St. Patrick's Day Recipes

Seems like everyone's a little Irish on St. Patrick's Day. Whether you celebrate or not, here are a few yummy recipes to try out. And while I didn't add any traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage recipes, I have added Corned Beef and Cabbage Tarts. In the meantime, Enjoy!

COLCANNON

I'm not sure where I got this recipe from...maybe About.com, though I wouldn't swear to it. It starts off, “Leeks and bacon flavor this traditional Irish side dish recipe of mashed potatoes with cabbage.” Prep Time: 25 minutes, Cook Time: 20 minutes, Serves 6 – 8.

Ingredients:

2 pounds russet potatoes

4 slices bacon

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 leek, rinsed and chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups shredded green cabbage

1/3 cup butter

1 cup hot milk

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. white pepper

Preparation:

Peel potatoes and cube. Place in saucepan and cover with cold water. Place on high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Meanwhile, cook bacon in large saucepan until crisp and browned, turning often while cooking. Remove bacon to paper towels to drain; crumble. To drippings remaining in saucepan, add olive oil. Cook onion, garlic, and leeks until crisp tender, about 3-5 minutes. Then add cabbage, cover, and cook for 6-10 minutes until cabbage is tender.

When potatoes are cooked, drain and return potatoes to hot pot; shake over low heat for a few minutes to dry. Add butter and mash. Add milk and salt and pepper; beat until combined. Stir in bacon and cabbage mixture. Serve immediately, or place in serving dish and keep warm in 200 degrees F oven for 1 hour.

IRISH MINT BROWNIES

This comes from Linda Larsen, About.com's Busy Cooks expert. She writes, “These fabulous brownies with a rich mint topping are perfect for St. Patrick's Day or anytime. I like to bake these brownies in a 9" round cake pan and cut it into wedges for a slightly fancier presentation.” Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 25 minutes; Yields 16 brownies.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp. water

1/4 cup fudge ice cream topping

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 tub vanilla ready to spread frosting

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

Few drops green food coloring

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. cocoa

1-1/2 Tbsp. water

2 Tbsp. butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In heavy saucepan, melt butter with brown sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and blend in fudge topping with wire whisk. Add sugar, beating well. Then add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa and mix well. Stir in 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips. Spray bottom of 9x9" square cake pan with baking spray containing flour. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until just set. Cool completely.

In small bowl combine frosting, green food coloring, and mint extract and beat well until frosting is evenly colored. Spread over brownies in pan.

In medium bowl, combine powdered sugar and cocoa and mix with wire whisk. In microwave safe bowl, combine 2 Tbsp. butter and 1-1/2 Tbsp. water and microwave for 30-45 seconds until butter melts. Add to powdered sugar mixture and beat with wire whisk until smooth. Stir in vanilla. You may need to add more water to reach a pouring consistency. Then carefully pour this frosting over the green frosting and gently spread to cover. Don't worry if some of the chocolate frosting mixes with the green frosting; that just looks pretty!

SWEET IRISH POTATO ROLLS

Elizabeth Yetter, About.com's Bread Breaking expert, writes, “Sweet Irish potato rolls are made with mashed potatoes and the water you use to boil the potatoes. These rolls are soft, moist, and slightly sweet. They taste great with salty dinners, such as ham, and with most stews. The rolls can be made ahead of time, cooled, and frozen. This recipe for sweet Irish potato rolls makes 18 medium sized rolls.” Prep Time: 2 hours; Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 cup mashed potatoes

1 cup potato water

1 tbsp (2 pkg) active dry yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

5 cups bread flour, about

Preparation:

Melt stick of butter in small saucepan.

In large bowl, add mashed potatoes, potato water, and melted butter. Mix and let set until lukewarm. Add yeast, sugar, salt and eggs to mixture. Stir well.

Stir in 2 cups bread flour. Let mixture sit for 15 minutes in warm place.

Stir down sponge and add enough flour to make a soft dough.

Turn dough out onto floured board and knead until soft and smooth. Put dough in greased bowl. Turn dough over in bowl so that the top is also lightly greased. Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until double in bulk.

Punch dough down. Turn out onto lightly floured board and knead out air bubbles.

Divide and shape dough into 18 rolls.

Put rolls on 2 greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes or until doubled.

Bake rolls at 350 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden.

Serve warm or cold.

TRADITIONAL IRISH SODA BREAD

This traditional bread comes from The Baker Chick. She writes, “I love how simple this recipe is. It’s made up of just 4 ingredients that I usually have on hand, which means I can have a loaf of delicious bread ready and waiting any time I want. Flour- Baking Soda- Salt-Buttermilk. Who would know that simply that could result in such a perfect loaf of bread? With an almost biscuit-like taste and a crisp crust, we slathered this with some delicious salted butter, but a slather of jam or a dunk in a bowl of soup would be a perfect match as well. The bread is simple as can be to throw together and has that rustic, country look I really love. I’m a total fan of making yeasted bread, but this is by far the best I’ve had for something so quick! I’m glad I discovered this recipe right in time for St. Patty’s, but I know it will be a kitchen standard all year round!”

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 lb. (3-1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more as needed

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1-1/2 to 1-3/4 cups buttermilk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450F.

Stir together the flour, salt and baking in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the mixture and pour in 1 1/2 cups of the buttermilk.

Use a wooden spoon or your hand to combine the ingredients. You want the dough to be soft- don't over mix it. Add more buttermilk if needed to get the dough to come together.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and give it a few kneads and shape it into a 6-inch diameter disk (about 2 inches tall.)

Use a sharp knife to score an X on the top of the loaf (I did mine a bit too deep as you can tell, you only need to cut in a little bit.) Transfer to a cookie sheet or pizza stone and bake for 15 mins.

Reduce the heat to 400F and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden, and the bread sounds hollow when you tap it.

Let bread cool slightly before slicing and slathering with salted butter!

CREAMY IRISH POTATO SOUP

This recipe comes from Campbell's Kitchen; to view this recipe online, click here. The recipe starts off, "This rich and creamy potato soup is subtly flavored with celery and green onions. It's the kind of soup you'll want to savor slowly...even though it's ready in just 35 minutes."

Prep. time: 15 minutes; Cooking time: 25 minutes; Serves: 5 servings (1 1/4 cups each)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

4 medium green onion, sliced (about 1/2 cup)

1 stalk celery, sliced (about 1/2 cup)

1 3/4 cups Swanson® Chicken Broth, (Regular, Natural Goodness® or Certified Organic)

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 medium potato, sliced 1/4-inch thick (about 3 cups)

1 1/2 cups milk

Directions

Heat the butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and cook until they're tender.

Stir the broth, black pepper and potatoes in the saucepan and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Place half of the broth mixture and half of the milk in a blender or food processor. Cover and blend until smooth. Repeat with the remaining broth mixture and remaining milk. Return to the saucepan and heat through.

CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE TARTS

Linda Larsen runs about.com's Busy Cooks channel. Linda wrote, "I love this recipe for these individual little Corned Beef and Cabbage Tarts. The creamy cheese, crisp-tender cabbage and sweet red onion blend so well with the corned beef and the flaky pastry. You can omit the corned beef entirely for a nice vegetarian entree."

Prep Time: 25 minutes; Cook Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 55 minutes; Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 crust pastry recipe

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

1/4 large head red cabbage, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. honey

1/3 cup water

1 cup cooked cubed corned beef or ham

1 cup cubed Swiss or Havarti cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Prepare pie crust and divide dough into four pieces. Roll out each between waxed paper into 7" rounds. Fit each into a 4" tart ring, or simply put the crusts on two cookie sheets. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Saute onion in olive oil in a large skillet until soft. Then add cabbage, vinegar, honey, and water. Cover pan and simmer for 10 minutes, until cabbage is soft, stirring frequently. Then uncover pan and cook for 5-8 minutes longer on medium high heat, stirring frequently, until liquid is absorbed.

Divide half of the cabbage mixture evenly among the pastry circles, using about 1/2 cup for each. If you aren't using the tart rings, just mound the mixture in the center of the circles of pastry. Divide the corned beef evenly onto the cabbage mixture. Sprinkle with Gruyere cheese cubes and grated Parmesan cheese, and top with remaining cabbage mixture. Fold crust edges over the top of the cabbage mixture, pleating to form a ruffled edge. Bake tarts at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Remove tart rings and serve.