St. Patrick’s Day CLASSICS

Stew can be made with beef as well as lamb, a popular meat option in Ireland.

Corned beef made from brisket is cured and slow-cooked. It's usually served with cabbage and potatoes.

Corned beef and stew traditional comfort food

In Ireland’s lake region of County Cavan, in the town of Virginia, Geoffrey Thomas Taylour, Lord Headfort, one of the richest men in all of Ireland, built a hunting lodge. The lodge has been many things over the past century, but when I lived and worked there as a chef in training in 1993 it was the Deer Park Lodge, a magnificent boutique hotel and restaurant.

This is where I discovered the wonderful food Ireland had to ofBy CLYDE VAN ARSDALL IV

fer. The Irish countryside provided an abundance of incredible produce, poultry and game while the lakes, rivers and ocean produced some of the best seafood I had ever tasted. The Irish also use their amazing resources to produce some of the world’s finest whiskeys and, of course, one of the most iconic beers in the world, Guinness. I learned many things while cooking in Ireland, but the most important was using fresh ingredients. Now each year, I cook my two favorite Irish dishes on St. Patrick’s Day: Irish stew made with Guinness and corned beef and cabbage. These are two of Ireland’s most iconic dishes for a reason; they are true comfort food. I use Saint Patrick’s Day to cook up a meal that evokes memories of my time living there. I also enjoy some Guinness (which isn’t nearly as good as the fresh version in Ireland), maybe a sip or two of Irish whiskey and

Soda bread can easily be made at home or check the local bakeries around St. Patrick's Day for availability.

tie everything together with the traditional Irish sounds of the Chieftains.

Comfort food has its origins in the home. Let me help you celebrate the day with dishes that you can make for your family and friends.

Corned beef is made from brisket, a relatively inexpensive cut of beef that goes through a long curing process using large grains of rock salt, or “corns” of salt, and brine. It’s then slowly cooked, turning a tough cut of beef into one that’s super tender and flavorful. If you want to try curing your own brisket, it takes about 10 days and Alton Brown has a reliable recipe online. I seldom have the time to cure my own, so I purchase one that has been cured then slow cook it with the provided flavor packet. The key is to cook the brisket and let it cool completely in the refrigerator before slicing. Once the corned beef is completely chilled slicing across the grain into thin pieces can be done without the brisket falling apart. The slices can be warmed in the oven or microwaved with the addition of some of the reserved cooking liquid.

This dish is typically served with steamed or boiled wedges of green cabbage and boiled potatoes. Both can be cooked in the same liquid used to cook the brisket. I also like to provide several different mustards such as whole grain and Dijon.

My second favorite dish is Mulligan, or Irish, stew. It’s the quintessential comfort food as it is warm, hearty and designed to help get you through the damp, cold Irish weather. Traditionally, it is made with lamb, as is just about everything in Ireland, including burgers. The smell of cooking mutton (mature lamb) permeated every aspect of my life while I was there. Here at home, I use beef in my stew, as I got my fill of lamb while in Ireland.

Markets will sometimes have stew beef meat, which is the leftover trim from steaks. The quality of this varies, so I often just buy a few good steaks and cut them into bite-sized pieces. The traditional vegetables are potatoes, carrots, and onions, sometimes peas.

The key to a good stew is the tenderness of the ingredients. The meat should be almost falling apart. The stew should be cooked enough until some of the vegetables fall apart, which contributes to the thickening of the stew, while some remain intact and still have a bite to them. This can be accomplished by adding the vegetables in stages

For the cooking liquid I use beef broth and Guinness, but you can use chicken stock and your favorite local stout or porter beer. The perfect accompaniment to stew is Irish soda bread. Look for it at Bread & Cie in Hillcrest. They sell a great version close to St. Patrick’s Day. Sláinte!

• Clyde Van Arsdall is executive chef and general manager of the Neiman Marcus Café.

Beef stew can be made without potatoes and then served with mashed potatoes on the side.

RECIPE | COURTESY OF CHEF CLYDE VAN ARSDALL IV

Guinness Beef Stew Deer Park Lodge Virginia, County Cavan Ireland 1993

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided 3 pounds beef chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat and cut into bite-sized pieces Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper 1 large white or yellow onion, peeled and diced 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced ⅓ cup flour 1 (12 ounce) bottle Guinness beer 4 cups beef stock 3 large carrots, peeled and diagonally sliced into bite-sized pieces 1½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces 3 tablespoons tomato paste 1 bay leaf ½ teaspoon dried thyme optional garnish: chopped fresh parsley 1. Season beef with a few generous pinches of salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add half of beef to pan. Cook until seared, turning the beef every 30 to 45 seconds or so until all sides are browned. Remove beef with a slotted spoon, and transfer to a clean plate. Add an additional 1 tablespoon oil to the stockpot and repeat this process with the remaining half of the beef. 2. Add the onion to the stockpot (adding extra oil if needed, but usually there are leftover drippings/ oil from the beef) and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Stir in the flour until it has evenly coated the onions, and cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Gradually stir in the Guinness and use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any of those yummy brown bits. Stir in the beef stock, carrots, potatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf, thyme and the cooked beef (along with any of its accumulated juices). Continue cooking until the stew reaches a simmer. Then cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer over low for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally, until the beef is tender, and the potatoes are soft. 3. Remove bay leaf and season with additional salt and pepper if needed. 4. Serve warm garnished with chopped parsley if desired Note: If you would like some of the potatoes and carrots to have a bite to them, just hold half back and add after the stew has been cooking for approximately 30 to 40 minutes. Another alternative is to omit the potatoes and instead serve stew over mashed potatoes.