To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (and the Irish part of my heritage), I love cooking up a delicious Irish meal. I came across one of my grandmother’s old Irish cookbook called, THE ART OF IRISH COOKING, by Monica Sheridan, and decided to try these traditional recipes this year, instead of the usual recipes that I have found off Pinterest in the past.

What do you like to do to celebrate St. Patrick’s day? Every year when this holiday rolls around I reminisce on my glory days in college when I took trips to New York City, and to Savannah, to take part in all the St. Paddy’s parades and other shenanigans (pun intended! :). A Chicago St. Patrick’s celebration is still on my bucket list, but until then, I’m pretty content just cooking up a yummy spread of Irish food.

Last year Will smoked the corned beef, and it was to die for! This year, he allowed me to test this recipe to see how the traditional method of cooking turns out.

SHIP’S TIP:

Corned beef it very salty. Be sure to soak your corned beef in a pot full of water (in your refrigerator) for at least 24 hours before making this recipe, unless you prefer to have very salty corned beef. Even though this recipe cooks the corned beef in water, you should still pre-soak your meat for the best results.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

• 4 lbs. Corned Beef
• Cold Water
• 1 Sprig Thyme, 1 Bunch Parsley, tied together
• 1 onion stuck w. 6 cloves
• Pepper
• 2 Onions
• Whole Carrot
• 1, 2 lb. Cabbage

Directions:

• Tie the beef into a neat shape, then put into a large pot and cover with cold water (don’t add salt).
• Add all the other ingredients, except the cabbage and bring, very slowly, to a boil with the lid off the pot so you can see what is happening.
• Simmer for 3 hours (or longer depending how much meat you’re using).
• Skim the top of the water when a scum rises.
• Remove the thyme, parsley, and closed onion, then add the cabbage (that has been cut into quarters and washed in salted cold water). Simmer for additional 20 minutes, or until cabbage is cooked.
• Remove meat and cut the string.
• Strain the cabbage, pepper well, and serve on a dish surrounding the beef.
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Irish Soda Bread

• 1 TBSP Butter
• 4 cups White Flour
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 cup Buttermilk/sweet milk (plus extra if you need more to form a smooth dough ball)

Directions:

• Rub the butter into the flour.
• Add salt & soda. Mix all well together by running the dry ingredients through your fingers.
• Add buttermilk and stir into a soft dough w. wooden spoon.
• With floured hands, knead into a ball and turn onto a lightly floured baking sheet.
• Flatten dough into a circle 1 1/2″ thick with the palm of your hand.
• Cut a cross in the top center with a floured knife.
• Bake at 425 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

I have made other breads before, but this was my first time trying a soda bread recipe. It is a very dense bread, and kind of tasted like a biscuit to me. When I made this, I had to add more milk to get the dough to form into a ball, so just be aware that you might have to make a few adjustments here and there if you try this recipe.

Potato Flounces

• 6 medium sized potatoes
• 2 large onions
• 1/2 TBSP Butter
• 1 cup milk
• Seasoning for the layers (I used pepper, salt, sage, and thyme (would have thrown in a little rosemary too, but I was out)

Directions:

• Peel Potatoes and slice thinly. Leave to Soak in cold water for 1 hour.
• Skin onions and slice into thin rings.
• Drain potatoes and dry in a cloth.
• Grease pie dish w. butter.
• Layer potato and onion in dish with alternating layers. Season as you go along, putting a little butter here and there through the layers.
• Pour in the milk and finish with a layer of potatoes that have been arranged in “flounces.”
• Press down well and smear with the rest of the butter.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees until soft all the way through.

These potatoes turned out delicious! The recipe is similar to scalloped potatoes, except there is no cheese (I wanted to add cheese, but refrained).

Overall, everything turned out delicious. The meat was very juicy, and tender, and the flavors of the cabbage, potatoes, and bread were very good. I will definitely make the potatoes, and bread again next year. I am partial to Will’s grilling, however, so I might leave the meat up to him in the future. 🙂

Since this delicious meal does not picture well, however, because is not the most colorful, I threw in some extra pictures of an arrangement I made with some early spring blooms from our yard! I love all the spring blooms, and am so excited for warmer weather!

Be sure to comment to let me know what your favorite Irish traditions and foods are!

Cheers,

Ship