7 recipes for welcoming autumn

Are you looking for new recipes? Autumn officially begins today, and with it the desire to take the sweaters out of the closet, stroll through the parks under the orange trees and savor the tasty fall nuances; cinnamon and ginger, pumpkin and whiskey.

This season, you can enjoy a lot of plans all along the emerald island. Visiting Saint George’s Market, in Belfast, or the English Market, in Cork, where you can buy farm fresh food. It’s also harvest season, which means that is the perfect time to savor the best apples in all its forms: juice, jam, cider… The smell and warmth of wood also makes us think of our beloved pubs, the best place to enjoy our time with family and friends. Once your appetite is awake, keep reading to enjoy these delicious recipes that will surprise your loved ones. 

Chocolate Guinness Cake

Guinness is synonymous with Ireland. You can teleport yourself to any part of the island with a single bite of this cake. The strength of stout beer fuses with the power of chocolate to create an explosion in your mouth. 

Ingredients

For cooking this recipe you’ll need: 

For the liquids, obviously, 1 cup of Guinness, ½ cup of butter, 2 large eggs, ⅔ cup of sour cream, and 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract. 

For the solids you’ll use 2 cups of sugar, ¾ cups of cocoa powder 2 cups of all-purpose flour and 1½ teaspoons of baking soda. 

Lastly, for the Topping, 1 package of cream cheese, 1-½ cups of icing sugar and 2 tablespoons of Guinness

Step by Step

1. Cube the butter and mix it with the beer in a small saucepan. Heat it until butter is melted. Remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature. 
2. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/ gas 4. Grease a 23cm cake tin with butter.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, sour cream and vanilla. Add the beer mixture. 
4. Separately, strain the flour, cocoa powder and the baking soda, whisk into beer mixture until smooth. 
5. Beat half the chocolate mixture into the eggs until combined. Add half the flour, then combine again. Repeat with the remaining flour and chocolate. 
6. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. If the top is colouring too much after 30 minutes, cover it with tin foil.
7. Take the cake out of the oven, cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Remove cake from the pan and place on a platter or cake stand. 
8. For the icing, beat together the cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth, then stir in 2 tablespoons of Guinness. If it becomes too loose, add more icing sugar. Spread over the cooled cake and serve.

Irish Beef Stew

Do you need a consistent meal to warm up? You should try this recipe that mixes fatty meats such as beef and bacon with lots of delicious vegetables. 

Ingredients:

The ingredients you need for cooking this Beef Stew are: 

Meat, 8 diced bacon strips, 3 pounds beef stew meat (cut into 1-inch cubes), 4 cups reduced-sodium beef broth; 

Vegetables, 1 pound whole fresh mushrooms (quartered), 3 medium chopped leeks, 2 medium chopped carrots, ¼ cup chopped celery, 4 minced garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, 1 kilo of waxy white potatoes (cut into 1-inch cubes), 1 cup of frozen peas, 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 

Flour, ½ cup all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons cornflour; 

Spices, 1 teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, 1 teaspoon of dried parsley flakes, 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary (crushed); 

Liquids, 1 tablespoon of canola oil, 2 tablespoons cold water and 1 cup of Guinness. 

Step by step

1. Put the bacon in a stockpot and cook it over medium heat until crisp. Remove from the heat and dry it with paper towels.
2. Mix flour, salt and pepper in a dish and overflow the beef. Set aside with the bacon. 
3. In the same pot, saute the mushrooms, leeks, carrots and celery in oil until tender. Add garlic, and when this is brown, stir in tomato paste until blended. 
4. Add the broth, beer, bay leaves, thyme, parsley and rosemary. Return the beef and bacon to the pot. Bring to boil.
5. When it’s boiling reduce the heat, cover and simmer until beef is tender, about 2 hours.
6. Add potatoes and wait until they are tender.
7. Combine cornflour and water until smooth, stir into stew. Bring to boil, cook and stir until thickened (2 minutes). 
8. Finally, add peas, discard bay leaves and serve it in a deep plate.

Rutabaga Pie

The Rutabaga’s turnip is a root that grows in northern Europe and North America, where it is part of the gastronomy. This recipe makes a nice filling lunch that will keep you full of energy for all along the day, and doesn’t take much time. 

Ingredients

For this recipe you’ll need: 

3 cups of diced peeled rutabagas, 2 cups of diced peeled potatoes, 

1 pound of ground beef, 

½ cup of chopped onion, ½ cup of sliced celery, 

¼ cup of steak sauce, 1 teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of pepper

pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches), 1 egg yolk. 

Step by step

1. In a large saucepan, bring a generous amount of water to boil over medium heat. Add the diced rutabaga and the potatoes, and cook until very tender; drain and set aside. Preheat the oven to 190ºC/400ºF.
2. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the beef, onion and celery until meat is browned and vegetables are tender. Drain, add the rutabagas and potatoes. Spice with steak sauce, salt and pepper.
3. Line a 9-in. pie pan on the bottom with pastry and fill it with the mix. Cover with the rest of the pastry, roll up the edges and make small cuts on the surface. Beat an egg yolk and paint the pie surface with it.
4. Bake at 210ºC/420ªF for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 180ºC/350ºC and bake 35-40 minutes longer or until the crust is golden. Cool before serving.

Homemade virgin Irish Cream

Irish cream is a liqueur protected by a European geographical designation type European GI 6 and subject to judgment of the Department of Agriculture of Ireland. There are many variations of the same recipe, but the one we suggest doesn’t contain alcohol, so it’s perfect for accompaniment at coffee time. 

Ingredients:

If you want to delight yourself with this sweet recipe, you need: 

1 can of evaporated milk, 1/2 cup of 2% milk (low fat)

1 cup of double cream, ¼ cup of sugar, 

1 tablespoon of instant coffee granules, 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon of almond extract. 

For each serving: ½ cup of brewed coffee. 

Step by step:

1. For this recipe you will need a blender. Put the evaporated milk, the milk, double cream, the sugar, instant coffee granules, chocolate syrup, vanilla extract and the almond extract into the blender glass. Cover and process until smooth.
2. Store this mixture in the refrigerator.
3. When serving, heat the mixture in a microwave and add it in a mug with coffee. 

Potato Rolls

Are you a potato fanatic? There are many recipes made by potato but this one will reach your heart. The perfect picnic plan: a bottle of wine and these potato rolls. 

Ingredients:

For this recipe you will need:

2 packages of active dry yeast, 

1-⅓ cup of warm water (110º to 115º celcius) divided into two ⅔ measurements 

1 cup of warm mashed potatoes (without added milk and butter), 

⅔ cups of sugar, ⅔ cups of shortening, 

2 large eggs (room temperature), 

2-½ teaspoons of salt, 6 to 6-½ cups of all-purpose flour. 

Step by step

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in ⅔ cups of warm water. 
2. In a large bowl, combine mashed potatoes, sugar, shortening, eggs, salt, remaining ⅔ cups of water, yeast mixture and 2 cups of flour. Beat it until smooth. (advice: stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough). 
3. Do not knead. Shape into a ball and grease it. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (approx 1 hour)
4. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. 
5. Punch down dough; divide into thirds. 
6. Divide and shape 1 portion into 15 balls; place in a greased 9-in round baking pan. Cover with a kitchen towel. Repeat with remaining mixture. Let rise in a warm place until doubled about 30 minutes. 
7. Bake rolls until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks. Serve warm. 

 Creamy Pumpkin soup

Pumpkin is synonymous with autumn. The sweet and spicy flavour of this creamy soup will melt your mouth. The right meal for cold rainy days. 

Ingredients

For preparing this recipe you need: 

2 chopped onions, 2 chopped garlic cloves, 

800g of chopped pumpkin flesh, 

100g of split red lentil, 

½ small pack thyme leaves picked (plus extra to serve), 

1L hot vegetable stock, 50g of crème fraiche (plus extra to serve), 

1 tablespoon of olive oil (plus extra to serve) and a pinch of salt and sugar. 

Step by step

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Fry the onions until starting to turn golden. Add the garlic, pumpkin flesh, lentils and thyme. Let cook until the vegetables are browned, then pour in the hot stock. 
2. Add the salt and the sugar, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the lentils and vegetables are tender.
3. Blend the vegetables until smooth, then add the crème fraîche and blend again. Taste for seasoning. 
4. Serve with a spoonful of crème fraîche, a few thyme leaves and a teaspoon of oil. 

 Grilled mushroom risotto

Making the perfect risotto is a difficult thing but with this recipe you’ll surprise your whole family. Autumn is the season of mushrooms. Take the opportunity to get the most out of them.

Ingredients

If you want to try this delectable recipe you’ll need to buy: 

1 small onion (finely chopped), 

2 sticks of celery (finely chopped), the juice of 1 lemon, 

4 large handfuls of wild mushrooms (shiitake, girolle, chestnut or oyster), 

1 handful dried porcini mushrooms,  

400g of risotto rice, 

1 small handful of Parmesan cheese (plus extra for serving), 

1.5 litres of organic or vegetable hot stock, 75 ml of vermouth or white wine, 

1 teaspoon of butter, olive oil, a few sprigs of chopped fresh chervil, tarragon or parsley, sea salt and black pepper. 

Step by step

1. Heat your stock in a saucepan and keep it on a low simmer. 
2. In a small bowl, put the porcini mushrooms and pour in it just enough hot stock to cover it.  Leave for a couple of minutes until they’ve softened. Then, chop them, reserving the soaking liquid. 
3. In a large pan, heat a drop of olive oil and add the onion and celery. Cook  slowly for 10 minutes. Then, turn the heat up and add the rice.
4. Stir in the vermouth or wine until the liquid has cooked into the rice. Then add the porcini soaking liquid and the chopped porcini. Season with salt and fill it with the first ladle of hot stock. Turn the heat down to a simmer and keep adding ladlefuls of stock (allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next, this will take about 30 minutes)
5. Meanwhile, get a dry griddle pan hot and grill the wild mushrooms until soft. Put them into a bowl and add the chopped herbs, a pinch of salt and the lemon juice. Mix it all.
6. Take the risotto off the heat, stir in the butter and the Parmesan. Put a lid on and leave the risotto to relax for about 3 minutes. 
7. Serve it with some grilled dressed mushrooms, a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. 

If you want to discover new flavours you can also taste these delicious spanish recipes. They will be worth it!