I've been celebrating St. Patrick's Day as long as I can remember. I don't believe I have any Irish blood in me but I've never researched this to know for sure nor have I had the now famous genetic testing to find out. But I do know that I like to celebrate with food, family and friends. I love a good party and usually take advantage of any opportunity. So this St. Patrick's day will be no exception.
This year St. Patrick’s Day is on Saturday, March 17. The festivities began as a religious feast in the 17th century to observe the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Today there are festivals, parades, special foods, dancing, and music world wide to celebrate the day.
To help with your celebration I've selected a few of my favorite dishes. To complete your party decorate the dinner table with green. But before you rush out to buy a bunch of stuff you really don't need, look around your house to see what you might have. I copied from the computer and printed on card stock pictures of shamrocks, cut them out and placed them on top of my white napkins. I had a green flower pot, perfect for holding a few beautiful Bradford Pear twigs that made a lovely centerpiece. My yellow gold colored water glasses added the final touch. Add a gold tablescloth if you have one or try this crazy idea to avoid buying one. Do you have a gold sheer curtain panel? It will work on the right size table. And be sure to wear green to avoid being pinched- that's another story for another day.
Now for the food. To start I've provided a few traditional Irish dishes. One might say that anything with potatoes, lamb, cabbage and Irish Whiskey is traditional.
Reuben Dip
Sheppard's Pie
Irish Colcannon
Raspberry Pastry
The Irish Colcannon and Raspberry Pastry are recipes from one of our UT Community Cooking Classes. We even had an Irish Chef teaching the class.
Sheppard's Pie:
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
For the potatoes:
1 ½ pounds russet potatoes, wash and peel
1 (15 ounce) can Swanson’s chicken broth
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup half and half or whole milk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the meat filling:
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 medium white or yellow onion, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 ½ pounds ground lamb or ground beef or combination of the two
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup Swanson’s beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, freshly chopped
½ cup fresh or frozen yellow corn
½ cup fresh or frozen green peas
Instructions:
Cut the potatoes into 8 pieces and place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold chicken broth. Set over medium high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender and easily crushed with a fork, approximately 20-25 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander and then return to the saucepan. Mash the potatoes and then add the milk, butter, salt and pepper and continue to mash until smooth.Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the filling. Place the canola oil into medium sauté pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot add the onion and carrots and saute approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the lamb or beef, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, beef broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and slowly cook 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.
Add the corn and peas to the meat mixture and spread evenly into an 8 or 9 inch square casserole dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up. Spread evenly over meat mixture. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Irish Colcannon
Serves 4-6Ingredients:
1 pound potatoes (Idaho bakers are perfect) peeled and cut into quarters.
1/2 head green cabbage (thinly sliced)
1 cup green onion, diced
1 cup chopped parsley
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon heavy cream
Kosher salt and freshly grated pepper to taste
Instructions:
Boil or steam potatoes until just cooked. Set aside.
In a heavy pan heat on medium heat cook cabbage with a pinch of salt until tender. Drain off any remaining water.
Add half the butter. Season with salt and pepper
Add potatoes and begin breaking them into the cabbage with your spoon. Add green onion. Add parsley. Add remaining butter. Check seasoning.
REUBEN DIP
Ingredients
2cups shredded Swiss Cheese
4 packages corn beef (I went to the deli and had 1/2 pound of corned beef shredded)
14 ounces shredded sauerkraut, drained
2cups Thousand Island dressing
1/2 cups onions, chopped
Instructions:
Mix all ingredients; pour into a baking dish and cook at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Best with Rye or Pumpernickel crackers or melba toast. May also be served with the little Rye party breads.
Raspberry Pastry
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 Frozen Puff Pastry (cut in half lengthways to give 4 equal rectangles.
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon powdered sugar plus 1 tablespoon to garnish
1 pint fresh ripe raspberries
2 ounces raspberry sauce*
4 mint sprigs (optional)
Instructions:
Spray a cookie sheet, lay 4 puff pieces on sheet and bake at 400 degrees approximately 9 minutes or until golden. Separate by splitting lengthways, giving a 'top' and 'bottom'. Set aside to cool.
In a mixing bowl, whip cream with vanilla and tbsp. of sugar until VERY thick (keeping all utensils and ingredients very cold helps this process)
Using a spoon or pastry bag, pipe a shallow layer of whipped cream onto the cooled pastry 'bottoms'. Add 4 raspberries down the center, then pipe a second layer of cream on top of raspberries and top with pastry “topâ€.
Carefully pour raspberry sauce on to center of plate.
Using a strainer, dust tops with powdered sugar, then lift carefully and set upon sauce. Garnish with remaining berries, finish with a sprig of mint if desired.
RASPBERRY SAUCE
Ingredients:
1 package frozen raspberries (defrosted - save liquid!)
½ lemon, juiced
1 tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend on 'high' 3-4 minutes. Strain. (twice if possible to remove all seeds).