Clodagh’s St. Patrick's Day feast
We couldn’t celebrate St Patrick's Day without our favourite Irish chef. Clodagh’s in the kitchen cooking up a 'craicing' good feast - her delicious, hearty, Irish stout beef stew and scrumptious chocolate Guinness cake.
And what better way to wash it down than with a tall pint of Guinness… with a personal portrait on top!
Chocolate beef stew with potato dumplings
serves 6
Ingredients
80g butter
650g stewing beef
20g flour
8 shallots, peeled
200g chestnut mushrooms, quartered
2 cloves garlic, crushed
400ml stout
200ml beef stock
1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
50g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), grated or nibs
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the dumplings
1kg potatoes
80g butter
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley
1 tbsp fresh thyme
200g plain flour
For the roux
50g flour
50g butter
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 140C or gas mark 2.
2. Place the beef in a large bowl and sprinkle with 20g of flour and season with salt and pepper, toss to coat. Place a heavy bottomed saucepan or casserole dish over a medium heat and melt 40g of butter.
3. Add all of the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until browned. Transfer the beef to a bowl.
4. Stir in the shallots and cook for 5 minutes. Turn up the heat to get the shallots golden brown. Remove the shallots and add to the same bowl as the beef.
5. Add another 50g of butter and then the chestnut mushrooms and garlic to the casserole dish and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Then add all the browned ingredients back into the casserole dish.
6. Pour in the Irish stout, beef stock, fresh thyme and the grated chocolate, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat. Place the casserole dish into the preheated oven and cook for about 1½ - 2 hours, or until the beef is tender. Remove from the oven.
7. Meanwhile, to make the potato dumplings, place the peeled potatoes in a saucepan and fill halfway with water, cover and bring to the boil and reduce to simmer and cook for 30-35 minutes or until the potatoes are completely cooked.
8. Drain the potatoes, season with sea salt and pepper, and add in the butter and finely chopped herbs and mash well. Next stir in the flour and combine.
9. Flour your hands and mould the potato and herb mixture into dumplings that are just a bit smaller than a tennis ball. You should be able to make about six.
10. Before you add the dumplings to the stew, make a roux by melting the 50g butter, and then stir in 50g of flour. Strain all the liquid from the casserole into the roux and slowly whisk until the sauce is thick and smooth. Then pour the sauce back over the casserole.
11. Next add the herby potato dumplings to the top of the stew so it’s completely covered and put back in the oven uncovered for 35 minutes.
Guinness chocolate cake with vanilla frosting
serves 8-10
Ingredients
130g unsalted butter
150ml Guinness
50g cocoa powder
1 egg
210g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
90ml buttermilk
150g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp baking powder
For the icing
100g unsalted butter, softened
300g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
300g full-fat cream cheese
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3. Line the base of a 20cm round spring form tin with baking parchment.
2. To make the cake, heat the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat until melted. Stir in the Guinness, then remove from the heat and stir in the cocoa powder.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and buttermilk and then slowly add the Guinness mixture, whisking all the time.
4. In a separate large bowl, sieve together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. Using an electric whisk, slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and keep whisking until it is all well combined.
5. Transfer the mixture into the cake tin and bake for approximately 45 minutes. Test to make sure the cake is cooked by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake - if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked. Set aside to cool a little, and then remove from the tin and allow cooling completely on a wire rack.
6. Meanwhile, make the icing by blending all the ingredients together using an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy.
7. Place the cooled cake on a plate and generously spread the icing on top.
NOTE: The un-iced cake will keep for up to 1 week in an airtight container.