Graham says: “In much the same way that many traditional Irish desserts are served with a dollop of softly whipped cream (something you’ll never hear me complain about!), many traditional Irish savoury dishes seem to be served with a big scoop of mash (again, something you will never hear me complain about!). If you want to take this classic to another level, serve it with Guinness mustard mash, made using your own homemade Guinness mustard. The Guinness in this beef stew not only adds a deep, rich flavour but gives it a deep colour too. To intensify that flavour even more, I add smoked bacon.”

Serves 4–6

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1kg diced stewing beef
• 125g smoked bacon lardons
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 3 carrots, cut into chunks
• 3 celery sticks, cut into chunks
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 500ml Guinness stout
• 100ml beef stock made with 1 stock cube
• 1 tbsp homemade Guinness mustard (see below) or shop-bought wholegrain mustard
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 sprig of fresh thyme (reserve a few leaves for garnish)

For the Guinness mustard:

• 50g yellow mustard seeds
• 50g black mustard seeds
• 250ml Guinness
• 40ml malt vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp honey

To serve:

• mashed potatoes (page 13)

Method

To make the mustard, put the yellow and black mustard seeds in a non-metallic bowl and pour over the Guinness. Cover with cling film and leave at room temperature for three days.

Pour the mustard seeds into a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl. Blend half of the seeds in a food processor to break them down, then transfer them to a clean bowl along with the remaining whole seeds and the vinegar, salt and honey. Thoroughly mix together, adding a little of the reserved liquid if it’s too thick. Store in a sterilised jar at room temperature and use within one month.

To make the beef and Guinness stew, preheat the oven to 140°C fan. Heat 1½ tablespoons of the oil in a large heavy-based casserole over a medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the meat and brown it all over. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the remaining 1½ tablespoons of oil, then add the bacon lardons and fry until golden. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the flour and tomato purée and cook for 1 minute more. Add the beef back in, including any juices from the plate, along with the Guinness, stock and mustard and give everything a good mix. Using a spoon, push the bay leaves and thyme into the stew.

Cover the casserole with a lid and transfer to the preheated oven. Cook for 2–3 hours, until the meat is very tender. Serve in warm shallow bowls with a side of mash that has been flavoured with some of the Guinness mustard and garnish with a few fresh thyme leaves.

Graham says: “Have you ever noticed that sometimes food can have the most unusual descriptions? It might be that a chilli is as hot as hell or a strawberry tastes like a summer day. I say this because I think that this dish is bursting with sunshine! It’s slightly spicy from the heat from the chorizo, a little smoky from the bacon, packed with flavour from the onion, garlic and tomatoes, and all with the slightly sweet taste of the butternut squash.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 200g dry-cured chorizo, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 125g smoked bacon lardons
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil (if needed)
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small bunch of fresh
• flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

To serve:

• sour cream
• crusty white bread

Method

Put the chorizo and smoked bacon lardons in a cold, dry, deep frying pan and put the pan on a medium-high heat. The slow increase in temperature will help the chorizo to release its red oil. Once the chorizo and bacon start frying, cook for about 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the chorizo and bacon and set them aside on a plate, leaving all the fat that has rendered out in the pan.

Add the onion to the pan and cook it in the red oil for about 5 minutes, until starting to soften. Depending on how much oil the chorizo has released, you may need to add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to help the onion cook. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add the tinned tomatoes, then add a splash of water to each empty tin, swirling it around to remove any tomato still clinging to the sides and add that to the pan too. Add the squash, oregano, smoked paprika and chilli flakes. Add the chorizo and bacon back to the pan. Give everything a good stir and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook for 20–25 minutes, until the squash has softened. Add a dash of water during the cooking if it starts to look a little dry.

When cooked, add the sugar and season to taste with salt and pepper, then stir through most of the parsley. I like to serve this in warm bowls with a dollop of sour cream and the remaining parsley scattered on top and lots of crusty white bread on the side.

Graham says: “One of the joys of the modern world we live in is that you no longer have to travel to try amazing food. Have the food of Alex and Richie of Bahay and you’ll be transported to the Philippines. Sham Hanifa will bring you to Malaysia, while Kwanghi Chan, who was born in Hong Kong, will give you a flavour of China. Or take a walk down Capel Street in Dublin and you can eat food from Vietnam (Aobaba), Korea (Arisu) or Japan (Musashi). I have travelled a little in Asia and am lucky to have been to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. A dish that always stands out in my mind is a beef and lemongrass stew with coconut rice that I had in Bangkok. Inspired by the fragrant flavours of that dish, this is my version.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 6 lemongrass stalks
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2.5cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and thinly sliced
• 1 bunch of fresh coriander, leaves and stalks separated
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1kg diced stewing beef
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
• 400ml beef stock
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp light brown sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan.

Remove the outer leaves from the lemongrass stalks and discard them, then coarsely chop the stalks. Make a paste by blitzing the lemongrass, garlic, ginger, three-quarters of the chillies and all the coriander stalks in a food processor.

Heat the oil in a large heavy-based casserole over a mediumhigh heat. Working in batches, add the beef and brown it all over. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the browned beef to a plate and set aside. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until starting to soften, then add all of the paste and cook for another 3–4 minutes to release the flavours. Stir in the browned beef along with the coconut milk, stock, soy sauce and sugar and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and transfer to the preheated oven to cook for 1½–2 hours, until the meat is very tender.

To make the coconut rice, heat the oil in a medium-sized casserole that has a lid over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, then add the rice and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk, then fill the tin with the water, swish it around and stir that into the rice too. Cover the dish with a lid and transfer to the oven to cook alongside the stew for the final 30 minutes of the stew’s cooking time. When the rice is done, fluff it up using a fork and gently mix in the lime