Festive St. Paddy's Day Recipes

Corned beef and cabbage isn't the only Irish meal to try on St. Patrick's Day. While you're raising your glass to the patron saint of Ireland, try out some other tasty and festive meals that incorporate the Irish staples of potatoes, beef and apples (some even include Guinness). All recipes serve 4 generously.

This is a delicious and easy potato soup that we eat all year long, not just on St. Patrick's day.

Irish Potato Soup

Serves six

Ingredients:

6 medium potatoes
1 large onion
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup evaporated milk (depending on how creamy you want it)
1 tablespoon parsley
A pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of cornflour

Peel and cut potatoes in quarters and finely slice the onions. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add the potatoes and onions. Cover and simmer for
about 5 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and seasonings. Bring to a boil and keep stirring. After it's boiled for a minute, reduce the
heat and simmer for about 25 minutes until the veggies are tender, but not soggy. Remove from heat, stir in the milk and cornflour and brint
to a boil again. Keep stirring so it doesn't scorch. Stir for a minute and then remove from heat. Serve with a little parsley on top.

I found this recipe on Europeancuisines.com, but have replaced turnips with corn because I don't care for turnips. This is a bit time-consuming, but really hearty and worth the effort.

Guiness Beef Pie

Step 1) The pie filling:

2 lb sirloin steak, cut into inch-sized pieces
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 large, finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup frozen corn
12 fluid ounces stout
1 small bunch fresh thyme, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Remove excesss fat from the steak and tenderize for a minute. Chop into inch-sized pieces and lightly coat with the flour. In a large pan,
heat the oil and add the meat. Cook until brown. Remove the meat when it has browned and puyt it in a casserole dish. Clean and chop the
vegetalbes. Add the onions and garlic to the pan where the beef was browed and cook for a few minutes. Remove the onions and garlic and
place them in the casserole dish. Add 4 tablespoons of the Guiness to the pan, bring to a boil. Stir and scrape the pan. Add this liquid
to the casserole dish. Add the carrots, corn, thyme and stout to the casserole dish and mix well with the other ingredients. Cover and bake
at 325F for 1 1/2 hours.

Prepare the soda bread crust when the pie is almost finished cooking.

Step 2) The soda bread crust:

8 ounces flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
6 fluid ounces buttermilk

Mix all dry ingredients into a bowl. Make a valley in the center and add the buttermilk. Stir until the ingredients have formed a sticky
ball. Put ball onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute. Then press with your hands to form a 1/2 inch thick, round dough
(about the size of the casserole dish).

When the filling has finished it's original cooking time, remove it from the oven. Place the soda bread dough gently onto the top of the
Remove the casserole or other baking dish from the oven: remove the lid. Lift the soda bread carefully onto the surface of the filling,
making sure it covers the surface of the meat and vegetable mixture completely. With your fingers, push into the dough and make four equal
sized sections. Dust the dough lightly with flour, cover dish with the lid, and put it back in the oven. Turn up the temperature to 400F
and bake for 30 minutes.

Serve as you wish, but the more gravy the better in my opinion.

Don't put the Guinness away just yet. For dessert, try some apple fritters made with the delicious stout.

Apple and Guinness Fritters

Ingredients:

2/3 cup stout

1/3 pound self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Vegetable oil for deep-frying

4 apples, peeled and cored

Powdered sugar for dusting

Vanilla ice cream to serve

Whisk the Guinness into the flour to form a thick batter, add the sugar and stand for an hour.

Pre-heat about 4 inches of oil in a large heavy-based saucepan. Dust the slices of apple in flour and shake off the excess. Dip 4 or 5 slices at a time into the batter and then drop them into the hot oil. After a minute or so, turn them over so they cook evenly. When they are golden all over, remove them from the oil and drain on a paper towel. Repeat with the rest of the apples. Dust with powedered sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Source: Mark Hix, Belfast Telegraph, "Don't Go Hungry on the Big Day," March 14, 2007.

.