Fiddle-de-de-potatoes

On the weekend we had a St Paddy's Day celebration. This was my idea because

1. green is my favourite colour

2. potatoes are delicious

3. we do nothing most of the time so it's nice to see people

We had an amazing spread: green mashed potatoes, roast beef, spinach and cheese dip, barra & chicken bake and stuffed potatoes, bright green ice-cream, creme brulee, cupcakes of various green-ness and lemon meringue pie. I made three of my own dishes - all first timers. It was a very delicious night!

Here are mine

Steak & Guinness Pie

I was a little worried about this one for two reasons - we have no Guinness in town and

I had never made it before. Fortunately a friend picked up some Guinness for our celebrations and it worked out SOOO well!

1 kilogram of rump steak

1 large onion

4 cloves of garlic

200ml Guinness

1 cup of beef stock

1/3 cup plain flour

2 sheets of puff pastry

1 egg yolk

Thaw the puff pastry sheets as you do everything else and remember to turn the oven on to about 180 degrees. Dice the steak up into chunks and pop in into a moderate

frypan.

As the meat browns slice up the onion and crush the garlic gloves. Pop them in a large saucepan and let saute.

At this point your meat is probably looking really juicy. Spoon the meat into the saucepan with the onion and garlic. Put the meat juices to the side for the moment. Pour the Guinness and beef stock in with the onion and meat. Let this simmer for a while, as it reduces add in the meat juices. Finally, add the flour and mix through, this should make the sauce thicken quite a lot so do it slowly so you get saucy thickness that you like.

Take meat off the heat and prepare your pastry. Using your pie dish (I used 20cm) cut a circle out of the pastry. This provides the top of your pie. Place the uncut sheet of pastry in the the pan ensuring you push it into the sides of the pan snuggly. Tip the meat on top of the pastry and cover with round sheet. Press the sides together nice and tight. Brush the top of the pie with the egg yolk (coat again after first 15min). Cook in oven for about 30min.

Bailey's Cheesecakes

I copied this one from Taste

250 grams of cream cheese

4 tablespoons of brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tablespoons of Bailey's

pre-mix biscuit bases

I cheat with the biscuit bases coz it gives perfect consistency every time. So make the biscuit base then using a measuring measure out about 20grams of the mixture and place into cupcake pan. The reason I measure it, is to that every base is the same quantity so they look even. Takes time but looks better in the end.

Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl and whisk until creamy. Add in the sugar and whisk some more before adding in the eggs. Whisk one last time to combine then fold in the Bailey's. You should now have a creamy, light latte colour mixture. Tip the mixture into a measuring jug and pour evenly between the cup cake bases.

Place in a 180 degree oven for about 15minutes. Set aside to cool and finish setting then place in the fridge.

Individual Potato Bakes

Potatoes

Cream

Garlic

Chives

Parmesan Cheese

Slice potatoes and place into cupcake tray. Combine cream, garlic, chives and cheese. Pour mixture over potatoes. Top with extra parmesan cheese. Cook in a 180 degree oven for about an hour until brown on top.