Quick and easy St Patrick's Day recipes

To find out more about the Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assurance Scheme and to download more beef and lamb recipes log onto www.beefandlambni.com.

Beef, Stout and Mushroom pie

Serves 4

Oven temperature 200oC/400oF/Gas 6

The secret to this recipe is the fresh shitake mushrooms; they add a deep earthy flavour to the sauce.

Ingredients:

Stage 1

30ml olive oil

100g pancetta or smoked streaky bacon, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

120g fresh Shitake mushrooms, cleaned and cut in half

120g Chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and cut in half

Stage 2

30ml olive oil

500g Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured beef (braising steak, cut into 1 inch pieces)

60g flour

400ml Stout

200ml hot water with 2 beef stock cubes crumbled into it

3 bay leaves

Salt and black pepper

Stage 3 (optional)

1 sheet of ready rolled frozen puff pastry, defrosted

1 egg yolk

Method:

* Heat 30ml of oil in a large saucepan, fry the onion until soft, then add the pancetta or bacon and fry until golden brown.

* Now add the crushed garlic and fry for 1 minute before adding the mushrooms and frying until soft. Remove this mixture to a plate and heat the remaining 30ml of oil in the pan until hot, add the beef pieces and quickly stir fry until the meat is sealed and browned.

* Add the flour and stir to coat the beef pieces, and then gradually add the stout stirring all the time so the flour and stout combine slowly and create the basis of the sauce. Now add the water and stock cubes.

* Pour the onion, bacon and mushroom mixture back into the sauce pan and mix well. Add the bay leaves, cover and turn down to the lowest point and simmer very gently for 1 hour, stirring a few times. Remove the bay leaves.

* This can be served at this stage as a delicious stew, or you can transfer to a large pie dish, or 4 individual dishes, let it cool slightly and cover with ready rolled puff pastry. Trim around the sides of the pie dish, brush the pastry with egg yolk and bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry has risen and is golden brown.

To serve:

Serve with baby new potatoes and vegetables.

Cottage pie with leek and potato topping

Serves: 4

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Temperature: gas mark 6, 200°C, 400°F.

Ingredients:

Filling

450 g (1 lb) Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured lean minced beef

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped finely

1 carrot, peeled and chopped finely

1 stick of celery, chopped finely, (optional)

60 g(2 oz) turnip, (swede), chopped finely, (optional)

300 ml (½ pt) beef stock

seasoning

cornflour or gravy granules to thicken

Topping

750g (1 ½ lb) potatoes, peeled and chopped

30g (1 oz) butter or margarine

½ small leek, chopped finely

2 x 15ml (2tbsp) semi skimmed milk

seasoning

Method:

* Dry fry the mince and vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes.

* Add the beef stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

* Thicken with cornflour or gravy granules, season to taste and turn into an ovenproof dish.

* Boil the potatoes, when cooked, mash with the milk and season.

* Gently fry the leek in the butter for a few minutes, add to the mashed potato and mix well.

* Spread the potato and leek mixture over the mince and bake in a hot oven for 25 minutes until golden brown.

* Serve with a selection of seasonal vegetables.