St. Patrick's Day Feast

Posted Thu, 2010-03-18 13:44 by Emily Caryl

I'm a big fan of any holiday that involves drinking beer celebrating the life of a patron saint.  I'm also a big fan of any holiday that involves feasting!  This year's SPD feast included the requisite corned beef with cabbage and other yummy vegetables, Irish soda bread, and pistachio cookies for dessert (because they're green).  Oh, and a New York strip for Terry because he claimed not to like corned beef.  Weirdo.  I'm pretty sure he's reconsidered now.

Hang on.  Here's some music to get you in the festive mood while you read: 

Milwaukee Irish Festival¹

My tried-and-true corned beef recipe is Guinness-Braised Beef Brisket (Cooking Light, March, 2003).  When shopping for corned beef at Key City Fish, my options were two pounds or an enormous four pounder.  Not knowing how many folks I'd be feeding, I opted for the four pound version.  And since a four pound slab of meat won't fit in my Crock Pot, I borrowed a second slow cooker from a friend and divided the whole mess between the two of them.  From there, I mostly followed the Cooking Light recipe, adjusting the quantities of ingredients for a four pound brisket instead of three.  I also added potatoes to the mixture.  Delicious German butterball potatoes from The Coop.

After cooking the corned beef for about eight hours on high, I removed the meat (OK, Julianne removed the meat) and added chunks of cabbage to the vegetables and cooking liquid.  I then continued cooking for about 30 to 45 minutes (allowing me ample time to break a growler on the front porch) until the cabbage was tender but still slightly crisp.

The Irish Soda Bread recipe came from my well worn, much loved, Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.  As you may be able to tell, this cookbook is definitely not new to me.  Nice outfits, ladies.  The binding broke a few centuries ago so I punched holes in all the pages and placed it in a three ring binder.  I'm crafty like that.

Anyhow, the BH&G Irish Soda Bread recipe was about the easiest bread recipe ever.  I think it turned out pretty well.  Dense but not dry.  Despite the fact that I may have gone a little overboard cutting the crosses on top.

The only green dessert I could think of (other than Jello) was Pistachio Cookies.  It's my mom's recipe.  I don't know where she got it, but she's made them for as long as I can remember.  They're awesome, sweet, cakey, pillows of goodness.  And they're easy.  They involve cake mix.

If you'd like to try them yourself, here's the recipe:

Pistachio Cookies

1 box white cake mix
1 box pistachio instant pudding
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (I use vegetable)
1/2 cup nuts (I use walnuts or pecans)
2 Tbl water

Mix all ingredients well and drop by teaspoon on greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes at 350°.

I suppose you could also use pistachios instead of walnuts or pecans if you want to be fancy.  But they're a pain to shell.  And the shells will not go down the garbage disposal.  Trust me.

The entire feast was a huge success.  One dinner eater even proclaimed the corned beef to be the best he'd ever eaten!  But be warned, this is what happens when you try to convert a steak eater into a corned beef fan:

Milwaukee Irish Festival²

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

1.  "Dublin O'Shea," traditional, performed by Carbon Leaf, Milwaukee Irish Festival, Milwaukee, WI, August 17, 2003.

"Big Strong Man," traditional, performed by Carbon Leaf, Milwaukee Irish Festival, Milwaukee, WI, August 17, 2003.

2.  "Banish Misfortune," traditional, performed by Carbon Leaf, Milwaukee Irish Festival, Milwaukee, WI, August 17, 2003.

"The Boxer," written by Barry Privett, performed by Carbon Leaf, Milwaukee Irish Festival, Milwaukee, WI, August 17, 2003.

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