What are the best recipes for St Patrick's Day?

It's got to be corned beef and cabbage for me. I also like colcannon made with mashed potatoes and cabbage with plenty of butter and cream. Here's what Wikipedia has to say: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colcannon

I have fond memories from childhood of eating ooey gooey cupcakes frosted with green cream cheese frosting at my girlfriend's house. We had green food coloring under our fingernails and, of course, our tongues turned green. :D

GOOD GRIEF - NOT BEEF!
I just want to put something straight
About what should be on your plate,
If it's corned beef you're makin'
You're sadly mistaken,
That isn't what Irishmen ate.

If you ever go over the pond
You'll find it's of bacon they're fond,
All crispy and fried,
With some cabbage beside,
And a big scoop of praties beyond.

Your average Pat was a peasant
Who could not afford beef or pheasant.
On the end of his fork
Was a bit of salt pork,
As a change from potatoes 'twas pleasant.

This custom the Yanks have invented,
Is an error they've never repented,
But bacon's the stuff
That all Irishmen scoff,
With fried cabbage it is supplemented.

So please get it right this St. Paddy's.
Don't feed this old beef to your daddies.
It may be much flasher,
But a simple old rasher,
Is what you should eat with your tatties.

©Frances Shilliday 2004

:lol:

I usually just do the corned beef and cabbage even tho its not really an official dish for St. Patricks day..

Mind you... I did find this lovely menu for a St. Patricks day dinner!
Not to sure about finding nettle leaves in my area tho..

http://www.expressmedia.co.uk/malcrfl/patrick.htm

Lamb stew is always good. Add some Guinness. I had a terrific Shepherd's Pie at the Blue Bull, in Sneam, Ireland on the Ring of Kerry, so I often think of Shepherd's Pie when I think of Irish food.

Does anyone know why the Guinness on tap in Ireland tastes soooo good? Maybe it's just the conversation in the pubs. :beer:

Kevin

The golf course weren't bad either.

http://www.expressmedia.co.uk/malcrfl/patrick.htm[/quote

Well seriously now.. I have a question about this soup in this menu I posted.. It does look quite interesting.. Have any of you ever tried wild nettles? If so, what is the taste like? Would there be a sub. that could be used instead that would be close in flavor?
The recipe will come up for you if you click on the name of the dish on the menu..

I've eaten nettle soup - but only in the summer, and only using the young tips of the plant.

It has a pleasant flavour - a bit like a mild watercress to my tastebuds...

I once knew the nettles eating champion of the UK. Tim Beer is his name. He ate stinging nettles so not sure if it's the same thing. I can't imagine eating it!

A friend of mine in Georgia had green grits for breakfast on St. Patrick's Day. In Savannah, GA, they have a huge celebration and serve green beer. I had no idea that corned beef wasn't truly Irish. I have served it several times with cabbage.

I'd love a good shepherd's pie recipe!

Not sure if this is true but I heard that Corned beef and cabbage is the traditional meal enjoyed by many on St. Patrick's Day, but only half of it is truly Irish. Cabbage has long been a staple of the Irish diet, but it was traditionally served with Irish bacon, not corned beef. The corned beef was substituted for bacon by Irish immigrants to the Americas around the turn of the century who could not afford the real thing. They learned about the cheaper alternative from their Jewish neighbors.

Being that I have some Irish blood and I like to be traditional, I used to make lamb stew with just lamb, potatoes, onions, salt and pepper. Not sure if it is traditional but is sounds like it might be. I quit making lamb stew after I corned my first chunk of beef. Oh was it good. Now I welcome the first of March and gathering the ingredients for the brine so that I'm ready to cook on the 17th.



8 pounds beef brisket or beef eye of round roasts, trimmed/peeled of silver skin and pierced deeply with fork
3 ounces pickling spice (two cans)
3 ounces black peppercorns (about 30)
1 1/2 gallons water (24 cups)
3 cups Morton's® Tender Quick® home meat cure (Salt and sugar mix)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon soda

Add water, pickling spice, peppercorns, Morton's® Tender Quick® home meat cure, soda and dark brown sugar to large pot and bring to a boil stirring several times. Turn off heat and let cool to room temperature. When room temperature, transfer to food grade plastic container and refrigerate for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, add trimmed and deeply pierced beef to the brine. Place a plate on top of the meat to assure it is covered with the brine.

Refrigerate for 12 or more days.

After 12 or more days, remove the beef and discard the brine.

In a very large pot, add beef and cover with a full pot of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for 3-4 hours.

To reduce the salt you may start the cooking as stated above but after one hour, pour off the water and replace with fresh boiling water, then continue with the 3-4 hour simmer.

At the 3 hour time, add whole peeled onions

At the 3.25 hour time, add potatoes and carrots.
At the 3.5 hour time, add cabbage cut in quarters or sixths .

When all of the vegetables are tender, remove and serve.

Patrick (paddy) Kernahan

It's funny, but it's probably only in the past ten years or so that you can find 'corned beef and cabbage' in Irish pubs. All the Irish families I know used to eat thick cut ham and cabbage with taties... And even today, it is still a religious/family holiday in Ireland, where people go to Mass as a family. The beef and cabbage seems to be an American dish, but Irish people aren't stupid.... if the tourists expect to see it on a menu, then on a menu it will appear!

A bit like in Scotland.... haggis never used to be available as readily as it is nowadays - and that is purely tourist-driven. Why, I do not know, considering that when many tourists order it, they are doing so on a dare and leave most of it on their plate! Personally, I adore it.:D

Edited to add: Here is an Irish recipe, from a cookery school that I have visited on a few occasions. Darina Allen is a wonderful cook, and her courses are well worth it if anyone visits Ireland! I believe her daughter-in-law is now running the school. This recipe is unusual in that it uses lamb chops, rather than chunks of lamb

Irish stew from Darina Allen's book, Ballymaloe Cooking School Cookbook.



Ingredients:
3 pounds lamb chops not less than 1-inch thick
6 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
6 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
8-12 potatoes
1 quart vegetable stock
1 sprig of thyme
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh chives, coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Cut the lamb chops in half and trim off some of the excess fat. Set the lamb aside. In a heavy bottomed pan, cook the fat trimmings to render liquid fat. Discard the remaining pieces.

Toss the lamb chops in the hot liquid fat and cook until slightly brown on both sides. Remove the lamb chops and reserve. Toss the chopped onions and carrots in the fat. Build the meat, carrots and onions up in layers in a casserole dish. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Using the stock, deglaze the pan the meat was cooked in, and pour the liquid into the casserole dish. Peel the potatoes, season with salt and pepper to taste, and lay them whole on top of the stew – they will steam as the stew cooks. Add the sprig of thyme, and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, cover and put in the oven until stew is cooked, 1 to 2 hours.

When ready, pour the cooking liquid out of the stew. Transfer the meat and the vegetables to a clean pan. Skim the grease out of the cooking liquid, and pour the remaining cooking liquid over the stew. Sprinkle with the parsley and chives to garnish. Serve immediately.