03.05.08 – Cooking Class Recipes: St. Patrick’s Pub Grub

*The Following recipes were the subject of my free cooking class that I taught at Earth Fare Market & Cafe in Athens Georgia on March the 5th, 2008. Feel free to copy, save, print, distribute, and hopefully cook these recipes. 

St. Patrick’s Irish Pub Grub

Parsnip & Apple Soup
Shepherd’s Pie
Guinness Extra-Stout Mousse

Parsnip & Apple Soup
6 Tbsp Kerrygold Irish Butter
1 medium onion; chopped
5 parsnips; peeled and chopped
3 granny smith apples; peeled and cut into 1” pieces
1 medium russet potato; peeled and cut into 1” pieces
6 cups veggie broth 2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
salt & freshly cracked black pepper
½ & ½; to taste
Chives for garnish

Heat the butter in a large soup pot over medium high heat until melted, then add the onion and a pinch of salt and sweat until translucent, approx. 3-5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the other vegetables stirring to coat in the butter. Put the top on and let the veggies cook covered for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally making sure nothing scorches. Uncover the pot, and pour in the stock, curry powder, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper and let the soup simmer (not boil!) for 35 – 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally with a food mill, a blender, or an emersion stick blender puree the soup to desired smoothness. Lastly, add the half-n-half, adjust seasoning to taste, and serve hot.

Shepherd’s Pie
Filling
3 Tbsp Kerrygold Irish Butter
2 lbs. ground lamb (beef, pork, or chicken is okay)
1 medium onion; diced
2 carrots; peeled and diced
2 Tbsp minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp fresh thyme
1½ Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 cups beef stock

Topping
2 lbs. russet potatoes; peeled and cut into 1” pieces
½ cup milk
2 Tbsp Kerrygold Irish Butter
3 Tbsp Dubliner cheddar cheese
salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425°F
Heat 2 Tbsp butter in a large skillet or sauce pan over medium-high heat until melted, then brown the meat in the butter. Remove the meat from the pan to a plate with a slotted spoon. Add the last Tbsp of butter to the pan and sweat the onion with a pinch of salt for 2-3 minutes until translucent, then add the other vegetables and cook for a few minutes. Scatter the flour over the vegetables and stir to combine. Put the meat back into the pan along with any collected juices. Add the broth and let the stew simmer for 20-25 minutes adjusting the temperature to make sure it isn’t a rolling boil.
In the meantime, steam or boil the potatoes until fork tender. Drain the really well, then add the milk, butter, salt, and pepper to taste, mash them with a potato masher to your own taste. Here’s where you can make the dish as rustic or as refined as you’d like.
Grease a casserole dish large enough to hold the mixtures. Pour in the filling first and shake the casserole to settle the mixture. Now, working very carefully, scoop out large blobs of the mashed potatoes and using a finger, carefully scoop them out of the spoon into little islands of potatoes over the filling. Now you can either leave it like this, or you can carefully smooth the potatoes down into a solid layer. At any rate top with grated cheese, and bake until golden brown.

Guinness Extra-Stout Mousse
8 oz. semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
½ cup Kerrygold Irish Butter
¼ cup superfine sugar
¾ cup Guinness Stout; slightly warm but not boiling
3 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream; whipped 6 oz. white chocolate
1 cup heavy cream (divided into half cups)

Set a pot with one inch of water on medium heat. Find a metal bowl that fits slightly down into the pot but doesn’t touch the water at all. Melt the chocolate, butter and sugar in the bowl until smooth and fluid. Next add the warm Guinness and egg yolks. Remove from the heat and whisk to combine being careful not to curdle the eggs.
In a second bowl whip the 1 cup of heavy cream to soft peaks and then fold it carefully into the chocolate Guinness mixture. Spoon the mixture into individual little beer glasses, cover each with plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator.
Clean the metal bowl and set it over the water again. This time melt the while chocolate along with ½ a cup of the heavy cream. Once the mixture is completely melted, remove it from the heat and let it cool for 30 minutes stirring occasionally as it thickens. Then whip the extra ½ cup heavy cream to soft peaks, and fold it into the white chocolate mixture. Remove the chocolate glasses from the fridge and uncover them. Spoon a dollop of this white mixture over top of each glass to create the Guinness beer look. Recover, return to the fridge and chill for at least four hours; overnight would be best.