Celebrate St Patrick's Day with these delicious recipes

HERE are a few ideas to celebrate St Patrick’s Day in style with dishes inspired by Ireland.

Images and recipes courtesy of Waitrose.

Steak & Guinness Pie

Allow marinating time for this rich beef, Guinness and wine recipe.

Preparation time:3 hours, plus marinating
Cooking time:45 minutes
Total time:3 hours, 45 minutes plus marinating

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1kg ox cheeks, cut into large cubes
300ml Guinness
150ml full-bodied red wine
2 bay leaves
4 Cooks’ Ingredients thyme sprigs
2 tbsp plain flour
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, roughly chopped
100g smoked lardons
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
250g chestnut mushrooms, quartered
10g unsalted butter
400g frozen all butter puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg, beaten

Method

Marinate the meat, Guinness, wine and herbs in the fridge for at least 6 hours.
Drain the meat (keep the marinade), coat in the flour; season. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan; brown half the ox cheeks. Set aside, wipe the pan, then brown the rest.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a casserole; cook the onions and lardons for 10 minutes. Stir in the meat, marinade and herbs, tomato purée and worcestershire sauce; season. Cover; simmer for 2 hours 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200c, gas mark 6. Fry the mushrooms in the butter over a high heat for 4 minutes. Spoon, with the stew, into a 20cm x 30cm pie dish. On a floured surface, roll the pastry out a bit larger than the dish; top the pie with the pastry and cut a cross in it. Trim away the excess and press down around around the edges. Brush with egg.
Bake for 45 minutes until the pastry is puffed and gravy bubbles at the edges. Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Soda Bread

This takes only minutes to make and is one of my ‘great convertibles’. It’s great if you add olives, herbs, sun-dried tomatoes or caramelised onions to the flour before mixing in the buttermilk.

Preparation time:5 minutes
Cooking time:35 minutes
Total time:40 minutes

Makes: 1 large loaf, enough for 6-8

Ingredients

450g plain white unbleached flour
1 level tsp salt
1 level tsp bicarbonate soda
350ml buttermilk, plus a little extra

Method

Preheat the oven to 230˚C/gas mark 8. Sieve the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Pour in the 350ml buttermilk, all in one go. Then, using one hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl. Add more buttermilk if necessary – the dough should be softish, but not wet and sticky. When it comes together, turn it out onto a floured board. Wash and dry your hands, then knead the dough lightly for a few seconds – just enough to tidy it up. Flip the dough over on to a large, heavy baking sheet, and pat into a round, about 2.5cm deep. (I like to cut a cross in the top, too, which lets all the fairies out!)
Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200˚C/gas mark 6 for 20 minutes or until cooked.
Test by tapping the bottom of the loaf – it should sound hollow. Eat it on the day you bake it, preferably still warm, cut into thick slices and smeared with butter.
To make soda scones, prepare the dough as above, flatten into a 2.5cm-deep round and cut into large scones. Cook for about 20 minutes at 230˚C/gas 8.

Black pudding croquettes with homemade brown sauce

Preparation time:20 minutes
Cooking time:25 minutes
Total time:45 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

FOR THE BROWN SAUCE
400g can chopped tomatoes
100g pitted medjool dates, chopped
30g dark brown sugar
1 tbsp malt vinegar
½ tbsp black treacle
3 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp English mustard powder

FOR THE CROQUETTES
200g potato, diced
190g Waitrose Traditional Bury Black Pudding (from the deli counter), skinned and crumbled
3 salad onions, finely sliced
½ tbsp English mustard
25g plain flour, seasoned
2 medium Waitrose British Blacktail Free Range Eggs, beaten
100g Cooks’ Ingredients Panko Breadcrumbs
500ml groundnut oil

Method

1. For the sauce, place all the ingredients into a small saucepan, heat and bring to a simmer, then cook gently for 15 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then blend with a stick blender to form a smooth sauce.

2. To make the croquettes, place the diced potato in a pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the potato is tender. Drain and mash, and allow to cool.

3. In a large bowl, mix the cold mashed potato, black pudding, salad onions and mustard together until combined. Season well. Divide the mixture equally into 8 and then shape into cylinders with your hand.

4. Dip each croquette first into the seasoned flour, then the beaten
egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for 30 minutes until ready to cook.

5. Heat the oil in a deep saucepan and gently fry the croquettes in batches for 4 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden and crisp. Serve with the brown sauce.

Irish coffee layer cake

Preparation time:25 minutes
Cooking time:30 minutes
Total time:55 minutes

Serves: Makes 12 slices

Ingredients

225g butter, softened
225g golden caster sugar
4 medium Duchy Originals from Waitrose Organic British Free Range Eggs, beaten
2 tbsp instant coffee granules
225g self-raising flour, sifted
2 tbsp Irish whiskey

For the icing
25g butter, softened
250g tub Galbani Mascarpone
175g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp instant coffee granules
1 tbsp Irish whiskey
Waitrose Coffee Beans Coated in Milk, Dark and White Chocolate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Butter and base-line 2x20cm sandwich tins with baking paper. Beat the butter with the sugar until pale and light. Beat in the eggs a little at a time.

2. Mix the coffee with 2 tbsp boiling water. Fold the sifted flour into the cake mixture followed by the coffee and whiskey. Spoon into the prepared tins and level the surface. Bake for 30 minutes until well-risen and firm to touch. Rest in the tins for a couple of minutes then turn onto wire racks to cool completely.

3. For the icing, beat the butter with 25g of the mascarpone then beat in the icing sugar, reserving 2 tbsp to decorate, until very pale and light. Mix the coffee granules with a teaspoon of boiling water and then beat into the icing. Gradually beat in the whiskey. Sandwich the cakes together with the buttercream.

4. Beat the remaining mascarpone with the reserved icing sugar and spread over the top of the cake. Decorate with the chocolate coffee beans.

Cook’s tip

This cake gets better after a couple of days as the flavours develop. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Slow-Cooked Silverside With Bacon And Guinness

This simple, hearty pot roast of beef in Guinness is a great no-fuss dish for larger gatherings of friends and family.

Nut Free

Preparation time:10 minutes
Cooking time:195 minutes
Total time:3 hours 25 minutes

Serves: 8

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1.4-1.5kg piece of silverside beef
½ x 200g pack Waitrose Smoked English Lardons
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm slices
2 onions, peeled and thickly sliced
440ml can Guinness Original
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp flour, blended to a paste with cold water
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 140°C, gas mark 1. Place a large flameproof casserole dish over a high heat and add the oil. Season the surface of the beef, keeping the string on, and cook for 5 minutes or until browned all over. Remove and set aside.
Place the bacon in the dish and cook for 2 minutes, then add the carrot and onion. Cook for 4 minutes or until browned at the edges. Put the beef back in the dish.
Add the Guinness and Worcestershire sauce and bring to the boil. Cover and place in the oven for 2 hours. Remove the lid and cook for a further hour, turning the meat once or twice to allow it to brown evenly.
Return the casserole dish to the hob, remove the silverside, then stir the flour paste into the juices. Bring to the boil and cook gently for 1-2 minutes.
Cut the string off the meat and carve into slices. Serve with the gravy, together with horseradish mash (see Cook’s tip). Garnish with the chopped thyme.

Cook’s tips

To make the mash, stir 1-2 teaspoons horseradish sauce into Waitrose Creamy Mash. For a milder flavour, try Dijon or wholegrain mustard instead of horseradish.

Chocolate Guinness cake

Vegetarian
Preparation time:20 minutes
Cooking time:55 minutes to 60 minutes
Total time:1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes

Serves: 10 – 12

Ingredients

250ml Guinness
250g unsalted butter
100g cocoa powder
300g caster sugar
2 medium Waitrose British Blacktail Free Range Eggs
1 tbsp vanilla essence
150ml buttermilk
300g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

FOR THE FROSTING
150g unsalted butter, softened
150g icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
420g full-fat cream cheese (such as Philadelphia)

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 170°C, gas mark 3. Line the base and sides of a loose-bottomed, deep, 20cm cake tin.

2. Pour the Guinness into a medium saucepan with the butter and gently heat until melted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cocoa powder and caster sugar.

3. Mix the eggs, vanilla essence and buttermilk in a bowl, then add this to the mixture in the pan.

4. Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda together into a large bowl or into the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment. Using a hand-held electric whisk or the mixer set on a low speed, pour in the contents of the pan. Scrape down the sides
of the bowl and continue to mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are incorporated.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for approximately 55-60 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when lightly pressed and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

6. Set aside to cool, then remove from the tin onto a wire rack, making sure the cake is cold to the touch before you frost it.

7. To make the frosting, use the electric whisk or the freestanding mixer with paddle attachment to mix the butter, icing sugar and vanilla together until it is fully combined in a smooth mixture. Add the cream cheese and mix on a low speed, then increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.

8. Place the cooled cake on a serving dish and spread the top generously with the vanilla cream cheese frosting.