Steak and Guiness Pie AND Potato, Prosciutto and Rocket Salad

After numerous dinners over at my brother's house it was time to return the favour so I asked him what he'd like us to make. He wanted something Irish. This is an odd request considering he hates potoatoes (except for hot chips) and will faint at the sight of alcohol (ok slight exaggerration but he has turned beetroot red after dipping his finger in a glass of beer and licking it). Still, that's what he wanted so I texted him a few options and asked him to pick. He chose Steak and Guiness pie. Ahh time to pull out a tradition Irish cookbook that my mother-in-law sent me........

Hahaha!

By Colin Murphy and Donal O'Dea

Steak and Guiness Pie
1kg round steak, cubed and rolled in seasoned flour
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped
50g button mushrooms (I think you need more like 100g mushroom)
300ml Guiness
8 slices of streaky bacon
chopped parsley
1 pack frozen shorcrust pastry, thawed

Steak cubed and rolled in seasoned flour

1. Grill the bacon, cut into pieces and place in a saucespan with the steak.

2. Fry onions and muchroom until golden and add to the saucepan.

3. Add the sugar and the Guiness. Cover and simmer over a low heat for 2 hours

4. Stir occasionally, adding a little more Guiness if gravy thickens too much.
5. Line a deep pie dish with half the pasty and bake at 220 degrees for 10mins.
6. Add the Guiness and beef mixture from the saucepan and cover with the top layer of pastry.
7. Bake for 10 more minutes or until brown.

A winner of a pie! One that would have made my in-laws proud!

I didn't take step by step photos of the salad because I wasn't expecting to blog about it but it was so deliciously good that I had to share. And as quoted by my brother "the best salad I have ever eaten" and my sister-in-law saying "the best meal you've ever made for us". How it saddens me that this was the best meal we have ever cooked for them....I would have thought I'd made better food than this in the past! And the worst part? I didn't make the salad, my husband did! He is now the salad King and I am no longer asked to make my grilled vegetable salad when are invited to bring a dish to outings LOL!

The original recipe is here (we added juice from half a lime to give it that extra punch in flavour).

Potato, Proscuitto and Rocket Salad
6 desiree potatoes
100g prosciutto
large handful of baby rocket (or arugula)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons seeded mustard
4 tablespoons whole-egg mayonnaise
juice from half a lime
4 eggs
ground black pepper

1. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil.
2. Quarter the potatoes and boil for 10 minutes or until tender.
3. Place eggs in a saucepan of room temperature water and heat on medium-high flame for 15 minutes.
4. While potatoes and eggs are boiling, lay prosciutto out on baking paper on a tray and put under a medium-flame grill until crisp. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.
5. Drain potatoes and leave to cool for 30 minutes.
6. Remove eggs from heat, place in cool water and remove shells. Set aside.
7. Break the cooled crispy prosciutto into small shards.
8. Mix mayonnaise, seeded mustard, minced garlic, lime juice and ground black pepper to taste in a large salad bowl.
9. Add rocket, cooled potatoes and half the crisp prosciutto to mayo-mustard mix and toss to coat.
10. Quarter the hard-boiled eggs and arrange on top of the salad. Sprinkle prosciutto, any leftover baby rocket and extra ground black pepper over the top to garnish.