On St. Patrick’s Day, you can celebrate at home with family and friends and make authentic Irish dishes, side dishes and sweets, or if you prefer to celebrate at a local pub, we have a list of Irish Pub’s in St. Louis.
St. Patrick’s Day will be on Friday March 17, 2017. You can make some authentic Irish dishes to celebrate the holiday with family and friends. Celebrations take place around the world for this holiday with many types of Irish food that go far beyond the corn beef and cabbage that is so popular.
A Full Irish Breakfast
An authentic Irish breakfast includes a plate overflowing with delicious food. It includes bacon, sausages and eggs. It would also include either Fadge (an Irish Potato Bread) or Boxty which is Irish griddle cakes. This large breakfast fit for a king may also include Irish soda bread or wheaten bread.
Fadge Recipe
Boil and mash one pound of potatoes, sprinkle them with ½ teaspoon of salt, add 2 tablespoons of butter and mix well. Add ¾ to 1 cup of flour and combine. Heat a cast iron skillet on the stovetop over medium heat. Roll the fadge out ½ inch thick and make round patties around 4 inches around. Cook the patties about 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown and serve them warm with butter or cinnamon and sugar.
True Irish Main Dishes
When celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, most people in the United States think of the corned beef and cabbage as a go to meal. There are several other authentic dishes to make in cast iron cookware to add to your celebration.
Irish Stew
Irish stew was traditionally made with mutton, but many people use lamb in it now.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 pound of lamb cutlets, remove bones and cut in 2 inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons of flour
- 2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
- 1 cup of rough chopped onion
- 1 cup leaks, finely sliced
- 1 cup carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 ½ pints beef stock
- 3 cabbage leaves, thinly sliced
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Directions:
Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a Dutch oven and heat it on medium heat. Add half of the lamb and brown it, then remove the lamb. Add the other half of the lamb and brown it, then remove it from the Dutch oven. Add flour to the pan and scrape up any pieces of meat and fat left behind. Cook on medium for 3 minutes and add the stock one ladle at a time while stirring to make a gravy without any lumps in it.
Layer half of the lamb in the Dutch oven and cover it with half of the potatoes, onions, leeks and carrots. Repeat the layers and pour the thickened stock over the top. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and bake the stew for 1 hour at 375 degrees.
Dublin Coddle
Dublin coddle is an Irish traditional comfort food and is a dish much like a stew.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 medium onions, sliced thinly
- 4 oz. salty back bacon, remove the rind, cut into ¼ inch cubes
- 6 fat, pork sausages, cut in half
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
- 8 oz white potatoes, sliced thin
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups beef stock
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Heat vegetable oil in a Dutch oven on medium heat. Add the onions, bacon and sausages and brown them. Remove from the heat cover the onions, bacon and sausages with sliced carrots and potatoes, season this layer with salt and pepper and repeat the layering of carrots and potatoes. Pour the stock on top, place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes.
Beef and Guinness Pie
This slow simmered dish is satisfying for any meal and the long cooking methods makes the beef very tender and allows the flavor of the Guinness to bake into every delicious bite.
Ingredients:
- 2 refrigerated pie crusts
- 6 teaspoons flour
- 2 pounds chuck steak cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 6 teaspoons butter
- 2 large onions, thinly sliced
- 2 carrots cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons tomato puree
- 17 oz Guinness or stout beer
- 1 ½ pints beef stock
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- Salt and pepper
Directions:
Place the flour in a large bowl and add salt and pepper. Toss the meat cubes into the flour mixture.
Heat a Dutch oven on the stovetop on medium high heat. Add the butter and oil and allow it to melt. Brown the meat in small batches, then remove and set aside. Add the carrots and onions to the Dutch oven and cook about 2 minutes. Add the meat back to the Dutch oven. Add Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, ale, stock and sugar. Add salt and pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil. Cover and boil gently to simmer for 2 hours. The meat will be tender and the sauce will be thick and glossy. Remove from the heat.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the pie crusts over the Dutch oven and it contents. Press the two crusts together to seal them in the center. Cut off any extra crust and crimp the edges of the pie crust. Brush the top with beaten egg and cut a slit about 3 inches long in the center. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and crisp.
Irish Side Dish
This Irish side dish will compliment any main dishes you are making for your celebration. According to the Irish history of colcannon, it was used on Halloween to predict marriage. Unmarried women would find charms placed in the dish and then place a charm and a spoonful of colcannon in a sock. The stock would then be tied it to their front door. The first man that entered the door would be her intended for marriage.
Colcannon
Ingredients:
- 1 pound potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 4 oz curly kale chopped
- ½ cup spring onions, chopped roughly
- ¼ cup spring onions, chopped finely
- 4 oz butter
- Salt and pepper
Directions:
Simmer the potatoes in a cast iron skillet in salted water until they are soft in the middle. Place curly kale in boiling water and blanch for one minute. Add the rough chopped spring onions to the drained kale and pulse them in a blender to 10 seconds.
Drain the potatoes and add butter. Mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy, Add the kale mixture and mix well. Add the finely chopped spring onions and season to taste.
Desserts
You can round out a full meal with an Irish dessert that is both sweet and savory. Bailey’s Irish Crème Liquor compliments a homemade chocolate cupcake recipe.
Bailey’s Irish Cream Cupcakes
Ingredients:
- 4 oz butter
- 3 ½ oz milk
- 5 ½ oz dark chocolate
- 3 large eggs
- 8 oz sugar
- 8 oz self-rising flour
- 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
Add butter, milk and chocolate to a cast iron skillet and place it on low heat on the stovetop. Stir constantly until it is melted. Cream the eggs and sugar together and add the chocolate to it until well mixed about 7 minutes. Place the flour and cocoa in a sifter and sift into the chocolate. Spoon the batter into 16 muffin cups lined with muffin papers. Bake 20 minutes until batter is done. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
Frosting:
- 2 oz butter
- 8 oz powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream
- 3 ½ oz cream cheese
Place all frosting ingredients in a bowl and beat with electric beaters. Frost the cupcakes and add sprinkles.
You can make the cupcakes ahead of time and freeze them, then simply take them out of the freezer, let them defrost and ice them.
Irish Butter Pudding
This dessert is loved in Ireland and is a great way to use up leftover bread of any type.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz soft butter
- 10 slices of bread, sliced diagonally
- 2 oz raisins
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 12 oz mile
- 2 oz heavy cream
- 1 oz sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread soft butter on the inside of a Dutch oven in a very thin layer. Butter one side of each bread triangle and add to the Dutch oven in one layer overlapping the slices with the butter side up. Sprinkle raisins on top and some nutmeg and cinnamon. Repeat the layer again to use all of the bread and sprinkle raisins on top.
Heat milk and cream on low in a small saucepan. Do not allow it to boil, but just become hot. Beat the eggs with ¾ of the sugar and vanilla, add Bailey’s and whisk together. Pour the milk slowly over the eggs and whisk it until combined. Pour the mixture over the bread and bake for 40 to 45 minutes until it is golden brown and the eggs are set.
Whatever your style of celebration is, you can enjoy it at home with great food, family and friends or you can visit a local pub to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and partake in some green beer. Keep your eyes open for the illusive rainbow that leads to a Dutch oven of gold.