St. Patrick's day- Beef and Guinness

We lived in Ireland for 6 years and we celebrate all St. Patrick's days with feast.
Starting the day in the street at the parade and then in the pubs with Guinness and traditional Irish food was the way to celebrate.
Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It is named after Saint Patrick the most recognized saint in Ireland. The first Saint Patrick's Festival was held on 17 March 1996.
Here I share with you the recipe for ‘’Beef and Guinness’’ that I know from Ireland.
In the restaurant I worked there, we use to make this stew in every St. Patrick’s days.
I made this today here in Estonia to remember those good days and was very good.
This traditional Irish recipe uses the dark, malty flavour of Guinness beer to create a stew with a rich, meaty flavour which improves with time. Best to be made 1 days in avans .
Beef and Guinness
For 6-8 people you will need:
1.5 kg beef , cut into cubes
25 g butter
100 g bacon cubed
50 g garlic sliced
3 carrots, peeled and diced or I use baby carots
2 onion , chopped
4 celery stalks , chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
200 g pearl onions
500 ml Guinness beer
450 ml beef stock
a few sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
6 allspice berries
3 tbsp flour
6 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp parsley , chopped
salt and pepper
Set the oven to 180ºC.
Place some of the meat into a tray and generously season with salt and pepper. Dust it with some flour and mix it a little with your hands. Repeat with the rest of the meat.
Place a saucepan on high heat, add the oil and butter and allow them to melt. When hot, add some of the beef cubes. Cook them in batches. You don't want to over crowd the pan, or they won't cook evenly. Let them brown for a couple of minutes, each side, remove and place them into a tray. Repeat with other batches until all the beef is browned.

Add a little more oil into the pan followed by the onions. Next add the bacon, carrots, celery and pearl onions. Stirring occasionally, let them cook for a few minutes until slightly softened. Return the meat to the pot along with all its juice. Add the Guinness beer and the stock. Bring it to a simmer. Skim the surface to get rid of any impurities or excess fat that will accumulate on top.

Once it begins to simmer, add the tomatoes, garlic, thyme, bay leaves and the allspice. Give it a stir and cover it with a lid. It is now ready to place into the centre of the preheated oven. Leave to stew for two and half to three hours. Half way through the cooking process, remove the lid and allow it to cook uncovered to reduce the liquid.
After the cooking time, remove from the oven, garnish it with the chopped parsley. It goes well served with mash potatoes and puff pastry lid if you wish . Today I use some garlic croutons and rocket salad drizzle with trufle oil.

Enjoy. Pin It Now!

Organic chocolate, almond and muesli cookies

These are really good!! I will never limit myself to just one recipe for chocolate chip cookies, but I think this one is my favorite. I have this recipe for long time from the internet or a magazine I think, but I'm not sure. I changed the recipe to my needs and I made them with the ingredients I found in the restaurant. I like it because it forms a crisp around the cookie but is still soft and chewy on the inside.
Here I share, with anyone who wants to know, my favorite recipes of cookies that are available in Vilde Kohvik - www.tervisekohvik.ee if you wish to try them before you make them.
Makes about 20 large cookies
- 250 gr unsalted butter, room temperature
- 300 grams packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
- 150 grams all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 150 gr sliced almonds
- 300 gr muesli with dry fruits or I used organic mix honey porridge.
-100 gr raisins or dried cranberries, cherries or any mix dry fruit.
-100 gr organic chocolate chips.
Preheat oven to 180C and line a baking tray with parchment paper. In the bowl of your electric mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth. Add the egg one by one and vanilla extract and beat to combine. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, the flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until incorporated. Then mix in the almond, muesli, dried fruits and chocolate chips. Make large cookies and with your hand, flat the cookies slightly with your fingers to 1 cm thick.

Bake the cookies for about 15 - 20minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet or a wire rack. Store them in an airtight container for up to a week.

Enjoy. Pin It Now!