Happy St. Patrick's Day {Irish Coffee Recipe}

“Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass 

all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.” 

― Alex Levin

What more of an intro could I offer to top this?


WHAT YOU NEED:
1 & 1/2 oz. Irish whiskey
1 tsp. brown sugar
6 oz. hot coffee
1 oz. heavy cream whipped slightly {I used my Magic Bullet!}

WHAT YOU DO:

Combine whiskey, sugar and coffee in a mug and stir to dissolve. Float cold cream gently on top and sprinkle with a wee bit of the brown sugar.  Say the following....

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand. 

...and raise the glass to your lips. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

My BFF's BSP {Shepherd's Pie Recipe}

Shepherd's Pie a la MaryAnn

There are days when you just need that comfort food, nothin' fancy, nothin' particularly healthy just plain old yummy.  Today is one of those days.  Not to digress but every article I read about blogging says YUMMY is a huge No-No and to lose it from your vocabulary IMMEDIATELY.  But I cannot stop.  So, I guess I'm destined to fail.... but I'll go down in a burst of yumminess,  that I can assure you.  


Back to business, My BFF shared her BSP {Best Shepherd's Pie} with me..... and it was so flippin' yummy, I'm sharing it with you.  I'm hoping if we suck up sufficiently that NEXT she'll share her Chocolate Cake recipe, but in the meanwhile....


BEST SHEPHERD'S PIE
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:
for the top
· 2 pounds potatoes, such as russet, peeled and cubed
· 2 tablespoons butter
· 1 large egg yolk
· 1/2 cup cream, for a lighter version or as I like to say.... to miss the                 whole point of comfort food.... substitute vegetable or chicken broth
· Salt and ground black pepper
for the bottom· 2 pounds ground beef or ground turkey
· 3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped {I cheated and used the pre-cut crinkle ones}

The "Best" says Mar

· 1 onion, chopped finely
· 4 tablespoons butter
· 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
· 2 cup beef stock 
· 2 TBSP Worcestershire
· 1/2 38. oz. can Hanover brand but green beans {MaryAnn says they are THE BEST and I most concede they are quite yum and better than that they were a buck less than DelMonte}
· 1 teaspoon each kosher salt & pepper
· 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves


HERE'S WHAT YOU DO:
for the top

• Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes. 
• Drain potatoes and pour them into a bowl with the butter. 
• Combine egg yolk and cream. 
• Add the cream mixture into potatoes and mash until potatoes are almost smooth. {I do this all in my Kitchen Aid rather than mash}

for the bottom

• While potatoes boil, preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add beef or turkey. Season meat with salt and pepper. Brown and crumble meat for 3 or 4 minutes.  
• Add chopped carrot and onion to the meat. Cook veggies with meat 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. 
• In a second small skillet over medium heat cook butter and flour together 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire sauce. Thicken gravy 1 minute. Add gravy to meat and vegetables. Stir in green beans.
• Preheat broiler to low. 
• Fill a rectangular casserole or 9 x 13 with meat and vegetable mixture 
• {I used a throwaway tin pan because I wanted to be done with dishes}; Spoon potatoes over meat evenly. 
• Broil 6 to 8 inches from the heat until potatoes are evenly browned {about 5-7 minutes}. 
• Top casserole dish with chopped parsley and serve. 

  

  one "complete", one half way there
  waiting on the potatoes

      THANKS MAR! XXOO

What's More Comforting than a Guiness? [Guiness Braised Beef over Steamed Red Potato Recipe]

David says I need to post my failures too.... BUT today is not that day because this recipe is a KEEPER.  

The original recipe came from CHOW [which I adore] but tweaked a few ingredients and cut a few steps out and don't think it suffered for it.... because while I am not usually a fan of English food, this was seriously YUM.

So, here's what you need

GUINESS BRAISED BEEF 

over steamed Red Potatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 pounds beef chuck cut into 1-inch cubes

Kosher salt

black pepper

6 slices bacon, large dice

2 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 medium yellow onion, large dice

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups Guiness draught style stout

4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

1 Bouquet Garni

1 1/4 cups beef broth

1 pound steamed red potatoes, quartered

While heating the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, generously salt and pepper the beef cubes. Add the beef to the pan and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a plate; set aside. Drain any remaining fat or liquid from the pan and add the bacon cooking until crisp, about 8 minutes. Again, using a slotted spoon, transfer to the plate with the beef but do not drain the bacon fat because.... bacon fat is the nectar of the Gods and should never be drained.  Reduce the heat to medium, add the butter and onion, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 4 minutes.

Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly about 2 minutes, it will seem clumpy, fret not. Pour in the Guiness and stir breaking up those lumps and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the mixture simmer until reduced by half, approximately 4 minutes.

Return the beef and bacon to the pan along with any accumulated juices and add the carrots and set the bouquet garni on top of the "stew".  I used fresh parsley, thyme and a couple bay leaves for my bouquet garni and secured it with kitchen string.  Isn't is pretty?

Add the beef broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a tightfitting lid, and simmer until the beef is tender, stirring halfway through, about 2 hours....  with 45 minutes to go, steam your red potatoes.... when they are done spoon the beef over and enjoy! 

FINALLY English food I did not hate!