As mentioned in previous posts, the Gourmet Club had an Irish themed dinner. While I’m sure I will hear about it from my Irish friends, relatives and in-laws (ya think O’Grady is just a wee bit Irish??), the Emerald Isle is not known traditional gourmet food. While the host couple picked the theme, they became perplexed in finding the right meal to serve to the club. Fancy? Not needed. Exotic flavors? Not going to happen. Thankfully Haggis is Scottish, because that was not in consideration. What the Irish do have, is damn good comfort food. And the way it was made for the club, I ate up every bit of it.
The star of the main course was the Steak and Guinness pie. A beautiful golden crusted meat pie with a filling so savory that I licked the bowl clean and was not embarrassed to do so. This was served with two sides, the traditional Irish Colcannon and a creamy kale.
Steak and Guinness Pie
Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients:
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 11/2 cups minced onion
- 5 cloves of minced garlic
- 11/2 tsp dried thyme
- 3 lbs beef chuck roast cut into bite sized pieces
- 4 tbsp flour
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 20 ounces beef broth
- 22 ounces Guinness
- 1 1/2 lbs miniature mushrooms
- 3 leeks split and chopped
- 1 egg
- 1 package puff pastry
Directions:
Place celery, onion and garlic in a pot over medium-low heat to sweat for 10-15 minutes.
Add thyme and beef to the pot. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Add broth, Guinness, mushrooms and leeks. Simmer on stovetop about 2 1/2 hours, until thickened. Adjust seasoning now.
Preheat oven to 400°. Spoon into oven proof bowls.
Roll puff pastry on a floured surface. Cut rounds of the pastry slightly larger than the top of the bowl. Beat egg slightly and brush top edges of bowl with egg wash. Place pastry rounds on top of bowl, pressing to the edge.
Place bowls on cookie sheet and bake in oven for 30 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes prior to serving.
Colcannon
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
- 4 lbs russet potatoes
- 4 cups thin sliced cabbage
- 4 tbsp butter
- 4 cups kale
- 2 cups cream
- 3 tbsp butter
- 6 scallions – greens only
- Salt and pepper
Directions:
Wash and bring potatoes to a boil. When water boils, dump out half the water and reduce heat to low. Let potatoes steam/simmer for 30 minutes.
Simmer cabbage in hot, not quite boiling water for 5-7 min until outer leaves are bright green. Drain and set aside.
Melt 4 tbsp butter in large skillet. Remove stems from kale and chop. Add kale to skillet and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Add to cabbage.
Put cream in saucepan on stove. Add 3 tbsp butter to cream and simmer 2-3 minutes. Chop scallions and add to cream mix, simmer covered.
Add kale and cabbage to cream mix. Remove from heat and set aside.
Drain and peel potatoes and return to the pot. Add greens / cream mixture and mash, until almost smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Creamy Kale
Ingredients
- 2 pounds kale, center stalks removed
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
Blanch the kale in lightly salted water until tender, rinse in ice water, drain and cut into 1/2-inch ribbons. In a large saute pan over medium heat, melt the butter and add the kale, cream and nutmeg. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, or until the cream has reduced and thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Looking at all again warms the belly on a cold winter night.
