Don’t know what to cook on St. Paddy’s?

Try our delicious Posh paddy’s pie recipe (page 40 of our cookbook)
Serves 6
30g plain flour
900g braising steak, cut 4cm cubes
25g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, thickly sliced
1 tsp caster sugar
2 large garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 tsp tomato purée
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into large dice
3 celery sticks, cut into large dice
a small bunch of rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
a small bunch of thyme, leaves picked and chopped
300ml beef stock
500ml Guinness
a good splash of Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp English mustard
1 tbsp green peppercorns (optional but adds a nice bite to the pie)
1 tin of smoked oysters, drained
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten to glaze
1 quantity of suet pastry
sea salt and black pepper

How to make suet pastry (makes about 750g)
400 g plain flour
a pinch of salt
200g suet
about 120-150ml milk

Put the flour and salt into a bowl and stir in the suet. Gradually stir in enough milk to make a fairly stiff dough – be sure to add it very slowly or you might find the mixture has suddenly become saturated. If this does happen, mix it a little extra flour. Turn the pastry out on to a lightly floured board and knead for a a couple of minutes, until smooth – you can treat this pastry more firmly than ones made with butter. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes before use.

How to make Posh Paddy’s pie
Spread the flour out on a plate, season with a good pinch of salt and pepper and then toss the beef cubes in the flour. Set aside any remaining flour to use later.

Melt the butter and oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Brown the beef in it in batches – be careful not to overcrowd the pan or it will steam rather than fry. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate.

When all the beef has been browned, reduce the heat under the pan to low and add the onions and sugar. Cook gently in the butter and meat juices for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes, until the onions are a lovely golden colour. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for a minute longer, then stir in the carrots, celery, rosemary and thyme. Return the beef to the pan with any leftover flour. Add the stock, Guinness, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and green peppercorns, if using, stir well and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, then cover and cook for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally, until the beef is tender. If it is still a little firm, simmer for an additional 30 minutes and check again. Adjust the seasoning and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Place the mixture in a large pie dish and lay the smoked oysters on
top, then brush the edges of the dish with a little beaten egg. Roll out the pastry quite thickly on a lightly floured surface – it needs to be about 5–6mm thick. Cut it into rounds witha pastry cutter and lay the rounds on top of the filling, overlapping them like roof tiles. Press the pastry discs firmly to the edge of the dish to seal, then brush the top of the pie with beaten egg. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown. This pie goes really well with a pint of Guinness and a dollop of steamy champ.
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