Hello fellow bloggers and friends, day 1 is off to a great start. I’ve made it here and I have lots to share. First let me ask how your St.Patricks Day was? DId anyone else have a celebration of any sorts?

This year we didn’t get out to celebrate St.Patty’s Day, we have a lot of home renovations happening around here and so we were busy preparing for painters. Paul had to remove trim, fill holes in the walls that once held up pictures or shelf’s. We were busy cleaning our cupboards, closets and whatever else got in the way of our walls being painted. It was busy. We were both exhausted by the end of the day. It didn’t stop us from having some drinks and playing a game during dinner with our son. He was home this year as well for St.Patricks Day. This past week was busy for him. He has a lot on his mind and is making some pretty big exciting decisions for himself. It’s so rewarding watching your children reach out and expand their horizon’s, grow into adults and make life changing choices. Unfortunately he doens’t want me to share his news, he’s a bit more reserved and private than I am. When you have a proud mom, sometimes she just wants to sing your praises as loud as she can. So inside I am one elated mom.

I suppose really there was some celebrating at home taking place, not just for St. Patty’s day but also for Braden and his accomplishments.

With not going out, I decided to try a new recipe. It is an Irish one, and I have never tried anything like it before.

Guinness Braised Short Rib Shepards Pie~

Oh my goodness….this was amazing! I would recommend it to anyone.

It was easy enough, but time consuming. It is definitely a hearty meal that would  be perfect for a dinner party or family gathering.

Let me start by sharing what’s in it.

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

4 pounds of Short ribs, about 6 short ribs

1 whole onion diced

2 tablespoons of butter

2 whole carrot, medium diced

6 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 bottle (12 oz) of Guinness Extra Stout

1 quart of Beef stock (32 ounces)

Salt and pepper to season

1 1/2 pounds of gold potatoes

1 cup of Irish cheddar, shredded (Dubliner)

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 stick of butter

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 whole onion diced

2 whole carrots diced

1 package Baby Bella mushrooms, quartered

1 cup of frozen peas

1/4 cup of flour.

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large 9-quart bottomed pot over medium high heat. Season the ribs on both sides with salt and pepper. Place ribs in the pot brown on both sides. 2 minutes per side. Remove ribs to a plate and set aside.

Seared ribs with oil, set aside on plate.

Melt butter in the same pot and add the diced onion, carrots and garlic.

Diced carrots and onion, missing the garlic. I took the picture before I diced the garlic. Don’t forget the garlic 🙂

There really is nothing better than the smell of cooking butter and onion. The aroma was to die for.

A cook the veggies until they are slightly tender, about 8 minutes. Add the Guinness to deglaze, breaking up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil and reduce the beer slightly, about 5-8 minutes. Add the beef stock and bring up to a boil. Reduce liquid to a simmer and place the reserved short ribs back in the pot. Cover and simmer on low for 3 hour until short ribs are fork tender.

I placed a lid on my Pampered Chef RockCrock Dutch oven and let it simmer for 3 hours!!

While the short ribs are cooking, prepare the mashed potatoes. Peel and dice the potatoes. Place them in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add salt to the water. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover and simmer until the potatoes are tender and easily pierced with a fork, Drain the potatoes place back in the pot and add milk, butter and cheese.  Most people have their own way of making mashed potatoes. I made them the way I usually do. Similar to this recipe i just use more butter. I like a creamy rich mashed potatoe.

Mash together the ingredients listed, butter, milk and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Remove the braised ribs from the pot to a plate and discard the bones. Shred with two forks and set aside. Honestly the meat fell apart. It was amazing.  Strain out the solids in the pot and reserve the liquid for the Guinness Gravy.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat. Add the diced carrots and onion (this part confused me, as I felt i was repeating a step. All is well however, just keep going). Sauté until tender, about 3 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and stir in. Cook for 2 minutes, until browned. Add the flour. Stir together for 2 minutes until flour is cooked and slightly toasted.

Pour in the reserved liquid and stir to create the gravy. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Turn off heat, add the shredded beef short ribs and frozen peas. Fold in to combine everything evenly.

Butter a large casserole dish, spread the short rib mixture evenly in the bottom of the dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and use a spatula to smooth. Add more cheese  to top, you can never have enough cheese.

I used a piping bag to pipe my potatoes on top.. I wouldn’t recommend this, its time consuming and not necessary. ALso, I would use more potatoes than this recipe calls for. I should have doubled the potatoes.

Place the casserole dish on a baking sheet, place in oven. Bake for 25 minutes or just until  potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Garnish with your choice of chives or green onion.

And that’s it my friends~

I got the biggest compliment from my son, he is a regular at Finn McCools. An Irish pub/restaurant in our area. He loves their food and one of his favourite dishes is the Shepard’s Pie. I asked him how did mine compare to Finn McCool’s?? He replied “It’s so much better mom”….

that made all the work worth it!!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, I am happy to be back blogging and hope I can continue to find creative content to share with you~

Until next time, God Bless~