Tag Archives: Irish

St. Paddy’s Day Delicious Pots of Gold

Just a few things to help you prepare for St. Paddy’s Day. Who doesn’t want to brew your own beer and then make a steak puff pastry pie with it {with cheese}? Yes please!

MAKE: Irish Steak & Guinness Puff Pastry Pie
{click for recipe}

Steak and Guinness Pie

Steak and Guinness Pie

BUY: Everyday IPA or Chocolate Maple Porter Kit 

1-gallon brew kit includes everything you need: 1 gallon glass fermenter, 3-piece chambered airlock, screw top stopper, thermometer, plastic tubing, tubing clamp, racking cane, and sanitizer

Craft Home Brew Kit and Beer Making Book

Craft Home Brew Kit and Beer Making Book

DRINK: Wilfie & Nell: Not Grandpa’s Watering Hole

Wilfie & Nell

Wilfie & Nell

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Filed under @home {recipes to love}, NYC Best, {Drink Me}

recipe goodness :: irish steak & guinness puff pastry pie

Steak and Guinness Pie

I love this pie. It’s a hearty marriage of delicious veg, slow-cooked tender brisket and buttery, flaky pastry, resulting in a rich, soul-warming pie plate of goodness. And frankly, any thing with Guinness is good and good for ya. So if you’re looking for a little inspiration to channel your inner-Irish for St. Patrick’s day ♣, look no further, your luck has led you to this perfect pie.

Steak, Guinness and Cheese Pie with Puff Pastry 

Recipe Adapted from Jamie Oliver

Serves 4-6 | 3.5 hours | 375ºF

1 large vidalia or sweet onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 fennel bulb, chopped
6 cremini mushrooms, quartered
2 tablespoons butter
2 pounds stewing beef, cut into cubes
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves removed and chopped
salt and pepper
1 pint Guinness
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup Gouda or other favorite melting cheese, shredded
1 pound store-bought Dufour puff pastry dough
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup frozen or fresh peas

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large dutch oven on the stove, heat olive oil on low heat. Add the onions until they become translucent and lightly caramelized.
  2. Turn the heat to high and add the rest of the vegetables (except peas) with the butter. Cook for two minutes until fragrant, then add the beef, herbs, salt and pepper. Sear beef for 3-4 minutes, then pour in the Guinness, flour and add just enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid and place in the preheated over for 1.5 hours.
  3. Give the stew a stir and let cook for another hour, until tender and thick. If stew is still liquidy after an hour, continue cooking until reduced.
  4. Remove from heat, stir in half the cheese, taste and season as needed. Let cool slightly.
    Cut 1/3 of the pastry from the block. Using a floured surface, roll both pieces out evenly with a floured rolling pin to the thickness of a silver dollar.
  5. Butter a pie dish, then line with the larger sheet, leaving the edges hanging over the side. Pour the stew into your lined dish, add the peas, then sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little beaten egg.
  6. Cut the other rolled piece of pastry to fit the top of the pie dish and crisscross lightly with a sharp knife, being careful not to cut all the way through. Place it over the top of the pie and fold the overhanging pastry onto the pastry top, rolling to make the edges.
  7. Brush the top with beaten egg, then bake the pie on the lowest oven rack for 45 minutes, until pastry is cooked and golden.

Mmmm Guinness Pie

More St. Pat’s Inspiration:
Wilfie & Nell: Not Your Grandpa’s Watering Hole
Water of Life Whisky Wednesday With The Macallan

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Filed under @home {recipes to love}

Wilfie & Nell: Not Your Grandpa’s Watering Hole

Wilfie & Nell

It’s only fitting that I eventually give a nod to my favorite watering hole. I know what you’re thinking — “Your favorite??? Tell me more!” Wilfie & Nell is built on the sentimental charm of being named after the grandparents of Irish owners and brothers, Mark and Simon Gibson {who wouldn’t want to love grandparents named Wilfie & Nell!}. Both Dubliners can often be found stationed behind the bar, pulling from a lovely selection of brews, generous wine pours or a creative list of house crafted cocktails. Might I suggest the Hot Toddy on a cold winter’s night? And what better to go with your soul-warming cocktail than a dish from their limited, but perfectly delicious Irish menu {oxymoron part deux}. Two favorites of mine: The Berkshire Pork Sliders and the Grilled Cheese, both of which are served with a side of whole grain mustard {gold star ingredient to any good dish} and McClures pickles that have just enough spicy kick to them to perpetuate the cocktail consumption. The key to all of their dishes is fresh, local ingredients and tapas-sized portions that allows you to delicately hold your mini slider in one hand while giving a wave to the eligible looking group of guys {or girls} that just sidled up to the bar.

Which brings me to the other reason that W&N wins the favorite award. The space breeds social interaction with friends and strangers alike. Choose from standing or sitting at the bar, around pillars framed with drink sized ledges or communal tables that line the bar’s perimeter, but regardless of where you camp out, you are inevitably likely to strike up a conversation with other Grandma/pa-loving drinkers looking for a good night out. It’s casual, but lively, and the later you stay, the more likely you are to strike up a conversation from the shear result of rubbing elbows with the group next to you, as the bar tends to stay crowded into the wee hours.

The Skim: If you’re young and single and looking for a good night out, pay a visit to Wilfie & Nell. It’s charming, it’s rustic and most importantly they serve good drinks and Irish grub with the same welcoming friendliness that you would expect across the pond. It’s awfully likely you won’t go home empty handed either if you play your cards right. {228 West 4th St., btw 7 th Ave & West 10th St.}

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