Guinness Irish Stew with Herb Dumplings

I was watching the food channel on paid TV on a cold winter night and on was Rick Stein exploring the irish food and he made a stew recipe which just send a warm feeling all over me. I quickly scrambled to get a writing pad and pen to take down the recipe. And thanks to smart TV I rewind it back to the start of the recipe so I did not miss out on any vital ingredient or information to make the stew.

This is not the first time I make a recipe using Guinness stout I previously make a Guinness ginger spice cake and I know the end result will be a dish filled with gusto burst of flavours.

Ingredients (Stew):


Canola or olive oil, for cooking

3 lb lamb or beef stewing meat, cut in bite-sized pieces

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2-3 cups beef stock

1 can Guinness or other stout beer (or more stock)

4 thin-skinned potatoes, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1/2-1 cup frozen peas

1. In a large, heavy pot, brown the meat in a drizzle of oil in batches (without crowding) over medium-high heat. 
2. Transfer to a bowl and cook the onions in the same pot. 
3. Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
4. Return the meat to the pot, add the Guinness, cover and put into a 300F oven for 2 1/2-3 hours.
5. Add the potatoes and carrots, cover and cook for another 20 minutes.

Ingredients (Parsley Dumplings):


1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 handful fresh parsley, chopped

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup heavy (whipping) cream

• Meanwhile, make the dumpling dough: in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, parsley, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the cream and stir just until the dough comes together.
• Drop the biscuit batter by the large spoonful on a baking tray.
• Bake in an oven at 180 degree celcius for 15 to 20 minutes or until brown.

This is such an easy one pot recipe but the end result just warms your whole being as you take each spoonful of soft delectable beef cooked in such rich deep flavours. The beef was so soft it did not take much effort to break them apart and the gravy was thick and rich with the flavour from the Guinness. Even though I've never been to Ireland but this dish sure brought me there.

Super Fudgy Brownies

I just bought a huge bag of Lindt dark chocolate chip which was on discount and was dying to make something cholatey and decadent with it. I've been craving for brownies, those fudgy wudgy kind that you get from Mrs Fields. After entering a few search words on the computer I got a whole list of recipes and there was one that particularly appealed to me from Got Chocolate and it did not require any effort at all which suited me perfectly well. 

INGREDIENTS:

6 oz. unsweetened baking Chocolate squares
1 cup salted butter, softened
4 large eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS:

Melt unsweetened baking chocolate and butter over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until almost melted. Remove from heat and stir until completely melted. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light yellow in color, approx. 5 minutes. Add sugar and mix thoroughly.

Add vanilla and melted chocolate to the egg and sugar mixture. Mix until smooth, then add the flour and mix thoroughly.

Pour batter into greased 9" x 13" baking pan. 8" X 8" pan will work too, but may need to bake longer. Smooth with a spatula. Sprinkles chocolate chips on top.

Bake on the center rack at 300* F for 45-55 minutes. A clean toothpick placed in the center of the brownies indicates they are done. Do not overbake.

Cool to room temperature, cover and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour. Cut into 2" squares and serve chilled.

The moment I took the brownie out of the oven me and my little girl was eager to get right into the business of tasting it. We cut it up straight away while it was still piping hot and had a bite of the delectable gooey chocolate. The brownie was so moist it just melts in your mouth with each chocolate goodness in every bite. I must say I'll never try another brownie recipe ever as this is going to be my all time favourite. 

Pineapple Custard Pie

I was forced to make this pie by my husband who grew up in the pacific islands so he loves anything pineapple or anything to do with coconut. He has been trying to attempt to get this pie perfected like his late mum use to make it only problem is that among his sister's she never left a proper recipe it was all in her head. So I was left with the daunting task of trying to create this pie from scratch just base on my hubby's memory of what it tasted and looked like. As always I looked to my buddy Mr Google for answers to life's intriguing problems and lo and behold I found someone thru a blog who was an islanser herself who has something like a pie recipe from the islands. Although in this instance because it was a recipe passed down from someone to someone else the recipe got filtered down and meausurements were not quite there. So I started on my journey to recreate this pie....

Ingredients(Pastry)
4 cups self-raising flour
150g butter
1 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 cup milk

Preparation(Pastry)

• Cream butter and sugar till pale white in colour.
• Sift flour into the butter and sugar mixture.
• Beat the egg yolks with the milk, setting the egg whites aside to be use for the meringue later.
• Mix the milk and egg mixture into the batter of butter, flour and sugar.
• Grease a casserole dish or a roasting pan with margarine or butter so the pastry doesn’t stick to the dish/pan. Spead the pastry ensuring the dish is evenly spreaded out to cover the whole dish.
• Bake in oven for 180 degrees celcius for 20-30minuutes.

Filling
6 cups water

1 cup custard powder

1 can crushed pineapple

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

Preparation(Filling)

• While your pastry is baking, put 6 cups of water into a pan/pot bring to the boil.
• Once boiled, put 1 cup of sugar, stirring thoroughly so the sugar doesn’t settle at the bottom.
• Put your custard powder into a mixing jug/container, then slowly add your 1 cup of milk, mixing it so as not to create any lumps.
• Once the custard is mixed thoroughly, then pour into the water, stirring thoroughly as it tends to settle easily on the bottom of the pot/pan. Once it’s boiled, your custard should be fairly thick.
• Mix in some more custard powder if you think it’s not thick enough. Then bring it the boil once it’s boiled, it should be ready.

Your pastry should be ready when it’s lightly brown in the oven. Bring it out of the oven, then pour your custard into your pastry dish/pan, then let it settle while you prepare the merigue.

Meringue (Topping)

4 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cream of tartar

• Beat all the ingredients in a bowl with a electric mixer till the egg whites become stiff. 
• Spread on top of the custard mixture and bake in the oven till it browns.
• Serve warm or cold.

Hubby was rather impress with the end result and I must say I did pretty well with the limited knowledge of what the pie should taste or look like.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Avocado Frosting

I had quite a few avocados that were turning to mush and I had run out of ideas on what to do with them so I decided to use the trusted google and source for some online ideas. Which led me to this recipe of making something unhealthy into an healthy treat, well at least part of it was healthy.

Since the avocado frosting was going to be the star of this recipe I decided that a plain vanilla flavoured cupcake would compliment it. I chose this recipe of the crabapple cupcake recipe book I had.

Vanilla Cupcakes:

Ingredients:2 3/4 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
200g softened unsalted butter
1 3/4 caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Method:Preheat oven to 170. Line two 12 hole muffin trays with cupcake papers.

Sift together the flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, cream the butter for 1-2 minutes. Add the caster sugar a third at a time, beating for 2 minutes are each addition. After the last addition, beat until the mixture is light and fluffy and the sugar has almost dissolved. Add eggs one at a time, beating fr 1 minute after each addition or until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

Add a third of the flour to the cream mixture and beat on a low speed until combined. Add half of the milk and beat until combined. Repeat this process. Add the remaining third of the flour and beat until thoroughly combined; do not over beat as this will toughen the mixture.

Spoon mixture into cupcake papers, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the trays immediately and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before frosting.

Chocolate Avocado Frosting

1/2 cup mashed avocado (this was 1 small avocado for me)

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup honey (use agave for a vegan version)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1/4 cup chocolate chips, melted

Add avocado to food processor and process until completely smooth with no clumps. Add all remaining ingredients. Process until a smooth and creamy texture is achieved. Frosting should be thick enough that you can hold it on a knife upside down without it falling off and silky smooth. Transfer into desired container and store in fridge until using time. Use as you would normal frosting. Recipe yields about 1 1/4 cups.

I'm surprised at how good the frosting tasted, it did not have a hint of avocado and blended really well with the dark cocoa and chocolate. I was also expecting the frosting to be runny but it set pretty well on the cupcakes. I'm definitely going to be using this frosting a lot more than the usual butter or cream cheese.

Pistachio Cupcakes

I had some of this delectable cupcakes from a cupcake shop in the city not too long ago and I absolutely loved it. I started looking for recipes online so that I can bake some of my own at home as it's a lot cheaper to make them on your own then paying an average $4 each for a single cupcake. I found this easy recipe and decided to give it a try. The composition of the recipe relied mainly on the nut component therefore you get a very rich dense cake.



The batter

Ingredients:

• 180gm butter
• 375gm caster sugar (I'll half this qty as the ones I make were really sweet especially since I had icing on it)
• 6 eggs
• 300gm ground pistachios
• 300gm ground almonds
• 75gm plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• zest of 1 lemon

Method:

• Preheat oven to 170 deg
• In a cake mixer beat the butter and sugar till pale and fluffy, then add one egg at a time and mix till incorporated.
• Get the bowl off the mixer and gently fold in all the dry ingredients, be careful not to knock the air out.
• Once all the ingredients are combined, scoop into cupcake moulds.
• Bake for 20 mins, to test if the cupcake is ready insert a skewer in the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean it is ready.

Icing:

• 200gm butter
• 8 cups icing sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Method:

• Beat butter and icing sugar in a mixer till pale, then add the milk and lemon juice. Spread or pipe onto the cool cupcakes.

MeatMother - Richmond

I was walking past Swan st one day when I discovered this new american joint that was about to open. Me and my colleague had a sticky beak has we peered into the window as the renovations were going on. It look like a promising place, so as soon as I got back to the office I google it and was impress at the menu and knew that was my husband's kind of a place. 

Two weeks after it's opening my hubby made me call to make reservations and was politely declined as seating is first in best dress, so I check their business hours on their website and arrive 15 mins before the opening time. There was a couple of staff inside organising stuff waiting for service to start and they did not let us in even though we were standing in clear view of them they did not let us in until the precise opening time of 6pm. As soon as it strike 6, the doors were open and we were warmly welcome in. They asked if wanted seats upstairs which we fully accepted. 

Their menu boast of an all american fare and as the name of their business suggest it's a meat place so if you are a vegetarian then this joint is not for you. We kind of knew what we wanted even before we got there as we studied the menu like our lives depended on it. 

Beef ribs on thick texas toast with slaw

Basically you order a meat and add a side to it and they all come with a texas toast, I had the pulled pork with mac & cheese and hubby had the beef spare ribs with coleslaw. I also ordered the mash with gravy as a additional side dish. The service was really good and the wait staff carried out their duties with a smile as if it was their hobby and not a job.


Pulled pork on thick texas toast with mac & cheese

And service was really prompt it did not take more than 10 mins before our food arrive. When our plates were place before us I must say even though it was an american joint the portion was not american at all, they were pretty small, fine for a lady but hubby was disappointed when he saw his small stack of ribs. We decided to overlook the portions and tuck right into it, I must say the pulled pork was melt in your mouth, moist and tender. The toast that was serve alongside it was just awesome. And the mac & cheese had a good amount of crispy breadcrumbs sprinkled and baked to golden brown perfection.

Mash with gravy

Hubby's beef ribs fell off the bone it did not require and effort to get the pieces of meat off the bone, he was enjoying every part of it. He had the coleslaw with it and it had big crunchy shredded vegetables with a nice blend of mayo mix into it. We shared the mash and gravy which was nice. Hubby was still hungry and ask for the menu again the wait staff was happy to obliged. 

He decided that he would have the beef brisket, the wait staff explain that he could have that as a add on option instead of ordering it as a main and he was happy with the suggestion. While waiting for his brisket he started picking on my pulled pork and was enjoying it and mention that he would have that the next time he was back. 

The brisket arrive again the portion was a let down it was 2 measly slices, again taste triumph over the size. At the end of the meal we were both happy at the authenticity of the american taste. Only big negative was the meal size which was a huge disappointment and it was'nt exactly price to suit the portions. When hubby went to the cashier to pay and was asked how was the meal, he feedback that they needed to increase the portion size, well we'll see if they would take that on board cause it will be a waste to let this one go just on that basis.

Location:

167 Swan St

Richmond

The Graham - Port Melbourne

This post is a little late as we went to this restaurant for Mother's day in May but that was a crazy month for me with so many things happening at the same time so I had to put blogging to the end of my to do list, well as they say better late than never. 

I love the ambiance of this place, the moment I walk in it had a charming feel to it with a modern twist. As soon as we walk in we were brought to our tables, sat down and had our napkins strewn over our laps. My dear daughter was a little amuse at the attention given as we do not go to such fancy restaurants very often and this all seems strange to her but she enjoyed the attention nonetheless. 

We were handed the menus and was given a rundown of the specials for the day. I ordered the spanner crab  salad as a shared entree between me and hubby to share. For mains I went for the pan-fried rock flathead and no guesses for what hubby went for, the usual 250g scotch fillet the only difference this time mushroom sauce was not an option. 

Only drawback about this place is it did not have a kid's menu maybe there was a reason for that it's a no kids zone but I must pride myself in saying that my child is the most well behave kid you can find unlike other ruly uncontrollable kids. So instead of paying more than $40 for a main for her we decided that she could  share my meal with me. 



Spanner Crab Salad

The spanner crab salad was such a great dish it was an explosion of flavors in your mouth from the crab, the pear and crunch bits of salmon crackling such a beautiful dish executed perfectly. I wish I ordered the entree all for myself as I could eat 2 servings of that delectable dish all on my own.

It was a great start and could not wait for mains to arrive which took quite a bit of time so while waiting we ate complimentary bread that was served. When mains finally arrived it was a welcome sight as by that time we were practically starving only to be crestfallen at the small measly piece of fish siting in the centre on a huge plate, this was a dish that I was suppose to be sharing with my daughter. 



Pan fried rock flathead

Not wanting to wait another 30 mins to order another main, I offered her the fish which she gladly took and scoffed down in a few bites I was glad that she enjoyed every morsel of it. So I was left with the grilled bug tail again another little morsel of it, a piece of scallop and the smoked eel sausage with the shellfish sauce. I cannot fault the dish though everything on that plate tasted absolutely divine.



250gm Scotch Fillet

Hubby on the other hand thought the fillet was a little tough and chewy, in his words he has tasted better steaks elsewhere. After mains we were still a little hungry or should I say I was hungrier so I decided that we would have dessert and hubby and kiddo was happy for me to choose since it was after all a night to celebrate me. 



Dark Chocolate ice cream bar

Chocolate & Peanut butter

 

Greena apple pistachio Meringue

The 3 dessert I chose were the dark chocolate ice cream bar, the peanut butter and chocolate and the green apple pistachio meringue. Thankfully dessert was a reasonable size it was enough to share among the 3 of us, kiddo had the first pick and she instinctively went for the ice cream bar. I decided that you cannot go wrong when peanut butter and chocolate is paired together. And looks like hubby got the meringue. But we all had a taste of each others dessert and they all tasted heavenly, a great way to end a meal. 

On a final note overall this is a nice place to go to for a special celebration as hubby paid an hefty bill for it, not an everyday go to place to have a meal. 

Location:

97 Graham St,

Port Melbourne