I thought I’d share one of my favourite dishes since my husband has been nagging me to document it.   The problem with a lot of my dishes are that they are thrown together, on taste, and when I come to itemise it, I can’t remember amounts!  Needless to say, everything is subject to what you like to eat – sure, isn’t that the joy of cooking?  Making things that you’ll want to keep on eating!

My stew is non-traditional traditional for a few reasons.  Traditional Irish Stew tends to have chunks of lamb and root veg through it, and a lot of stew recipes you’ll find look quite soupy and ‘gourmet’.  This, my dear handful of readers, is completely missing the point.  It’s ‘pov’ food – you use what you have, and leave out what you don’t have.  It’s not meant to be fit for a queen (though any queen who can resist this isn’t worth my respect!).  A little advice for you – a lot of recipes you find online called Irish are nothing of the sort.  They are as big a fairytale as banshees and leprechauns (don’t tell them I said that!).  Stuff that no self-respecting Irish person, as they pull up their seat at their local curry house, would eat.  Burn that corned beef and cabbage image right out of your head, k?

What you also don’t see on (mostly American, unfortunately) food websites is that there is a vast diversity of style and ingredient in Ireland.  Like the accents, you can go 10 miles down the road and everything changes.  I’ll put on my narky voice and say now that you cannot homogenize Irish food and culture, you just can’t.  Stop it with the green beer and car-bomb cupcakes already!

And breathe.

My mum always made her stew with mince steak (ground beef for some of you), so that’s how I prefer it.  I’ve also added a few extras (the non-traditional) because it’s tasty.

As mentioned, all amounts are anyone’s guess!  A big pot will serve a family of 6, or 2 very hungry people for a couple of meals!

500g mince steak

2 onions, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

salt & pepper

curry powder (optional)

cajun seasoning/spicy season-all

1 tbsp dried thyme

8-10 medium/large potatoes (floury potatoes are my preference, but Maris Pipers also cook up well), peeled, quartered.

flour to thicken

chicken or beef stock (I use a litre carton of pre-made chicken stock)

1 can chopped tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 can chickpeas, drained

Start by ’sweating’ your onions, carrots and garlic.  Don’t brown the onions etc too much – slow and steady is best.  This part draws out so much flavour, so depending on the time, do this as long as you can.  My mum swears by slow-cooking onions.  I add the carrots here as well as they are full of yumminess, and if you have carrots that aren’t the best, this will make them more flavourful.

Then add the mince steak.  You can use lamb here if you prefer, but I’m a beef eater (minus the frilly collar!).  Brown the mince, break it up quite well – it’s actually quite nice to leave a few lumps in there.  At this stage I add some salt, pepper, thyme and either cajun seasoning or spicy season-all.  This dish is not meant to be spicy, so don’t go mad with chilli or anything, you just want a bit of flavour.

Mix well, add potatoes, can of tomatoes, and stock.  Bring to boil, then put the lid on and simmer gently.  The veg will cook in about half an hour, but like most stews, if you want it in a hurry…don’t make a stew.  Cook SLOOOOOWLY.  You can’t rush these things.

Towards the end of the cooking time, add your chickpeas.  The stew will need to be thickened – you can use cornflower, but I love using wholemeal plain flour – it requires a bit of guess work, but I usually sprinkle some tablespoons over the stew & mix well, allow to cook for a couple of minutes and then reassess if I need to add more.

And you’re done!  Except….stews are stubborn things.  You can certainly eat it straight away, but stew is ALWAYS better the next day.  Hey, I didn’t make the rules, the stew does.  As a family, we had a range of ‘condiments’ to add to our big bowl of stew – curry powder (seriously my favourite), brown sauce (for my dad), salt & pepper, Worcestershire Sauce.  Take your pick of any or none.

Et voila – she’s ugly to look at, but trust me, she’s beautiful on the inside.

I thought I’d share one one my most regularly cooked recipes with my forgotten blog readers.  What’s that?  Food on a food blog?

I know, I know, it’s been a long time coming.  But I can promise that a big plate of this on a chilly night will put smiles on everyone’s face.  I’m just sad it’s becoming summer here…

Beef & Guinness Pie

1 kg casserole steak (we’ve used organic/hormone free from our fab butcher Craig Cook’s – not the cheapest, but it really makes a difference.  You can use cheaper cuts because it’s cooking for a long time, though.  I recommend taking the bulk of the fat off – there’s nothing worse than a big slimy piece of yuk when you eat a mouthful of pie.)
1 tbsp flour
salt & pepper to season flour
1 tbsp raisins (optional)
5 x onions (I often use less than this, but I do add some chopped garlic as well)
300ml Guinness (or if you get a can it’s 400ml – you can add 300 and keep 100 in case it looks dry – I tend to dump it all in, or it tends to find its way into someone’s mouth.  No hardship.)
8 slices of bacon, chopped small
oil (or lard if you want to go to town)
chopped parsley
enough sheets of puff pastry for the size of the pie! If you’re feeling brave, you can make your own, or use a combo of puff & shortcrust (for the base), put pastry on the top, or just ‘deconstruct’ it with a slice of pastry on the top at a jaunty angle.
I also chop some carrot and mushroom quite roughly to add for colour & flavour.

The filling should be enough for 4 people, though I always make much more.

Cut steak into bite-sized chunks, roll in seasoned flour & brown with bacon in lard/oil.  Best to use a non-stick pan for this, and it get’s really gluggy at the bottom – although once you add liquid, it unsticks it partially, but get in there with a wooden spoon & encourage it every now and again.
Peel and chop onions (and garlic if using – I use about 2/3 cloves), fry until golden brown & add to meat.
Add carrots and mushrooms if using.

Add raisins and sugar, pour in Guinness.  Cover tightly & simmer over a low heat or in a moderate oven (180C/325-350F) for 2 1/2 hours.  Longer if you can.  Stir occasionally and add a little more Guinness or water if the rich brown gravy gets too thick.  Again, if you can make this the day before I think it’s better.  You can eat this filling as a stew if you want instead.

If using pastry, follow the packet instructions to bake base of pie blind.  Add filling, add chopped parsley to taste, add top crust, glaze with and egg & bake.  I usually heat filling on stove again if I’ve made it the day before so you only have to wait for the pastry to bake.

VARIATION: you can exchange 3 tbsp honey for brown sugar.

The filling can be quite sweet, so feel free to adjust seasoning etc if you like it less so – it’s the Guinness that gives it that distinct sweetness, and carrot can increase this sweetness as well.

The accompanying Champ Potatoes are a lot more ‘guessy’ – it’s basically a regular mashed potato, but instead of dumping in the butter & milk and mashing that way, you chop some scallions, place in a pot with the milk, and warm through very gently so the milk gets infused with the scallion flavour (just until scallion’s white bits are a bit softer) – you then make the mash as normal with the milk, scallions, and as much butter as your arteries can handle!  Season with s&p.

Enjoy!!

Deconstructed Beef & Guinness Pie with Champ Potatoes.

** Thanks to David for the photo, the write up, and being the best potato masher EVER (make up your own double entendre).