St. Patrick’s Day Dinner~Two of my Favorite Recipes

Whether you are Irish or not, I believe we all need the luck of the Irish right now! St. Patrick’s Day is special in our home as it is the birthday of both my daughter and my mother. To learn more about the history of this holiday, please click here. Today, I have two recipes for you: Guinness Pie and Baileys Irish cream cheesecake.

Guinness pie on the way to the oven

Most people think of corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day. But I am not a huge fan of the traditional dishes. Each year, I make both of these recipes and since they are so delicious, I make them again and again! The original recipe for Guinness Pie was published in the New York Times but if you try and get it online, they make you pay for a weekly subscription. Not sure how I scored a paper copy of it, but the printable recipe is below. I will provide a link to the cheesecake recipe.

Guinness Pie

If you need a pie crust shortcut, I strongly recommend Trader Joe’s pie crust. These are a staple in my freezer as I use them for both sweet and savory pies. You can find them in the freezer section of your local Trader Joe’s. This is my favorite preferred alternative to a homemade crust and super easy to use. However if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s, you can make your own crust or use another store-bought brand.

Before I start any recipe, I gather all my ingredients.

Fresh ingredients

Since this recipe requires a bit of chopping, having sharp knives is important. The sharper the knife the safer the chop. Before you sharpen your knife, please note the type of knife you have. We have a sharpener for my Asian blades and a different one for the German blades. Here are several choices in knife sharpeners.

Chef’s Choice Asian

With all the vegetables chopped and ready to go, cooking commences.

lots of chopping

Carrots, celery, onion, garlic, mushrooms are cooked in a oven-safe pot. I used my Le Creuset pot~~which I love (and wish I had a few more!). But any Dutch oven or heavy stock pot will do.

A side note about my Le Creuset~ this signature porcelain enameled cast iron Dutch oven is an investment, but you will not be disappointed. Mine is 5.5 quarts (or #26). With this recipe I believe you could go with a smaller one, maybe a 4.5 or 3.5 quart size.

5.5 quart Le Creuset

I use my Le Creuset frequently. It’s perfect for everything from baking homemade bread to making soups and stews. This pot will be passed down to the next generation. You really can’t go wrong with purchasing it.  

While this cooks, your kitchen will smell so good!

Cooking the veggies

The recipe calls for 3 pounds of brisket. Though it does not instruct to trim the fat from the brisket, I did~~about 7 oz. of it. The fresh rosemary is clipped from the garden. If you don’t have an herb garden, I really encourage you to have fresh herbs in a pot. Simple pleasures and how intoxicating is the smell of fresh rosemary?

Chop and salt the beef

The recipe also calls for 4 cups of stout beer. I had two bottles of Guinness but when I measured it, the volume was only 3 cups. However, the beer did cover the beef in the pot, so I didn’t feel a need to add more.

Measuring the Guinness beer

What makes this stew so delicious, is that, after sautéing all the vegetables and beef, is the slow-baking in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. After the appropriate baking time, freshly shredded cheddar cheese is added (or trotter gear, if you have it). Look at the rich texture and color of the stew! While the stew is cooking you can work on the crust.

Rich, flavorful filling

Just a side note on trotter gear. It involves pig’s feet (ewww) so the cheddar cheese option is fine with me. But here’s a recipe if you are interested in making it.

The pie crust can be placed in either a 8-inch square Pyrex dish or a pie pan. I like using a 9″ deep dish glass pie dish. After I add the beef stew, I put the remaining cheddar cheese on top and then top it with a basketweave crust using different widths of dough. With the leftover dough, I use shamrock cookie cutters for a decorative touch.

If you are not familiar with a basketweave top crust, a standard pie crust top is fine.

Shamrock cookie cutter

Using green food coloring, I paint the shamrocks with a pastry brush. I did this for the first time last year and really thought it made the Guinness pie look more festive. Then pop the pie into the oven for another 45 minutes until the crust is puffy and golden.

Brush the dough shamrocks lightly with green food coloring

This is such a flavorful, hearty pie, which is perfect for this time of year. Though the recipe yields 6 servings, I could easily get 8 out of the pie. Since we are having guests for dinner on Thursday, I will be making 2 pies. Plus the leftovers are equally delicious!

Hot out of the oven

In addition, I will serve my arugula salad with lemon dressing so we have more greens for St. Patrick’s Day. We have a bumper crop of arugula that will bolt soon as the temperatures rise, so I am trying to harvest as much as I can from the garden.

Hearty meat pie

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake

The next recipe is very decadent but such a festive dessert for St. Patrick’s Day. Just a note: The recipe recommends a 5 hour refrigeration time so plan accordingly. Here is the direct link to the cheesecake recipe~~click here. I will be making this the day before and finishing it on St. Patrick’s Day before company arrives.

Ingredients

For the crust, put whole Oreo cookies in the Cuisinart to get 2 cups of crumbs~~approximately 18 to 20 cookies. Mix in melted butter.

The recipe tells you to put the crumbs in a spring form pan, yet isn’t clear on if they only go on the bottom or up the sides. Keep the crust on the bottom (per the pictures on the link). Bake for 8-10 minutes. If you need a 9″ springform pan, see one here.

Oreo crust

The directions are a little vague about wrapping the springform pan. I wrap the bottom and the sides with double foil to make sure no water will enter the inside of the pan during the hot bath.

Wrap in foil and water bath

Once the cheesecake is finished baking and has cooled, it needs to be refrigerated for at least 5 hours or overnight.

Coat cheesecake with ganache

I let mine cool overnight and will make the chocolate ganache the next day.

Properly made ganache will shine like a mirror

Last year I failed to get a photo of an individual piece, so this is from 2 years ago. My ganache last year is much shinier, which is the trademark of a successful ganache. Regardless, the taste of the cheesecake is just amazing.

Makes a tasty and pretty dessert

I hope you will try these recipes because I only recommend the ones that I have personally tried and tasted. There’s nothing worse than spending time in the kitchen only to have an underwhelming dish.

Also, if you missed the post on decorating a St. Patrick’s Day table to go with these fabulous recipes, you can see that here. Enjoy!

If you enjoy this post, please share on Pinterest.


Guinness Pie

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012397-guinness-pie

  • 4 Tbsp butter
  • 2 large red onions (chopped)
  • 4 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 2 carrots (peeled and chopped)
  • 2 ribs celery (chopped)
  • 10 mushrooms (trimmed and sliced)
  • 3 lbs brisket (preferably second-cut) or stew meat (chopped into bite-size pieces)
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp flour
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 4 cups (2 cans) Guinness or other stout
  • 1 cup trotter gear or 8 ounces Cheddar (freshly grated)

For the Pastry

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) very cold unsalted butter (diced)
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 egg yolk (lightly beaten)

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

  2. In a large, ovenproof pan fitted with a lid, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about 10 minutes.

  3. Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms and remaining 2 tablespoons butter and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are dark in color and the moisture released by them has evaporated, about 15 minutes.

  4. Season the beef pieces all over with salt and pepper. Add the beef, flour and rosemary to the pan and cook over high heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes.

  5. Add enough Guinness to just cover the beef. Cover the pan and put it in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the oven and stir. If using trotter gear (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012399-fergus-hendersons-trotter-gear), stir it in now. If using Cheddar, fold in about half. Return to the oven and cook for 1 hour more. If it remains thin, set the pan over medium-low heat, remove the lid and reduce the liquid.

  6. While the stew is cooking, prepare the pastry: sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Using a pastry cutter or your hands, quickly work the butter into the dough until it is the texture of coarse meal. Add ice water, a splash at a time, until a firm dough forms. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

  7. Place the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap and, using a rolling pin, roll to the thickness of a computer mouse pad. Pour the stew into an 8-inch-square, 2-inch-high Pyrex dish or a deep 9-inch pie pan. If using Cheddar, scatter the remaining cheese across the top. Place the dough on the top of the pie and pinch it closed around the edges using the tines of a fork, then slash the center lightly with a knife. Brush with the egg yolk, place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, or until the pastry is puffy and golden

I use a Trader Joe’s frozen pie crust and did both a bottom and a top crust.  This is optional as the recipe only uses a top crust.

Main Course