Tag: Northern Ireland

Categories
Mains Recipes

Slow Cooked Beef in Guinness

They say drinking a pint of Guinness is a little like attempting to solve a crossword: it always feels good to get One Down 🙂

Forever keen to promote our wellbeing here on A Different Kitchen, I’ve chosen to capture that taste in edible form this St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

This is an old family recipe that never fails: chunks of braising steak tenderised through slow cooking for up to 4 hours with some seasonal veg, in an entire bottle of the black stuff. With a tight-fitting lid, all that taste and goodness is sealed in, making for a gravy that is rich, dark, with a slightly bitter tang and the distinctive taste of Guinness.

Ready to give your wellbeing a dropkick? Cook on.

Servings

Enough here for at least 6 servings.

Timings

30 mins to prepare, then 4 hours in the slow cooker.

You Will Need:

  • 700g braising steak
  • 2 – 3 tbsp plain flour
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 parsnip
  • 1 onion
  • 3 celery sticks
  • 8 – 9 chestnut mushrooms
  • 500 ml beef stock
  • 500 ml Guinness
  • a handful of fresh or dried herbs
  • 1 tbsp tomato passata
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp light brown sugar
  • 2 tsp cornflour
  • 2 tsp cold tap water

Method

  1. Switch on the electric slow cooker at the high setting.
  2. Chop the beef into chunks if not already done. Sprinkle the flour across the base of a shallow dish, and twist in some sea salt and black pepper. Roll the beef chunks in the seasoned flour until covered on all sides.
  3. Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan. Place the chunks of beef in the pan and let fry on the underside. After a few minutes, turn them over and fry again, until the chunks are lightly browned and sealed on all sides. Transfer to the slow cooker bowl.
  4. Chop the onion, carrots, celery and parsnip into chunks and tip into the warm frying pan. Halve the mushrooms (or quarter if large) and add in also. Let the veg come to a sizzle and turn over a few times with a spatula until lightly browned and starting to soften. Scrape into the slow cooker bowl on top of the beef.
  5. Add the stock, Guinness, passata, mustard and sugar to the warm pan and gradually bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Tear in the herbs and, when just starting to bubble, add in to the slow cooker bowl.
  6. Get your spatula into the slow cooker bowl and mix up all the contents. Put the lid on and leave on the high setting for around 30 mins. Then turn it down to the medium setting for another 3 and a half hours.
  7. When the cooking is done, mix up a roux in a ramekin, using the cornflour and tap water, until the cornflour is totally dissolved. Pour in to the slow cooker bowl and stir. The beefy, Guinness gravy will start to thicken. Repeat this stage as necessary until the gravy reaches your preferred consistency – you may need to do it 2 or 3 times.
  8. Serve with roast potatoes or boiled rice.

Customise It!

If you don’t have access to an electric slow cooker, you can still cook this in a casserole dish in the oven – start it off at 180C and turn it down to 140C at stage 6 above.

For the herbs, I had fresh thyme, sage and rosemary, but dried mixed herbs will do the job.

For St. Patrick’s Day I am choosing a favourite Irish track for the ADK Playlist. There are so many that I could choose from: The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, U2, The Corrs, Ash, Sinead O’Connor to name a few. I’ve settled on this one – The Divine Comedy, aka Neil Hannon from Enniskillen in County Fermanagh, with Love What You Do.

Categories
Blog Snacks

The Giant’s Causeway

While spending this week in Northern Ireland for a family wedding, a visit to the Giant’s Causeway has proven to be a very popular day out.

Geologists will tell you that this vast stetch of coastline was formed 60 million years ago, when the shifting of the Earth’s tectonic plates unleashed molten rock and lava that, over time, has been shaped by rivers and glaciers into the unique honeycomb-patterned, hexagonal basalt columns that we see today.

However, as Irish people will tell you, the real explanation is that the rocks were scattered here by local giant, Finn McCool, as a walkway over to Scotland where he had challenged a neighbouring giant to a fight. The story goes that, on seeing that his opponent was even more gigantic than him, Finn fled back home, ripping up the causeway as he went, leaving just the end of it that we can see today.

Whether it is the science or the Celtic folklore that you find persuasive, you can’t fail to be impressed by your visit.

Designated a UNESCO World heritage Site in 1986, it is now a popular destination for visitors from all over the world. The basalt columns make natural stepping stones, and it is fun clambering over them to reach as close as you dare to those breaking waves rolling in from the Atlantic.

The views out to the Ocean, and east and west along the Antrim coast are spectacular.

All that fresh air and activity had given us a Giant-sized appetite, so back at our guest house I rustled up this snack, that I have no doubt even Finn McCool would appreciate. It is a Soda Farl, split in two, toasted and filled with rashers of bacon, fried egg, cherry tomatoes and slices of avocado. I made 6 of these – one for each of our party – and they were wolfed down. Luckily I was able to take this photo of one of them before it disappeared!

Another great Northern Irish track to add to the ADK Playlist – this time we travel along the North Down coast to Bangor, home of Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody. Here they are with You’re All I Have.

Categories
Blog Breakfast

Breakfast in Belfast

This week I am visiting Northern Ireland for a family wedding. I’ll be making the most of the opportunity to taste some traditional delights of the local foodie scene, including the Ulster Fry, Potato Farls, Egg and Bacon Sodas and, of course, the legendary Belfast Bap!

Arriving in Belfast in the very early morning, off the overnight ferry from Liverpool, we headed to St. George’s Market on May Street, for breakfast.

St. George’s has been here in the city centre since the Victorian era. It is now the oldest survivor of the Markets District that grew up as the city began to thrive as a commercial port. Originally built for the sale of butter, eggs, poultry and fruit, it expanded over the years to include clothing, hardware and antiques.

In the 1980s it was threatened with closure, the costs of maintaining a Victorian building, the impact of the Troubles, and ever more stringent hygiene regulations, bringing severe challenges. However, a campaign by the City Council, traders and the public resulted in a Heritage Lottery Fund grant for the refurbishment of the building, making it fit for the 21st century.

That proved to be a truly inspired decision: with ever more people visiting Belfast in the years following the Good Friday Agreement, St.George’s swings into operation every weekend, its offering now including a high quality range of local, traditional food and drink.

It had been a long sailing from Liverpool, and seeing these tempting piles of freshly baked Potato Breads, Baps and Soda Farls heightened my appetite!

After a walk around the stalls, we settled on Sizzle and Roll, as shown in my main photo at the top of the post.

I opted for a Belfast Bap, shown above. It is a large, soft floury bread roll, my choice of filling being rashers of bacon, tomato, Cashel Blue cheese, rocket leaves, crispy onions and onion relish. My wife chose a mini Ulster Fry of bacon, egg and sausage served inside a toasted Soda Farl – the name for an individual portion of soda bread. Everything was cooked hot and fresh as we waited.

We bought our coffees from the S.D. Bell’s stall, which is one of Ireland’s oldest independent coffee roasters and tea merchants.

There is some excellent food for sale on the other market stalls – this home bakery had some interesting, freshly baked loaves of bread on offer.

St George’s is a great place to pass the time just wandering, checking out the diverse range of stalls, with everything from wet fish to original art, an amazing selection of local cheeses from all over Ireland, souvenirs and antique collectibles.

A hot tasty breakfast and a wonderful way to start our visit. Let’s hope the coming week brings more days like this! That reminds me of a song I’ll now add to the ADK Playlist by local boy, Van Morrison – here with Days Like This.