieces

Direction:

First, sift the flour, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle the parsley, cubed butter and water into the mixing bowl.

Stir the flour mixture with a fork, then, use your hands to lightly knead it into a dough. Roll it into little balls, each the size of a golf ball.

Place the herbed, butter dumplings on top of the pan of stew, making sure you've removed the bay leaves. Leave the pan uncovered, return it to the oven for thirty more minutes.

Finally, after it's fully cooked with the dumplings, garnish the top with extra, fresh, chopped, organic parsley.