Is anyone doing any special cooking for St. Patrick's Day? I'm having some friends over on Sunday and thought I'd go with a St. Patrick's Day theme. I got a Quck Cooking newsletter from Martha Stewart today. They had a recipe for colcannon (mashed potatoes, cabbage and lots of butter) that sounded good. I suppose I could do corned beef too -- how the heck do you buy and cook that?

Slashfood just had a little clip on corned beef; there were some helpful comments and recipe links.

http://www.slashfood.com/2006/03/13/corned-beef-and-cabbage-do-you-do-it-and-how/

oh faith! is that finally your new blog??
yay you!!!! now there's at least two new food bloggers in the kitchen!

and to get to chris' question, nope, not doin' a durn thing for st paddys day other than locking down my apartment in the LES and hoping no one pukes on my stoop, in fact, just to further deny the "holiday's" existence, i might make myself a nice curry ;-)

Hello everyone,

I like Ann's idea for the curry. I work with a bunch of Irish nationals and I can attest they don't do the corned beef thing that often either. If they have a get together they would be more inclined to make irish stew. but if you are going to make corned beef, it will be very readily available in the grocery stores this week and I believe it is cooked just like a roast, my mom made it once, and I can't remember exactly how she did it. A word of advice though I recall it being very salty on its own, w/o any added. Oh and your potato dish sound delish:)

I was taught by my mom to do corned beef this way...

Remove it from the bag, wash off the brine, soak in two or three changes of cold water overnight.

The next day bring a big pot of water to a boil, add the brisket and boil/simmer until fork tender and pulling apart. Before it's done, quarter up some potatoes, carrots and slice cabbage and add to the pot and cook as a unit.

Pull out of the brine, rest and slice.

Lived in Ireland for about a year... Way back when...

The Irish have a dish called bacon & cabbage, not corned beef (which seems to be more "Irish-American," cooked/simmered in a kind of brine, by my ma at least, along with the cabbage, carrots, potatoes and whatever else... coriander maybe?) & cabbage... but it's not bacon the way we are accustomed to... this pork resembles the dish we are used to. Probably an analogous cut of pork, prepared in an analogous way... and yes, stew, or lamb or shepherd's pie would be more "Irish."

BTW, for all you Lenten Vegans... Apparently, Bishops across the US have granted dispensations to Irish-Americans like myself so that meat can be eaten on Paddy's Day, this Friday. So if you're Irish, go nuts. If you're not, please pass the lamb.

Paddy's Day, by the way, is not such a big deal in Ireland... another Irish-American thing. It's like Labor or Memorial day with tourists.

My non-irish meal to satisfy the silly green requirement of friday is a Fava bean gazpacho.

1 pound of shelled fava beans, briefly boiled and squeezed out of their coats.
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 small red onion, diced
1 large leek, cleaned and sliced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 large bulb of fennel, sliced and steamed.
1.5 quarts of chicken broth
1/2 tsp white pepper
5 persian cucumbers, cleaned of seeds and sliced

Saute in garlic, onions in a small amount of olive oil until translucent.

Add leek, fennel and salt and saute till bright green and aromatic.

Add chicken broth and fava beans to the pot and bring to a brief simmer for 5-10 minutes of until everything is tender.

Add pepper and cucumbers and simmer for a minute.

Blend the whole thing, and serve in a bowl garnish with chopped fennel tops, olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

And if you do it with veggie broth, you can still eat it while living in an area with no disposition for St Patricks.

Thanks Ann!! Yes, I have enjoyed playing around with my site.

I am going to put up pictures sometime soon of that Spanish dinner - paella is such a beautiful dish!

i remember when I was about 12 years old on Saint Patricks day. The only thing i knew how to cook were bisquick pancakes. I woke up early made pancakes and proceeded to add green food coloring to them. My pregnant mom was not too happy.

But we did have festive green pancakes!

If you do elect to do corned beef and cabbage, I use the following cooking method to good success. This is an easy way to get things started in the morning in a crock pot and return to corned beef and cabbage after parading.

-Purchase a corned beef brisket (some come w/ spice packets included), a head of cabbage, potatoes and carrots (full size work better here than the little baby ones).
-Rinse the beef brisket and place in a slow cooker or heavy bottom pot. Pour in one bottle of beer (your choice, I like using Bass). Pour in water to just shy of covering the brisket. Cook on low for 6 hours if using a slow cooker or alternatively bring to a boil and simmer for 3-4 hours in a pot.
-In a separate large pot, bring water to a boil. Salt water generously, add carrots and potatoes, and cook until tender. This can be done in advance and reheated prior to serving.
-When corned beef has completed cooking, remove from slow cooker or pot and place on baking sheet (pre-heat oven to 300 degrees), leaving cooking liquid. Cut head of cabbage through the base into quarters (leave base intact so that the leaves remain connected). If a large head, cut quarters again in half. Place cabbage in corned beef cooking liquid and cook until tender (20 min.?).
-Prepare a mustard "glaze" of brown sugar, water (or more beer), and a good mustard of your choice by mixing the three ingredients together in a small bowl. Apply glaze to brisket, place a cooking brick or heavy oven-safe dish on top of brisket and cook in oven for 20 min.
-Remove brisket from oven, allow to rest for 10 min. then slice across the grain. Plate with cabbage, carrots and potatoes.

I can't remember exactly where I got this method from (with the glaze) and the cooking temps/times are approximate but doing corned beef and cabbage this way has always produced a nice, tender, flavorful dish for me. If you prefer less saltiness, I'd do the brisket soak mentioned above.

Finally made it to Chilly Chiles in Ottawa last Saturday. Now, armed with dried chiles: de arbol, New Mexican Hot Pod, Ancho Pod, Chipotle, I'll attempt to make some sauces. I have been studying recipes from Rancho Cooking, Mexican and Californian recipes, Jaqueline Higuera (there's a salsa roja recipe that looks good, you steam dried chiles and garlic 25 mins. then puree with a bit of water..etc.) Will also study Encarnacion's Kitchen, Mexican Recipes from 19th Century California, Encarnacion Pineda.

Any other leads/recipes/suggestions?
oh, and happy St. Paddy's! I'm on a different track, I know.

There's a really great cookbook called Feast of Santa Fe by Huntley Dent (click my name for the link). Everything my sister (who lives in Albuquerque) or I have made from this book has been amazing. Not the healthiest if strictly following the recipes (lard!) but with modifications, not too bad.

The Cafe Pasquales book is pretty good to if you can get your hands on it (I bought mine at the restaurant).

leeds, I just saw you back on music...big fun at the cd store for you yesterday!

I'm a big Diana Kennedy fan, and lugged one of books to Oaxaca a year ago to help me understand what was going on there....and still blissfully working through my dried chiles.
I like pasilla salsa with a lightly simmered tomatillo base.
Rick Bayless is fantastic - I've been cooking from One Plate At A Time, but totally interested in "Everyday Mexican" and one of his others.
yum.

Corned Beef and Cabbage follow-up...

I just realized that the corned beef cooking method I use is culled from a base Epicurious recipe improved by reviewer suggestions. Click on my name for the whole deal!

You have to love Epicurious for the useful comments.

speaking of salsas
a few years ago i got to go to cozumel for work, and there was an amazing restaurant there called La Choza
their salsa was SO different and SO out of this world good, i kept going back
i finally asked what it's deal was and the guy said it was a family recipe that came from Mihoacan
it was kind of like a salsa aioli, very garlicky, very spicy (habaneros!) but pureed, and strained with an inch of its life
has anyone ever come across a recipe for a salsa like this? i've tried recreating it to no avail, and haven't had the chance to get back to cozumel, sigh!

thanks, minipanda and guido(yikes, will have to get pasilla!), will check those leads &, yea, substituting the lard: good idea! Will study some more, then experiment.
I'm working my way to the day I decide to make tamales; though I've seen them being made by my grandmother & others, it's still daunting (maybe because I understand all the work that goes in).
and guido-good fun indeed!

ann, if I come across anything like that in my 'studies' I will let you know. you're giving me an idea of course as my parents make garlic paste regularly...was the salsa thick and what was it served with?

it was kinda thick say, the consistency of a cafeteria style marinara, but definitely had been emulsified with some oil
and it was served simply with chips
truly, the strangest salsa (and most deilicious!) i've ever had

I am heading up to spend the weekend with a new mother and want to cook a few leftover worthy meals, any thoughts?

i think stews and chilis are always good for leftovers: they're almost foolproof to freeze and reheat. i think the liquid must insulate it from freezer burn or something.

casseroles are also great, and easy: i find making casseroles in two pie tins instead of one big pan is a bit easier to store, or you can eat one and freeze the other.

Jenny,

Your question has been posted at the top of the site.