Out of tradition, I make corned beef & cabbbage for St. Patrick’s Day. (Yes, I know corned beef is an American tradition.) And I’m not even Catholic. And my ancestry is mostly English. But still, I do like corned beef and cabbage.
But I’m just not feeling the mood this year. Roomie made BBQ beef last month, and I made pot roast this past weekend. Not to mention the prime rib at Christmas. Another hunk o’ deadcow, with leftovers for at least a week? I’m a bit worn out.
So how about some alternative ideas? I could make Cajun Salmon, since we haven’t had that in a while. Or maybe I can talk roomie into making lasagna if she isn’t working. I haven’t made muffulettas in years. I could do that. Or, since St. Pat’s is on a weekday, maybe we could just ignore it.
For whatever reason, I got into the habit of making latkes. Also a fantastic and traditionally Irish dish I’ve made before is sort of a casserole with a layer of mashed potatoes topped with salmon. I’m also a fan of potatoes with cabbage in a crockpot for myself and other non-meat eaters in the bunch.
Do you like sea food? Some of the best oysters (or mussels or whatever) I have had were in a Waterford, Ire hotel. They had a great sauce and I couldn’t eat enough.
If I make anything, it’ll be something along those lines. Maybe a side dish of roast potatoes, carrots and onions. Yum!
I always try to make “famine food” on St. Patty’s day. Mussels and seaweed in a cream sauce with wild onions and maybe some roasted and mashed carrots on the side, that sort of thing.
Other ideas:
A nice bit of salmon with asparagus
Roast chicken with broiled sprouts (cut sprouts in half and baste with garlic, cracked black pepper and light oil before broiling)
Shredded cabbage, lightly broiled as above, then crumble crisped sausages (and mild cheese?) and top with a fried egg. Serve over lightly toasted bread or mashed root vegetables.
This year, I will likely be on a liquid diet. I am not beholden to Guinness, although I’ll bet there are some deals on it. I made colcannon last week (kale, onions, no meat for the record).
Cream sauce? Well la-di-da fancy pants. The English took all my cows.
Seems I only make colcannon when I make roasted Legolam. That way I can make shepherd’s pie a couple of days later. I don’t know if I’ll be ready for a roast next week, and a weekday isn’t a good day to do it.
Irish stew
Made with a cheap cut of lamb, potatoes, carrots, leeks and thyme. Takes about 30mins to prepare (peel, chop the veg, brown the meat) and 2 hours to cook. I suggest doing some the night before and the final 30-45mins of cooking the day you want to eat it. Simple and very tasty.
Lamb chops and veg
I’d do grilled/broiled lamb chops with salt and pepper, served with:
cabbage (either steamed flat cabbage finished with butter and nutmeg grated on top, or kale wilted in some bacon fat with a few crispy bacon bits on top, or a mixture of cooked grated red cabbage, red onions and beetroot)
potatoes ( baby boiled, mashed or champ- mashed potato with chopped scallions)
and a mixture of mashed carrot and mashed parnsip.
Ulster fry- really for breakfast, but good any time of day
Bacon, sausages, eggs, tomatoes, potato bread, soda bread, black pudding, white pudding, mushrooms- all fried, served with baked beans if desired.
Soup
Hearty vegetable broth with pearl barley, celery, leeks, potatoes, carrots and swede.
Boiled bacon and champ, probably. Though my partner was expressing a desire for sauerkraut last night, and since that goes well with bacon I might do that.
My Great-Grandfather is famous in the area for having helped everyone thorugh the hunger. He would give a dipperful of new milk to any child who passed his house on his/her way to school, and again in the evening. He’d also send a tinful to any woman with child if someone dropped by and asked him. In the context of starvation, 3-400 calories of protein and fat daily makes all the difference.
We managed to hold on to our land and our herd, and we still have a bit of a fierce reputation. My Great Granfather eventually had to leave when he was personally targeted, and he brought his 12 sons to the US with him. . . 8 survived the journey.
It’s worth it for the sandwiches alone! Corned beef on rye, Reubens, corned beef and Swiss, and don’t forget corned beef hash. Eggs Benedict is great made with corned beef instead of smoked pig.
Sticking with corned beef, roasted the day before, juices reserved for cooking the potatoes, carrots & cabbage the next day. Combined with Irish soda bread and cold beers.
Even if I had been eating beef every day for months, I still wouldn’t pass on this.
BTW: don’t forget, the cabbage goes into the pot just in enough time for it to soften up a little. Overcooked cabbage is not your friend
Hash browns in Ireland are different to 'merkin ones. Here’s they’re little battered triangle thingies. Oh yeah and you need black and white pudding and potato bread.
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