Steak & Guinness Pie

I decided to try and make my husband an Irish meal for St. Patrick's Day this year. I'm not Irish at all, but he is. Neither of us like the traditional St. Patrick's day fare of "Corned Beef & Cabbage" so I went on the hunt for a meal with Guinness. He likes Guinness to drink, and I like it to cook with. So when I found Jamie Oliver's recipe I thought it looked like a winner.

Besides the fact that this isn't the prettiest meal I've made, it was certainly delicious. I swapped out the puff pastry for my pie dough because my husband requested it that way (he loves my pie dough) and added a few more carrots and celery then what was called for. But besides that, I followed the recipe as it was. I have to say, when I saw that the recipe called for cheese I was a little hesitant but it added SO much complexity and depth of flavor. I absolutely loved the cheese in it. I got an imported Irish Stout cheese and it was very strong, but lent itself perfectly to this pie. This was a meal my husband and I both loved and I'm pretty sure I'll be making it again next year!
Ingredients
Adapted from: Jamie Oliver

olive oil
3 medium red onions, peeled and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
30g butter, plus extra for greasing (This is 2 tablespoons)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped (I used 4 small carrots)
2 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped (I used 2 sticks)
4 field mushrooms, peeled and sliced (I omitted)
1kg brisket of beef or stewing beef, cut into 2cm cubes (I used venison)
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 x 440ml can of Guinness (no lager, please!)
2 heaped tablespoons plain flour
200g freshly grated Cheddar cheese (I used Kerrygold Dubliner with Irish stout cheese)
500g best-quality ready-made all-butter puff pastry (I used 1 recipe Pie Dough)
1 large free-range or organic egg, beaten
Directions

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. In a large ovenproof pan, heat a glug of olive oil on a low heat. Add the onions and fry gently for about 10 minutes – try not to colour them too much. Turn the heat up, add the garlic, butter, carrots and celery and scatter in the mushrooms. Mix everything together before stirring in the beef, rosemary, a pinch of salt and a level teaspoon of pepper.

Fry fast for 3 or 4 minutes, then pour in the Guinness, stir in the flour and add just enough water (I used about 2.5 cups) to cover. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid and place in the preheated oven for about 1½ hours. Remove the pan from the oven and give the stew a stir. Put it back into the oven and continue to cook it for another hour, or until the meat is very tender and the stew is rich, dark and thick. A perfect pie filling needs to be robust, so if it’s still quite liquidy, place the pan on the hob and reduce until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in half the cheese, then season carefully and leave to cool slightly.

Cut about a third of the pastry off the block (or half of the pie dough). Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll both pieces of pastry out evenly with a floured rolling pin to the thickness of a pound coin. Butter a deep pie dish, then line with the larger sheet, leaving the edges dangling over the side. Tip the stew into your lined dish and even it out before sprinkling over the remaining cheese. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little beaten egg.

Cut the other rolled sheet of pastry to fit the top of the pie dish and criss-cross it lightly with a sharp knife. Place it over the top of the pie and fold the overhanging pastry on to the pastry lid to make it look nice and rustic. Brush the top with beaten egg, then bake the pie directly on the bottom of the oven for 45 minutes, until the pastry is cooked, puffed and golden. Delicious served simply with peas.

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Baileys Irish Buttercream

I can't believe it, but my little baby brother just celebrated his 21st birthday. I guess he's not so little anymore. To celebrate this milestone birthday, I had to bake him some cupcakes. But not just any cupcakes...spiked cupcakes of course. I mean, what's a big sister for?!

I brought these to work in celebration of Kevin's birthday (we both work at the same place) and he and our coworkers just loved them. Last count...Kevin ate 4 with Jimmy coming in at 3. These were gone in a flash and everyone raved.

The Guinness pretty much bakes out of the cupcake itself, but leaves you with a super-moist, perfectly flavored chocolate cake. The buttercream is delicious...Great consistency and flavor with the Bailey's definitely at the forefront. I skipped the ganache portion of this cupcake, simply from lack of time and from the fact that I didn't want these to be TOO boozy since I was bringing them to work! (If you want the recipe with the ganache, head over to Smitten Kitchen) But even without the ganache, these were delicious. I already have requests to make them again!

Ingredients
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

For the Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup Guinness
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream (I used light)

Baileys Irish Buttercream
3 to 4 cups confections sugar (I used about 3.5 cups)
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream (I used 3 tbsp Bailey's and 1 tbsp milk to get it to the right consistency)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and add Guinness. Bring to a simmer. Whisk in cocoa powder until mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat eggs and sour cream until thoroughly combined. On low speed, drizzle in Guinness-chocolate mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, and mix briefly on slow speed just until the mixture comes together. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely. (I always bake my cupcakes and cakes the day before I frost them which always works out well for me).

To make the buttercream, whip the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (I use this. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but this product is amazing and SO WORTH IT. If you're debating on buying it or not, I HIGHLY suggest you do. I honestly can't remember the last time I used my "actual" paddle attachment since I bought this) for several minutes until the butter is very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.

When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.

Ice and decorate the cupcakes.

Beer and Cheddar Risotto

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I have to admit that I've had the recipe bookmarked for ages now. I knew it would be something my husband would really like but I wasn't too sure about it. I really, really dislike beer, and this called for a whole bottle so I was honestly avoiding making it. But when I couldn't think of another side to make for my Cornish Game Hens, I decided to give this a whirl.

I was honestly very, very pleasantly surprised how this came out. The beer added flavor without being overwhelming. The cheddar made it wonderfully cheesy with a fantastic bite (I used very sharp cheddar!). This was probably the most flavorful risotto I've made to date, and all of the flavors, textures, etc. worked perfectly together. This was a fabulous recipe that I will most certainly be making again!

Ingredients
Adapted From Cooking This and That
Originally from FayeD on the What's Cooking board on the Nest

1/2 small onion, diced (I used 1 onion)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
2+ tablespoons olive oil
2 cups Arborio rice
12 oz. bottle of beer (preferably not light beer) (I used Michelob Ultra which is light and it was totally fine!)
49.5 ounce can of chicken broth
5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/3 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I omitted)

Directions

Pour chicken broth into medium saucepan. Keep warm over low heat.

Heat large saute pan over medium-low heat. Add butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Heat just until butter is melted. Add onion and saute for 3-5 minutes, until soft and translucent. Turn heat to medium-high and add garlic. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant.

Add rice and saute for 2 minutes, stirring constantly until opaque, adding more olive oil as necessary to coat the rice.

Pour in beer, turn heat up to high until it starts to simmer.

Turn heat back to medium-low and add the chicken broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until liquid dissolves. You may not need to use all of the chicken broth - risotto should be creamy and just slightly al dente. This should take 30 minutes or more.

Remove from heat and stir in the cheeses and cayenne pepper.