Guinness Shepherd's Pie (Guinness Cottage Pie for the Pedants)

I'm not going to be drawn into any arguments of whether something is Shepherd's Pie or Cottage Pie. For me, if it is made from mince from either lamb or beef, with a few vegetables perhaps, and covered with mash potato, it is Shepherd's Pie, and I'm one of the biggest pedants around.

I don't make Shepherd's Pie that often, although it is definitely a favourite of mine. I'm not sure where I learnt how to make it, although it's like that I got it from my mum. However, the other day I saw one of the super-quick Gordon Ramsay recipes on the 'F-Word' compilation they put on over Christmas, and was interested in his alternative methods to the way I make it. Plus, I thought it would definitely make a nice, warming dish with it feeling like snow will fall at any minute.

There are a lot of things I like about Gordon Ramsay, and probably as much that I dislike about him. I haven't had the opportunity to sample his cooking first hand, but he does make a good TV series and provide welcome entertainment along with his annoying quirks. 'Yes?' Still, looking at the results of his Shepherd's Pie, I thought I might try something similar, although where he used Red Wine, I used Guinness. I'm thinking that next time I might try both together as it was such a good combination in the past, but still, I was very satisfied with the result, although I did probably add a few more ingredients than Gordon Ramsay suggested after careful tasting during cooking.

The main differences between his and my version were that with his, the mince was cooked first with the garlic, without the addition of any oil or anything, then, the grated onion and carrot added once it was lightly browned. I quite like little cubes of carrot and peas in my Shepherd's Pie (although Ramsay didn't even bother adding peas, and so he's obviously a bit of a peasant), but this time, I went with grating the carrot along with the onion just to see how the texture of the finished filling differed. I must say, it was nice, but probably immensely improved because of the peas which I added. Ramsay also stuck a couple of egg yolks into his mash, something I've seen other chefs do also, but have no idea why. All the same, I added them myself, just to see if I could work out what the difference was. I'm still not sure, but the mash was good. I pushed the potatoes through my sieve for a change, and the resultant mash was probably the smoothest I've ever made.

Recipe for Guinness Shepherd's Pie (Serves 4)

For the Filling

• 454g Lean Steak Mince
• 2 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
• 2 large Onions, grated
• 3 large Carrots, grated
• 1 tablespoon Concentrated Tomato Purée
• 1 tablespoon Tomato Ketchup
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
• 2 teaspoons Dried Thyme
• 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
• 1 Beef Stock Cube
• 1 bottle of Guinness
• 1 cup Peas
• Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper

For the Mash

• 1.5kg Vivaldi Potatoes (or other potatoes suitable for mash)
• 100g Parmesan Cheese
• 25g Butter
• 2 Egg Yolks
• Black Pepper

So, discarding my previous recipes on Shepherd's Pie, take a heavy bottom pan and brown off the Mince at a medium heat. There should be enough fat and liquid still in the mince to let this cook easily without additional oil, etc. Once there is a little liquid in the pan from the Mince, add the Garlic and continue to cook and stir until the mince is lightly browned all over. Then add the Onion and Carrot and continue cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Next add the Tomato Purée, Ketchup, Worcestershire Sauce, Dijon Mustard, Thyme and Oregano and crumble in the Stock Cube. Stir well and cooking for a further few minutes before adding the Bottle of Guinness. The Guinness should help you de-glaze the pan of any burnt pieces of Mince from the bottom. Stir in the peas, then, cover the pan and leave to simmer until nearly all the liquid has disappeared.

While the filling is simmering, peel, boil and drain the potatoes. Mash the potato with the Butter and most of the Parmesan, reserving some to be sprinkled over the top of the Shepherd's Pie before the final cooking in the oven.

Once the filling is nice and thick, with the Onions and Carrot almost completely disintegrated into the Mince, and nearly all the liquid disappeared, put it into the bottom of roasting dish, then leave to cool for about 20 minutes, so that the filling has solidified slightly. Then cover with the Mash Potato, stripe with a fork and put the final layer of Parmesan and Fresh Ground Black Pepper over the top. Put in a preheated 200 degree Celsius oven for about 25 minutes until the top is golden, then serve.

St. Paddy's Bolognese

I really don't go in for St. Patrick's Day (or St. Guinness' Day as far as most of the World outside Ireland are concerned), even though I do like Guinness. Let's face it, the whole thing has been completely taken over by Irish alcoholic drinks manufacturers, and not being Irish, I think you'd have to drink quite a lot to give the time of day to stories of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland. At least the stories about St. David are slightly more believable and less mythical sounding, and yet you don't see half the world spending the day eating Leek based dishes or drinking Brains Bitter until they can't stand anymore. Still, I'm not going to stop anyone having a good time and the only people I'm hoping do stop anyone having a good time are the Welsh Rugby team by living up to the expression "you can lose to anyone you want except the English".

It being a long day of Six Nations Rugby ahead, I definitely needed to ensure that I had a good meal before heading to the local to watch the 3 matches, and this blog event definitely caught my attention. But deciding what to cook which both satisfied the requirements of this event, as well as getting me ready for a day in the pub was a little difficult.

So I decided to go for a bit of a combination. St. Paddy's Bolognese is pretty much the Tag Bog (Spag Bog, Spag Bol, Tag Bol) recipe I made before, only using Guinness as well. I did think of adding potatoes, but that's just going too far. However, it still didn't sound particularly Irish, and so to inject some 'green' into it, I decided to serve it with Tagliatelle Verde.

The problem was that it was going to be a fairly early start with the first game kicking off at 1:30pm, and with staying up late to watch the F1 qualifying the night before, I decided to prepare the Ragu while waiting for the qualifying to start. The main difficulty was not eating it before the morning, especially with the gorgeous smell wafting through my flat once all the ingredients were together.

I must say, this post makes me sound like a bit of a sports nut, but I don't think I'm that bad. I do enjoy some motor sport and, being Welsh, I have to watch Rugby (especially when Wales and England are playing each other). But the fact that the first F1 race of the new season and the last matches of the Six Nations are on the same weekend, means that it is probably the most sport I will watch over a weekend until the Rugby World Cup starts in September.

Recipe for St. Paddy's Bolognese

• 400g Lean Minced Beef
• 200g Pancetta, cubed (Smoked bacon, normal or streaky, can also be used as long as it's cut into small pieces)
• 1-2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 ½ large onions, chopped
• 3 ribs of celery finely diced
• 3 carrots finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 bottle of Guinness
  
• 1 glass of Red Wine
  
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 can of Chopped Tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon Concentrated Tomato Puree
• 1 teaspoon Fish Sauce
  
• 1 teaspoon Oregano
• 1 teaspoon Thyme
• ½ teaspoon Hot Chili Powder
• 2 Bay Leaves
• Freshly ground Black Pepper (to taste)
  

The cooking method was pretty much as before. First frying the Pancetta, then adding the onion, celery and carrot until the onion becomes transparent. Next, the minced beef was added until lightly browned, and then the booze was put in and cooked until reduced by about half (well, there was quite a bit more than last time). Then the rest of the ingredients were added, brought to the boil, then simmered for the next 3 hours.

Pretty much like the last sauce I made except with the addition of Guinness and Fish Sauce instead of Salt. If it's good enough for Heston Blumenthal, it's good enough for me. I was thinking about adding some Star Anise too, but none of my local shops had any, and my local Sainsbury's is truly terrible for buying anything except a few ingredients. They didn't even sell Tagliatelle Verde, so I bought the mixed bag and just pulled out the green stuff for serving (I'll have the normal tagliatelle with the leftovers).

Starting cooking a meal at midnight is definitely a bad move, even if you have a good reason like I did. But the resultant ragu was very good, even though I do say myself. The addition of Guinness, although even less Italian than my last sauce, was definitely a good idea, so it might end up being a permanent fixture in future.

Beef and Guinness Stew

Another poker night, and I'm preparing the food for the occasion. Once again, I'm cooking Beef and Guinness Stew, partly because I want to perfect my recipe, plus the fact that I haven't eaten it since the last poker night, and it always goes down well. Only this time, instead of Garlic Bread (there wasn't any good bread when I was at the supermarket or at the mini-market I went to), I'm doing some hummus and guacamole with bread sticks, celery and carrot.

I realised that I hadn't made any notes about my last stew, so the recipe I was improving on I had to try and remember. The main difference was that I use braising steak instead of the casserole steak which I used last time as the pieces in the various packets didn't look very appetising, so I decided to cut the cubes out myself.

Recipe (serves 4-6)

• 900g (2 lbs) Braising Steak (cut into 2-4cm cubes)
• 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
  
• 2 tablespoons flour
• Salt and Pepper
• Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
• 1 large Onion (roughly chopped)
• 1 clove of Garlic (finely sliced)
• 2 ribs of Celery (chopped)
• 12-15 Shallots (cut in half)
• 600-700g (1.5 lbs) Baby Chantenay Carrots (just with the heads removed)
• 600-700g (1.5 lbs) Charlotte Potatoes (cut in pieces about the size of the carrots)
• 1 pint Beef Stock
• 1 pint Guinness (or similar Stout)
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Concentrated Tomato Puree
  
• 1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
  
• 2 teaspoons Dried Thyme
• 2 tablespoons Fresh Parsley (chopped fine)

Mix the flour, salt, pepper and cayenne in a bowl, then coat the beef cubes in about a tablespoon of Olive Oil and toss all the pieces in the seasoned flour.

Heat up the rest of the olive oil and then seal the seasoned beef in a heavy pan, cooking until lightly browned (about 4-5 minutes) and transfer the beef to a decent sized, heavy cooking pot. The in the same pan the beef was cooked in, add the onion, celery and garlic and cook until the onion is beginning to brown, then transfer this into the same large pot with the beef. Add the carrots, potato and shallots to the beef and mix around.

In the pan everything has been cooked in so far, add the Dijon Mustard and gradually pour in the Guinness, stirring continuously to de-glaze the pan and blend in the mustard. Then add the stock and pour over the beef and vegetables in the big pot. Mix in the Tomato Puree, Thyme, Parsley and some more Black Pepper and add the bay leaves. Cover and cook in a 170 degree celsius oven for at least 2.5 hours, however, you should check the seasoning half way through so that you can add a little more if necessary. Also, if the gravy isn't thick enough for your liking, mix some flour with water and add to the mixture during cooking.

Due to the usual lateness of some of the attendees, this stew was left in the oven for a good 4 hours, and all the better for it I reckon. The beef was extremely tender, with much nicer pieces than the pre-cut stuff. Preparing it yourself means you can ensure that all the pieces are nice.

Although I was expecting it to fill 5 people, 6 people turned up, a few people were still hungry (even after seconds) afterwards and more hummus was prepared. Maybe if you're cooking it for 6 hungry people, you should consider adding more beef and carrots, leaving out the potatoes, and cooking some separately, although I like having the potatoes in there. Thing is, would need a big pan to do that, and I'm not sure it would fit in my current combination oven.

Poker Night with Stew and Garlic Bread

I was hosting our infrequent poker night this evening, and rather than get pizza delivered like last time, we thought that we'd get a larger overall winners pot if I cooked and we got a load of beers from the supermarket. As one of the guys didn't turn up, this was actually not a bad idea as the pot was still a nice one to win, plus there was no shortage of food, beer and wine.

Ejaz requested that I do the Beef and Guinness Stew again, so I cooked that, plus got a couple of baguettes so that I could make some garlic bread.

The stew was very successful, although I think I might have put more cayenne pepper in the meat seasoning this time, as it was a quite a bit more spicy. Maybe too much. The garlic bread was also good, although the fact that Ejaz donated a couple of new knives (including a much needed bread knife) to my kitchen equipment cause, was a deciding factor as it meant I could actually cut the bread myself, rather than buying the pre-done stuff.

Beef and Guinness Stew

It's been cold recently, so more comfort food required, plus the fact that I hadn't made stew in years. Used 900g of lean casserole beef (seasoned in flour, black pepper, salt and cayenne pepper), lots of baby chantenay carrots, a couple onions, a load of shallots, a few ribs of celery, and pint or so of stock and a bottle of Guinness. Left to cook for 3 hours with some thyme and bay leaves, then just served as it was, but with a little bread to wipe up the gravy.

The amount I cooked would probably suite about 5 or 6 people (depending on the people). Might have been nice to have some dumplings too, but not really necessary with all the potato and carrot.

Thing is, there were only 2 of us, but I'm sure it will taste even better the next day, although I've already got a trade arranged for some lasagne which was made elsewhere tonight (although by the sounds of it, I'll be fishing the mushrooms out, so not the best trade I've done).

If I were making it again, I doubt there is much I would do differently. Except perhaps use a bit of bacon as well, as one recipe suggested. I would probably take the photo with the stew in a nicer plate or bowl, and slightly better presented. But other than that, it was pretty good as it was. It's what it tastes like that really matters, not whether someone has sloshed the gravy around on the way from serving to table.

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