Beef stew with Guinness

We have been looking to try out this recipe for long time, and we were not disappointed by the result.

Today we're making a rich and flavourful beef stew with Guinness, inspired by the delicious ones you can enjoy in Dublin's many restaurants & pubs. We will be serving it with a potatoes and scallions mash.

This recipe is not an old traditional, since it is likely that our ancestor would have drank the stout rather than use it to cook. Traditional Irish stew recipes, although varying a lot, usually feature mutton, potatoes, onions and various aromatic herbs. We are planning to cook an Irish stew, but today we'll be replacing the mutton for some quality diced beef, and adding some stout for the taste.

In this recipe, we'll also be adding prunes. This is to counter balance the bitterness of the stout. Don't worry, if slow cooked properly, the prunes will literally melt in the sauce and disappear.

Of course, you can use your favourite stout instead of Guinness, but we all know Guinness is the best ;-)

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45 minutes

2 hours & 30 minutes

6

Foie Gras on Pain d'épices toast with Homemade Fig Chutney

Family from France came to visit us recently with hands full of goodies not easily gotten in Ireland !
In the bag, a Bloc de Foie Gras avec morceaux (Block of Foie Gras with pieces of Foie Gras), much easier to transport than raw or fresh Foie Gras.

Traditionally a Christmas and New-Years Eve amuse-bouche, it's usually served on toast and enjoyed with a sweet wine. If you have the occasion this year, here are some tips on how to best enjoy your Foie Gras :

Depending on your taste, it should be served at room temperature or slightly chilled. I would recommend it slightly chilled as it can become a bit too rich at room temperature.

Slices should be about 1 cm thick. If too cold, the foie gras tends to break when cutting it into slices. Use a smooth sharp knife and run it under hot water before slicing.

Foie Gras shouldn't be spread on toast, but just placed on top of it : this is not pâté ! And since it's the centerpiece of your toast, be sure not to overpower it with any other ingredients.

We recommend to enjoy it with a glass of Sauterne, characterized by the balance of sweetness and a zest of acidity, it complements the Foie Gras perfectly. It really depends on your personal taste, but it is generally admitted that it pairs well with a sweet, dry or semi-dry white wine. You should avoid most red wines although it can go well with a sweet Port.

Today, we are serving the Foie Gras with slices of Spiced Bread (see recipe here) and a sweet, fig chutney.

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30 minutes

25 minutes

6 toasts

Pear tart "Bourdaloue"

Today we're making another French pastry classic : the Tarte Bourdaloue, a sweet shortcrust tart filled with a combination of almond cream and poached pear.

This popular dessert was named after the street "Rue Bourdaloue" in the 9th arrondissement of Paris which, in turn, has been named after Louis Bourdaloue, a French Jesuit of the 17th century. Bourdaloue was renowned for the quality of his sermon and especially their extreme length, allegedly testing the limits of his devout ladies bladders.

According to the "Dictionnaire universel de cuisine pratique" by Joseph Favre, released in 1905, the first version of this tart (then, a cake) was invented by the baker Mr Fasquelle, in his bakery on Rue Bourdaloue in the mid-19th century, and doesn't include fruit. Other sources indicate Mr Lesserteur, or Mr Coquelin as original inventors, all of them located on the same street.

This recipe is actually much easier than it seems, and is one of our favourite tarts.  We decided to make it from scratch, but note that you can use pre-made shortcrust base and halved tin pears instead of poaching them yourself. 

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30 minutes + 24h resting time

30 minutes

8 slices