Recipes: Menu that's bound to set Irish eyes smiling

What better time to cook up an Irish feast than today, St Patrick's Day?

Shamrock cupcakes

Makes 24

200g soft butter

200g caster sugar

4 medium eggs

200g self-raising flour

1tsp Irish cream liqueur

Preheat the oven to 180C, fan 160C gas 4. Put the sugar and butter in an electric mixer and beat until pale and fluffy. Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl and add slowly to the mix, using medium speed. If the mixture starts to curdle, add a little flour. When the eggs and butter mixture is well combined, mix in the liqueur and the remaining flour at slow speed.

Divide the mixture between 24 muffin cases using two teaspoons or a piping bag with a wide nozzle (No.10].

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the sponge is lightly golden and springs back to the touch. Leave to cool before icing.

To make shamrock decorations:

Frosting

1 tub ready-made royal icing

1 pack green sugarpaste icing sugar

Roll out the green sugarpaste to about 3mm thickness using a little icing sugar to prevent sticking. Cut out shamrock shapes and put to one side. Prepare the royal icing as on the pack and cover the cupcakes with a spoon or pallet knife

Place the green shamrock shapes on the icing before completely set. Wait until fully set before serving.

St Patrick's Day soup with shamrock-shaped cheese croutons

Serves 4

60g butter

2 medium white onions, chopped

600g potatoes, peeled and chopped

800ml vegetable or chicken stock

240g sorrel leaves, shredded

Salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and potato and cook gently, covered for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt, pepper and stock and bring to the boil. Simmer uncovered for about five minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Add the sorrel leaves and cook for five minutes more. Liquidise the soup until smooth.

Cheese croutons

2 slices thick wholemeal bread

Olive oil or melted butter to brush on

100g grated Irish cheese

Cut shapes from the bread and brush lightly with olive oil or butter. Grill on one side then turn over and sprinkle with the grated cheese and grill until cheese is melted. Place on top of the hot soup.

A perfect roast joint of beef

The Irish feed their cattle on grass for longer than anywhere else in Europe – some of the benefits include lower cholesterol and calories, high levels of vitamins A and E and a near perfect balance of omega-3 and omega-6

Topside of beef, big enough to provide plenty of leftovers (approx 2.5kg)

Floury potatoes: such as King Edwards

Red onions

Carrots

Beef dripping

Bay leaves

Rosemary

Salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/Gas mark 4

Peel the potatoes, carrots and onions and cut into large pieces. Put a roasting pan in the oven to warm with a knob of dripping for five minutes. Meanwhile, dry the beef well with kitchen paper and season well. Take the roasting tin from the oven and carefully place the beef in the hot fat with a bay leaf or two under it.

(Time the roast: 35 minutes per kg for rare).

Baste well and return to the oven. Repeat basting throughout roasting.

Meanwhile, parboil the potatoes until just done, drain and then give them a good shake in the pan to break them up a bit (this helps to make them crispy. Heat up a separate pan with a tablespoon or two of dripping from the beef pan and add the potatoes 45 minutes before the beef is cooked.

Season with salt, pepper and rosemary and baste well before returning to the oven.

Baste occasionally. Thirty minutes before the beef is cooked, add the carrots and red onions to the pan and baste well. This is a good time to remove the excess fat and meat juices from the pan, leaving enough to baste the beef and vegetables.

The meat juices can then be separated from the fat and reserved to serve with the roast. Remove the roast beef when done and allow to sit for at least 15 minutes before carving. By then the potatoes and vegetables should be cooked. Remove vegetables from the oven and put them on to serving dishes.

Rescue any meat juices from the roasting pan, then pour off the fat. Splash some red wine into the pan and heat gently on the hob, using a wooden spoon to dissolve the cooked pan juices into the wine. Add these to the meat juices and reheat to serve with the beef.

Yorkshire pudding batter:

110g plain flour

pinch salt

2 medium eggs, beaten

290ml milk

Put all ingredients in a liquidiser or processor and blend till smooth. Chill for 30 minutes before using.

Preheat the Yorkshire pudding tin with about 3mm of dripping in each section in a hot oven, carefully pour the batter into the hot fat to a depth of about 1cm, return

to top of the oven and bake until golden brown and

well risen. Small Yorkshire puddings take about 20 to

30 minutes.

Leftover Sunday roast –Irish beef pies

Makes 4 individual pies

Short crust pastry

340g plain flour

150g margarine

3-4 tbs cold water

pinch of salt

1 egg for glazing

Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Cut the margarine into small pieces and rub into the flour until the mixture resembles

fine bread crumbs. Add enough water to mix to a

soft dough.

Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge.

Filling

1 onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic – crushed

350g-400g cooked beef (from Sunday roast)

350ml beef stock

1-2 tbs of plain flour (depending on how thick you like your gravy)

Left over vegetables

30g butter

Fry onion and garlic in the butter then add the beef. Next add the left-over vegetables and stock. Mix the flour into a paste with a little cold water, add to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Season and leave to cool.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to make a pie case and lid. Cut four cases to fit four small/individual greased baking tins. Leave the pastry lid to one side.

Fill with the beef mixture and then drape a pastry lid over them. Trim the excess and pinch around the edge. Make a hole in the centre to let out the steam.

Place on a baking tray and cook at 180C fan (gas mark 4) for 35-45 minutes.