Aah, St Patrick's Day.

The day that makes everyone wish they were Irish!

The day we cooks get an excuse to lay off the cooking sherry and dip into the Guinness and whiskey!

My roots wind back to the counties of Limerick and Tipperary. I can safely say that no Irish man, woman or child would consider the recipes in this newsletter authentic.

But I'm willing to bet they'd find them rather tasty!

Black and Tan reinvented into stout braised beef with beer & cheddar biscuits.

Guinness chocolate cake smothered in whiskey toffee sauce.

And a little leprechaun pie that will vanish the second you turn your back on it!

The recipes are all below.

So kiss the Blarney, sip some whiskey and get in touch with your green and gold side!

Sláinte

This is a hearty and delicious stew which takes no effort, just a little time in the oven.

Start the day before by getting 1 1/2 pounds of steak. I used kosher beef (for several reasons, not the least of which was that it was already salted). Tear a hole in the corner of the package and pour in about 1 cup of Guinness. Pop it in the fridge overnight.

The next day drain (but reserve) the Guinness, trim the steak of fat and dice it into 1 inch cubes.

Heat: 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large skillet until it is hot. Sear the diced steak and brown on all sides. Remove from the pan. Pre-heat the oven to 300 f.

Add: 1 tblspn butter to the oil in the skillet and let it melt. Then add 3 tblspns flour and stir. Let this cook for 2 minutes (stirring constantly), add the reserved Guinness, 1 cup of dry red wine and 2 cups of beef broth. Stir to remove any lumps.

Add: 3 crushed cloves of garlic, 1 tspn each salt and pepper, 3 bay leaves, 1 tspn prepared English mustard, 1 tblspn Worcestershire sauce, 1 tblspn ketchup and 1 tblspn brown sugar.

Place: the steak into a large casserole and pour the sauce over it. Add 1 lb of button mushrooms. Cover and bake for 1 hour.

Add: 1 lb of peeled shallots and a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary, cover and bake another hour.

Add: 1 lb each of trimmed and peeled baby carrots and parsnips and 1 lb of unpeeled baby potatoes. Add up to one cup of water, cover and bake for 1-1 1/2 hours, until the vegetables and steak are both tender.

Serve: with beer & cheddar biscuits!

I'll fess up.

These have a topping which is suspiciously like Welsh Rarebit (because it is).

But before you protest, you have to try these biscuits (or scones)...they are loaded with cheddar (Irish Cheddar, of course!) and the beer puffs them up to such light and airy heavens that even the good St Patrick is able to reach down and partake.

Beer Biscuits and Stout Beef. That's the Black and Tan, get it?

The topping: in a small saucepan, melt 6 oz of grated cheddar with 2 tspns of powdered English mustard, 1 tspn of Worcestershire sauce and 1/4 cup of beer. Melt, stir and remove from the heat.

The Biscuits: Pre-heat the oven to 425f. In a food processor, combine 5 oz grated cheddar, 3 cups self raising flour and 4 oz butter (diced). Pulse until mix resembles crumbs, then add 1 egg and 1 1/3 cups of beer. Pulse until the mix forms one big ball. Turn it out onto a floured board and knead a bit. You might need to add up to 1/4 cup extra flour, depending upon how much head was on your beer (no kidding!). Pat the dough into an 8 inch round (about 1 inch high). Slice it in half, then quarters, then slice each quarter in half. Do this as though you are slicing a pie. This will give you 8 wedges.

Place: the wedges onto a baking sheet which has been lined with baking parchment (which has been sprayed or brushed with oil). Spoon the topping onto each wedge. Try not to let the topping go over the sides, and place the wedges apart so that they can rise and brown evenly.

Bake: for about 20-25 minutes. The top will be crusty and brown, the house will smell cheesy and glorious and you will be unable to resist slathering one of these with butter and devouring it on the spot!

Serve: with steaming bowls of Stout Braised Beef and encourage all who partake to dunk their biscuits into the sauce.

This is heartier and stouter than Dolores Keane!

I already have a Chocolate Guinness cake on the site, but this is one of those recipes where you just add everything to a saucepan, give it a bit of a stir and then whack it in the oven.

It seems easier...

Place: a medium sized saucepan over a medium heat. Add 4 oz butter and 1 cup of sugar. Let the butter melt a little.

Add: 6 oz of good, dark chocolate and stir everything whilst it all melts.

Remove: from the heat and beat in 4 eggs, one at a time.

Sprinkle: 1/4 cup of cocoa powder over the batter and then pour 1/4 cup of Guinness. Stir to combine. Add another 1/4 cup of cocoa and another 1/4 cup of Guinness. Stir. Add one final 1/4 cup of Guinness.

Add: 1 1/2 cups self raising flour and stir until the flour is incorporated.

Pour: batter into a greased and lined 8 inch pan and bake in an oven which has been pre-heated to 375 f. Check after 30 mins. If cake is solid in the centre, then it is done! Cool in tin for 15 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack.

Adorn: with lashings of whiskey toffee sauce and whipped cream. Serve warm or cold!

My favourite thing about making this sauce was that I started at 7am.

Realising that I'd made too much, I shrugged and poured the extra into my morning coffee mug.

I was one dollop of cream away from an Irish Coffee and I hadn't even walked the dog!

Melt: 4 oz butter in a large skillet. As it melts, sprinkle 1 1/3 cups of brown sugar over it. The sugar will melt into the butter and start bubbling. Use a wooden spoon to spread the bubbling confection evenly across the bottom of the skillet and then, watching it, but not stirring it, let it bubble for about 4 mins (knock the heat down a bit). It will darken and the aroma of toffee will be teasing you.

S-L-O-W-L-Y: pour 1/4 cup of whiskey into the toffee. Stir it quickly into the mix. Keep stirring; the cold whiskey will harden some of the sugar and you want to keep it liquid.

Add: 1 cup of heavy cream, stirring constantly. Mix 1 tblspn corn starch / cornflour into an extra 1/4 cup of cream (or whiskey!) and slowly pour this into the toffee. Stir quickly to incorporate the thickener and let the toffee come back to a slow simmer. Cook 1 minute then remove from the heat.

Split: the chocolate Guinness cake in half, spoon some of the toffee onto the cut side of the bottom of the cake, pile on a mountain of whipped cream, place the top of the cake over the cream and then pour warm toffee sauce over the whole thing so that it runs down the side and gathers at the bottom.

My friend, Laura, has been begging me to make her a Grasshopper Pie.

It is a Southern confection involving creme de menthe and marshmallows.

I did not think that I was going to enjoy this...

...but this is doing a disappearing act in my kitchen (and I'm the only one home!)

Halfway through making this, I thought it would be a great recipe to cook with kids. Then I realised that I'd put down the green food colour and had started pouring whiskey...not so much!

Crush: 1 package of chocolate wafer biscuits (250g / 8oz) with 2 tblspns melted butter and 1/3 cup of softened choc chips. Do this in a food processor or blender and then pour the crumbs into a pie dish. Press them down to form the base of the pie and put in the freezer whilst you get on with the rest.

Pour: 1 cup water into a medium sized saucepan. Sprinkle 1 envelope of gelatine over the water place over a medium heat. Add 2 tblspns Creme de Cacao or Creme de Menthe, add 2 tblspns Whiskey. Stir to combine the gelatine. When it has been incorporated and the liquid is about to boil, add 3 cups of small marshmallows. They will start to melt very quickly. Add a few drops of green food colouring. Stir until the marshmallows have melted. Pour over the crumb base and place in the freezer to set.

Melt: 5-6 oz of chocolate covered after dinner mints with 4-5 oz of choc chips. I do this in 20 second bursts in the microwave. Stir. Add 3-4 tblspns of cream and a dash of whiskey. Mix well. Pour this over the frozen marshmallow and spread evenly. Re-freeze.

2 hours later, slice into tiny squares and see if you can resist going back for seconds, thirds and so forth...

With the added whiskey and choc-mint topping, I figured that I could re-name this confection for a day.

No offence to any grasshoppers (or Laura!)

These recipes and this newsletter were all done today and rushed out so that anyone who might be interested can try them out this Saturday.

I had a lot of fun...it's not a usual day where I find myself crashing from a sugar high, polishing off the left-over Guinness and singing along with Mary Black.

No, I normally only do that on the second Thursday of every month!

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone.

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cheers, Mannix

mannix@thelovebite.com