St. Patrick's Day Recipes

t. Patrick's Day food immediately brings thoughts of cabbage, sausages,corned beef and potatoes. These four stables certainly have a lot of potential, as we will see. But there's more to Irish cooking. How about a classic Irish soda bread, for instance?

IRISH SODA BREAD

4 cups Flour
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 cup Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Caraway Seeds
1 1/2 cups Raisins
2 Eggs, beaten
1 cup Butter or Margarine, melted
1 cup Milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease a loaf pan. Sift together the flour, baking soda, sugar and salt. Pour over raisins and caraway seeds in a large bowl. Mix well. Mold the dough into a loaf on a floured board. Place the loaf in a greased pan and bake for one hour, or until the bread is done.

These next recipes, unless specified, are for 4 servings.

For your cabbage and potatoes, how about a simple dish with an irresistable name, Bubble and Squeak?

BUBBLE and SQUEAK

5 medium Potatoes, boiled, peeled, and diced
1/2 pound Bacon in 1" pcs
1 Head cabbage, sliced (about 1/4 in.)
1/2 cup Water
Salt to taste

In a large iron skillet, brown the bacon. Remove the bacon and pour off all the grease except for2-3 tablespoons. Add the cabbage and 1/2 c water. Cover the skillet and cook over low heat about 20 minutes. Add the potatoes and bacon to the cabbage. Salt to taste. Cook another 10 minutes. You can add extra water while you're cooking, but let the mixture brown for the last few minutes.

For your meat dish, nothing is more Irish than Guiness.

STEAK AND GUINESS PIE

2 1/4 pound Round steak
1 tablespoon Flour
1 teaspoon Brown sugar or 3 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon Raisins (optional)
5 Onions
1 bottle Guinness
8 slices Bacon
Prepared double pie crust, or favorite recipe

Cut the steak into bite sized cubes, roll it in seasoned flour, and brown it in greased skillet with
the chopped up bacon.

Place the meat in a casserole. Peel and chop the onions, and fry them until golden.
Add the onions and the raisins if you want raisins, and the brown sugar or honey.
Pour in the Guinness, cover tightly and simmer over a low heat or in a very
moderate oven (325-350F) for 2 1/2 hours. (You can use a slow cooker.)
Stir occasionally, and add a little more Guinness or water if it looks too thick.
When the mixture is ready, line a pie pan with the bottom crust; then add the meat mixture, cover
with the top crust, and bake until the crust is done (probably about 10 minutes.

For dessert, the Irish like to cook with spirits. (Not that our steak dish didn't use alchol, as well.)Here's a lovely, easy Irish tipsy cake:

TIPSY CAKE

1 slightly stale Pound or Angel cake
3 tablespoons Jam
1 Measure whisky
5 fluid ounces Sherry
1 pint Warm custard or instant pudding
10 fluid ounces Whipped cream

Break up the cake and gently mix with the jam. Put the cake in a glass bowl. Mix the sherry and whisky and sprinkle it over the cake. Press down on the cake lightly. Pour the custard or pudding over the cake, and chill. Then spoon whipped cream over the top and serve.

That cake is delicious, but you probably don't want to serve it to children. Here's another Irish dessert that is more kid-friendly. My grandmother made these for me when I was small:

IRISH TEA CAKES

1 1/4 teaspoons Baking powder
3/4 cup Unsalted butter, room temper
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Dried currants or raisins
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2/3 cup Buttermilk
2 lg Eggs

Preheat the oven TO 325F, with the rack in center of oven. Generously grease a 9-inch cookie or loaf pan. Dust the pan with flour. Cut a piece of waxed paper to fit the bottom of the pan. Set aside. Use a mixer to cream butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating each until fluffy. Mix until well combined. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Put the currants or raisins in a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup of the flour mixture to the bowl. Stir until the fruit is well coated. Add the remaining flour to batter, alternating with buttermilk. Mix until smooth. Use a wooden spoon to stir stir until everything is well combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan if you want to make one cake, or drop by spoonfuls to make individual cakes. Bake until brown and, for single cake, until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour, 25 minutes.
If you make a single cake, it will crack on top. You can glaze it if you like. Let it rest in pan for 10 minutes first.

Enjoy your Irish feast; leave a little extra for the Leprechauns, and remember,

"Erin Go Braugh!"