Life

James Street South Cookery School: Cabbage and bean soup, Steak and Guinness pie

Cabbage and white bean soup would make for a hearty, warming lunch in a wet March Saturday
Cabbage and white bean soup would make for a hearty, warming lunch in a wet March Saturday Cabbage and white bean soup would make for a hearty, warming lunch in a wet March Saturday

HAPPY St Patrick’s Day! With it being the weekend it is, I wanted to bring some typically traditional recipes that you can enjoy at home, especially if the cold weather continues.

I've included those wonderfully Irish ingredients of cabbage and stout – both are moreish, delicious and really warming in these dishes. Great for a hangover too, whether we end up celebrating or commiserating with the boys in green after today’s match.

CABBAGE AND WHITE BEAN SOUP

(Serves 4)

2 tblsp olive oil

150g smoked streaky bacon, chopped

1 onion, finely diced

2 sticks celery, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 sprig rosemary, chopped

2 bay leaves

400g white beans, drained

1.5l chicken stock

Salt

Pepper

200g savoy cabbage, roughly chopped

Parmesan cheese, grated

Extra virgin olive oil

Start by heating the oil in a large saucepan and fry off the bacon until golden. Stir in the onion, celery, carrot and garlic, adding the herbs. Sweat off until soft and then add the drained beans and the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes remove from the heat and take the bay leaves out. Season to taste, add the cabbage and cook on a gentle heat for seven-eight minutes or until the leaves are soft. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with the grated Parmesan and a splash of olive oil.

STEAK AND GUINNESS PIE WITH MUSHROOMS

5 tblsp vegetable oil

2 leeks, trimmed and sliced

1 head celery, washed and chopped

1kg steak, trimmed and sliced

1 tblsp flour

200g lamb kidney, trimmed of fat

200ml Guinness or any other Irish stout

200ml beef stock

1 bay leaf

3 sprigs fresh thyme

Sea salt

Black pepper

250g selection of wild mushrooms

600g shortcrust pastry

1 egg yolk, whisked with a tblsp of milk for glazing the pastry

Heat the oil in a large saucepan; add the leeks and celery and cook on a low heat for eight-10 minutes until soft and starting to colour. Turn up the heat and stir in half the steak – remove once cooked. Add in the rest of the steak until coloured and then return the rest of the meat to the pan and stir in the flour. Add the Guinness and the beef stock and stir well. Add in all the herbs and season with salt and pepper.

Keep the pot on a gentle simmer, cover and braise for up to 90 minutes, when the meat should be tender. You want to add in the kidneys next; I always find it is better to seal these in a pan first and then add to the dish. So seal on a gentle heat with a little oil in a frying pan, remove and add to the pot.

Next, gently fry off the mushrooms and after a minute or so stir into the beef. Leave to the side and cool, removing the bay leaf and the woody stalk of the thyme.

To cook the pie, preheat the oven to 200C. Roll out pastry on a floured surface. Tip the beef and mushroom into a deep pie dish, coating the dish edge with the egg wash. Cover with the pastry; nip and seal the ends to the dish. Brush the pastry lid with the egg wash, piercing a little hole for steam. Place in oven for 40 minutes until golden. Serve with seasonal greens.