St. Patrick's Day Dinner (Part 1)

As I thought back to my day, I wondered how I would possibly organize everything that happened into one post.  I decided it best to split it into 2 seperate posts.  Since my blog is mostly about cooking, I thought it appropriate to start with dinner.  So I start Part 1 of my journey through our St. Patrick's Day celebration.  The Fitzwater house was full of delicious smells, a whole lot of Irish cooking, and a bunch o wee happy lads and 1 lassie decked out in their green thanks to a visit from our newly named Leprechaun (which will be shared in Part 2). 

I actually started my St. Patrick's Day cooking madness on Wednesday because the recipe stated that the dish tastes better if you let it sit in the fridge overnight and then reheat it the next day.  Who am I to argue with a published Irish cook?!?!  Yesterday I spent pretty much the whole day cooking. It must have truly been a lucky day, because Ethan slept the ENTIRE afternoon allowing me to finish off our feast!!  Amazing!  I do have to say that dinner was worth all the hard work.  It was delicious.  It went over better than the corned beef last year, but I think I still enjoyed everything more than anyone else.  Of course the Irish Pub Music I found on Pandora helped make the food taste much more authentic!  Brenna liked the music...we tossed out the idea of Irish Step Dancing which she seemed mildly interested in.  I'll have to find a video online to show her.  Her little body frame and curly hair would make her the perfect little Irish Step Dancer. =) 

We didn't partake in any green beer, but I did add Guinness to the main course so that kind of counts, right? I've never had Guinness before, so AFTER opening the bottle and using it in the dish, I decided to take a swig.  It was the nastiest thing I have ever tasted.  It was so ridiculously bitter....I would have to drink an awful lot of other alcoholic beverages that I do enjoy to make it even remotely drinkable...and we all know what happens when you mix liquor and beer!  This revelation made me a bit nervous for the final dinner product, but let me tell you, I will be cooking with more beer in the future!  It tasted amazing after all the alcohol was boiled out of it.  It gave the dish such a nice, rich taste...no bitterness at all.  There were lots of leftovers, but don't worry, they will not go to waste....that's no blarney!!  

So enjoy my pictorial tour (Holy Pictures, Batman) of our St. Patrick's Day Feast consisting of the following:

• Beef Braised in Guinness
• Champ
• Cabbage & Bacon
• Irish Soda Bread
• Irish Apple Cake 

Beef Braised in Guinness:

1 1/2 lbs round roast

2 medium onions, chopped

1/2 lb carrots, peeled and sliced into small sticks

1 small container mushrooms, cut into large pieces

2 heaping tbsp all-purpose flour

Salt and pepper

3 tbsp cooking oil

1/2 tsp dried basil

2/3 c Guinness

1 tsp honey

2/3 c beef stock

Diced onions, chopped carrots and mushrooms.  The recipe states to slice the carrots into "pieces the size of your little finger".  I can't say I actually held my little finger next to the carrots as a carrot sizing guide for fear of slicing my finger off.  I just kind of used my best judgement.  As far as I know, everyone has little fingers of differing sizes anyway.  Plus technically my right hand little finger is longer than my left by about 1/2 inch because of a longer fingernail so it was just a little confusing!

Beef Round in the steak form was cheaper than the roast form so I just bought 2 small steaks to equal 1 1/2 lbs.  The meat is supposed to be cut into 12 pieces about 1" thick so it made it pretty easy to cut!  Next time I want to try it with roast meat....I think it would have come out much more tender.  Still tasty though!

Cut steak.

Assistant Chef got to prepare the seasoned flour for dredging our meat pieces.  Mix the flour together with the salt and pepper.

Meat pieces ready to be dredged in the seasoned flour.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pan over medium-high heat and add onions.  Cook until soft.

While onions are cooking, dip the meat pieces in the seasoned flour and coat well on all sides.

Get out the other ingredients-honey, Guinness, beef stock and basil.

Once onions are soft, transfer to a large glass baking dish using a slotted spoon.

In the same large pan on medium-high heat, add the meat pieces and brown on all sides.

Place cooked meat on top of the onion layer.

In same pot, add the remaining 1 tbsp oil.  Throw in the remaining seasoned flour and cook for 1 - 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add basil and Guinness and boil for 2 minutes.  Add honey and stock, return to a boil and then pour mixture over the meat.

While gravy is cooking, place carrots and mushrooms around the meat.

Meat with boiling gravy poured on top.

Cover with foil and bake in a 325 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours.  I then placed it in the refrigerator overnight.  For dinner, the gravy still looked a little runny so I reheated it uncovered in a 325 degree oven for 30 mins, took it out and stirred in 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp cold water.  Put it back in the oven for an additional 20 minutes.

Irish Soda Bread: Yesterday was the first warm, beautiful day we have had, so Andy took a vacation day to work on the Mega Playground in the background.  He also decided to put together to big soccer net we got the kids for Christmas so I temporarily lost my Assistant Chef.  Guess putting together PVC pipe trumps sifting flour!!

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 heaping tsp cream of tartar

1 heaping tsp baking soda

2 c all-purpose flour

4 c whole wheat flour

2 cups sour milk (2 cups milk with 2 tbsp white vinegar mixed in)



The ingredients minus the sour milk.

Sift together salt, sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda and all-purpose flour.  White powder in a white bowl apparently makes for a bad picture!!

With a butter knife, stir in whole-wheat flour and make a well in the center.

Add the sour milk into the well.  Oopsie....my well was apparently not deep enough because I had some spillage!  Mix until a soft dough forms.

Apparently the spillage wasn't detrimental to the bread making process.  Knead dough into a ball, flatten slightly and place on a greased cookie sheet.

Using a knife, cut a large X into the top of the dough.  Brush some extra milk on top of the dough.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes.  Remove from oven and turn loaf upside down.  Bake an additional 5 minutes.  Tyler found this part pretty funny!

Finished Soda Bread...very dense and filling.  We only finished half of the loaf between 5 carb loving eaters!!

Champ: This is basically just mashed potatoes with scallions stirred in it and butter served on the top instead of mixed in.  I didn't take many pictures because I figured most people know how to make mashed potatoes.  Plus, it was pretty close to dinnertime and I was HUNGRY!

1 1/2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut (I used 6 medium sized Russet potatoes)
4 oz scallions, chopped (I only used one whole bunch of scallions which was maybe about 1-2 oz.  4 oz would have been WAY to much for even my liking...and I LOVE scallions!)
1/2 c milk
Salt and pepper
Butter or margarine for serving

Boil the potatoes in salted water until well cooked.  Drain the potatoes very well and place in a bowl.  Simmer the chopped scallions gently in the milk until they are soft.  Drain the scallions, reserving the milk in a separate container.   

Mash the potatoes well with a fork and then stir in the scallions.  Mix in the reserved milk until desired creamy consistency is reached.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  To serve, place a scoop of Champ on plate, making a small well on the top.  Place butter in the well to melt. 

Cabbage and Bacon:

6 slices of thick sliced bacon, chopped.

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium head cabbage, cored and sliced

1 tbsp salt (I thought this was WAY too much salt because the bacon is pretty salty as is, but I read a bunch of reviews that said you needed this much because as the cabbage cooks it releases a lot of water, diluting the saltiness.  So, I went against my instincts and guess what?  I was right.  It did have way too much salt for my liking.  Next time I make it I would probably use a tsp of salt...maybe)

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp paprika



In a large pan, cook bacon over medium-high heat for 10 mins until crispy.

Add onions and garlic and continue cooking over medium high heat another 10 mins.

Add sliced cabbage to the pan and continue to cook over medium-high heat for another 10 mins stirring continuously.

Add seasonings, cover, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes, stirring every so often.

Irish Apple Cake:

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 c self rising flour ( 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour with 2 1/4 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt.)

3/4 c margarine

3/4 super fine sugar (I just put some regular granulated sugar in my food processor and processed until it was fine)

3 eggs

2 tbsp milk

2 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced



Sift together the cinnamon, all purpose flour, baking powder and salt (or self-rising if you have it).  My Assistant Chef was back from her soccer net building project and ready for some domestication.  Aiden was supervising the sifting.

In another bowl, cream together the margarine and flour until light and fluffy.  I used my electric hand mixer for this.

Add one egg and 1 tbsp flour mixture and blend well.  Repeat adding the second egg and another tbsp flour.  Beat in the third egg.

Why do 4 year olds think cracking eggs is so much fun?!?  I guess the independence it gives her is worth the occasional eggshell in the batter!



With a spoon, fold in 2/3 of the flour mixture.  Once blended, stir in the milk.  Then fold in the remaining 1/3 of the flour mixture.



The Leprechaun Princess loves to mix!  She gave herself this name when I asked about the tiara.  Guess not everyone wears an apron in the kitchen!

Mix, mix, mix!!

Aiden wanted to mix too!

The finished cake batter....I helped stir just a little at the end.

Cutting the apples.  This time I used Jazz apples.  I just buy whatever is on sale.

Add 1/2 of the cake batter to the bottom of a greased 8 1/2" x 11" pan.  Then layer the apple slices on top of the batter.

The Leprechaun Princess really liked this part!

Pour the remaining cake batter over the apples and spread evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 mins.  Reduce heat to 325 degrees and continue baking for another 30 mins until golden brown and cake is firm to the touch.

My finished St. Patrick's Day Feast!  YUMMY!

Beef Braised in Guinness with carrots and mushrooms.

Champ, Cabbage and Bacon and Irish Soda Bread.

My Irish Dinner.



The Irish Apple Cake for dessert.



I found this Irish saying that reminded me of my St. Patrick's Day so I'll end my dinner post with this:

Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter

Lullabies, dreams, and love ever after.
Poems and songs with pipes and drums
A thousand welcomes when anyone comes.
That's the Irish for you!

I hope all my readers had a safe and equally yummy St. Patrick's Day....and that not too many of you are suffering a hangover from too much green beer!  Time to start working on my Leprechaun Hunt blog!