Irish Cream Cheesecake

I received an Irish Pub Cookbook and am getting super stoked to cook through the entire thing!

Ingredients
 1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
 1/4 cup butter

 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
 1 1/4 cups white sugar
 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
 3 eggs
 1/2 cup sour cream
 1/4 cup Irish cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F . In a large bowl, mix together the cookie crumbs, confectioners' sugar and 1/3 cup cocoa. Add melted butter and stir until well mixed. Pat into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes; set aside. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F
In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, white sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa and flour. Beat at medium speed until well blended and smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in the sour cream and Irish cream liqueur; mixing on low speed. Pour filling over baked crust.
Bake at 450 degrees F  for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees F, and continue baking for 60 minutes.
With a knife, loosen cake from rim of pan. Let cool, then remove the rim of pan. Chill before serving. If your cake cracks, a helpful tip is to dampen a spatula and smooth the top, then sprinkle with some chocolate wafer crumbs.

Beef & Stout Pies

1 1/2 lbs stewing beef, diced
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons flour (heaping)
2 -3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
4 sticks celery, roughly chopped
2 parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
rosemary, thyme, bay (fresh herbs, pick leaves and add about a handful)
2 1/2 cups Guinness stout or 2 1/2 cups other dark stout beer
28 ounces tomatoes
puff pastry, defrosted (1 lb. 2 oz. package)
1 egg, beaten

Directions:
Season your beef generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the flour and toss around until all pieces are well coated.
Heat olive oil, over med.-high heat, in a large casserole type pan and brown the meat. Make sure to not crowd your meat. You may do this in two batches, if necessary.
Add the onion and cook for 1 more minute. Then add the carrot, celery, parsnips and fresh herbs. Cook for another 4 minutes. Add the Guinness and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Stir and turn down the heat to simmer. Simmer this mixture for about 2 hours or until the meat is very tender. The sauce should be thick and intensely flavored. Season if needed.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Put your meat filling into a large, round baking dish. You could also make individual pies. Any high-sided round ovenproof bowl is fine.

Roll out the pastry, dusting with flour as you go, until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out a large circle (or individual circles for smaller servings) - about 1/2 inch bigger than the top of your bowl. Brush the rim(s) of the bowl with the beaten egg, then place the pastry circle(s) on top, pushing the excess pastry down the outside of the bowl to secure. Lightly score the top of the pastry in a criss-cross manner and brush with more of the beaten egg.
Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until golden and bubbling.