TO celebrate St Patrick’s Day today, why not try these fantastic recipes from the Irish Food Board, Bord Bia.
Irish sweep steak pie (serves 4)
This pie has no pastry. Instead it is topped with cheesy cauliflower florets with tender chunks of gently braised, grass-fed chuck steak peeping through – a fabulous, memorable lottery of tastes – and so easy!
Ingredients: 700g/1/1/2lb grass-fed chuck steak in large chunks; seasoned flour; 3 tbsp oil; 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped; 150ml/1/4pt beef stock; 150ml/1/4pt red wine; few sprigs thyme; salt and freshly ground black pepper; roughly chopped fresh parsley for decoration; 1 small cauliflower, in florets; 15g/1/2oz Irish butter; 15g/1/2oz flour; 300ml/1/2pt milk; 50g/2oz Irish cheese
Method: Toss steak in seasoned flour and reserve. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and gently fry onion over low heat to soften, but not brown. Transfer to a flameproof casserole. Add remaining oil to pan and fry steak in batches to brown all over. Add to casserole. Pour over beef stock, wine and add thyme. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Turn down heat to a low simmer and cover. Cook for around 1 hour, then leave the lid half off. Continue until steak is tender, and sauce is unctuously reduced to a dark gravy
At the same time, blanch cauliflower florets and reserve.
For the sauce, melt butter in a pan and add flour. Cook for 1 minute, stirring. Add milk gradually, still stirring to make a creamy sauce. Season and add cheese. Continue stirring until cheese has melted. Add cauliflower florets. Reserve keeping warm
Transfer meat to a shallow flameproof dish and top with cheese sauce coated cauliflower florets, dotted over so the meat is still visible beneath. Place under a hot grill until cheese sauce is bubbling and browning.
Bubblin’ Dublin stew (serves 4)
Heavenly, fragrant and seriously meaty stew with grass-fed braising steak cooked in stout to delicious tenderness with herby dumplings, and served with buttery mash.
Ingredients: 700g/1 1/2 lbs grass-fed chuck steak, in cubes; 3 tbsp seasoned flour; 3 tbsp oil; 1 onion, peeled and in chunks; 300ml/1/2pt stout ; 300ml/1/2pt beef stock; buttery mash for serving; extra parsley for sprinkling
For the dumplings: 100g/4oz plain flour, 1/2 tbsp baking powder, good pinch of salt, 50g/2oz shredded suet, 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley, cold water approx 75ml / 3fl oz
Method: Dip meat chunks in seasoned flour and shake off excess. Heat oil in a pan and fry meat in batches to colour. Transfer each batch to a flameproof casserole with a slotted spoon. Add onions and gently fry over low heat to soften but not brown. Add to casserole. Pour stout and stock over beef and onions and bring to bubbling. Turn down to simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or until beef is tender.
Meanwhile, make the dumplings. Place flour, baking powder, salt and suet in a bowl. Add parsley. Stir in water to give a stiff dough. Nip off small lumps of the mix and roll into marble-sized balls.
Drop one by one into the simmering stew and cook for 5 – 6 minutes. Sprinkle with extra parsley to serve.
Whiskey pepper steak (serves 4)
Not for the faint-hearted, this thick, spectacular grass-fed fillet steak is doused in whiskey, then encrusted with cracked black peppercorns and cooked to juicy, spicy perfection. Serve with potato wedges and wilted baby spinach, tossed in butter
Ingredients: 4 thick grass-fed fillet steaks; 4 tbsp Irish whiskey; 1 tbsp cracked black peppercorns; 2 tbsp oil; 225g/8oz bag baby spinach; 15g/1/2oz Irish butter; 450g/1lb scrubbed potatoes, skins on, in wedges
Method: Place fillet steaks in a shallow dish and sprinkle with Irish Whiskey. Turn over once. Bash peppercorns in a mortar until roughly cracked. Scatter peppercorns on a plate and press steaks on this to coat each side, so they stick to the whiskey.
Heat oil in pan and fry steaks over high heat to preference.
Do the ‘finger test’ for doneness. Press with a forefinger. Giving away softly, is rare, springy is medium and so on – the more resilient – the more well done is the steak. Transfer to a warmed plate to relax. And at the same time, shallow fry potato wedges. Drain on kitchen paper.
Wilt the spinach in a pan with a little butter. (If you buy prepared baby spinach in a bag – this can be cooked in the bag in the microwave very successfully and buttered when you turn it out). Serve steaks with buttered spinach and wedges on the side. Pour steak juices over steaks.
