St. Paddy's Day Recipes for Your Irish Feast
Born to a Butte woman with a big family, I love me some St. Patrick’s Day. Our annual St. Paddy's Day corned beef and cabbage dinner with my many aunts, uncles, and cousins at “Gug’s” (grandma’s) is a childhood memory I will always cherish. Today, corned beef and cabbage is my husband and kids’ favorite St. Patrick’s Day dinner. It is also one of the rare occasions he cooks (because he insists he does it better than me). You may be thinking I’m crazy—kids don’t like this kind of stuff, but I’m telling you that my incredibly picky 6-year-old loves corned beef. She requested it for our Valentine’s Day dinner a few weeks ago and has put in a request for it again for her birthday lunch with friends here in a few weeks! She doesn’t eat the cabbage but my 5 and 2-year-old both love the cabbage and potatoes.
Corned Beef and Cabbage with Potatoes
Ingredients:
- 3-4 lbs corned beef brisket w/peppercorn and bay leaves
- 1 head of green cabbage
- 6-8 red potatoes
- Optional: My mom always adds carrots, but my kiddos and husband don’t care for them so we skip them at our house. If you add them, you can add a dozen whole baby carrots or slide them in half. You can also slice up two or three large carrots to toss in.
Instructions:
The method you choose to cook the corned beef and cabbage can vary—my mom likes hers cooked in the oven. She adds the cabbage half way through so that it still has a crunch to it, but my husband likes the crock pot because he likes it soggy and falling apart. I love it all because… food!
Oven (3 hours):
- In a stock pot, place the corned beef brisket and add water to top of brisket.
- Add spices.
- After 1 ½ hours, add the cabbage, potatoes, and carrots.
- Salt and pepper the vegetables.
- Allow to cook for another 1 ½ hours.
or
Crock Pot (8 hours):
- In the crock pot, place corned beef brisket and add water about ½ way to the top of the brisket.
- Add spices.
- Add in the cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. Salt and pepper the vegetables.
- Allow to cook on low for 8 hours.
Note: Best served with some Irish Soda Bread which you can get at most bakeries this time of year (Albertsons, Great Harvest, etc.).
Blarney Stones
Ingredients:
- Yellow cake mix (homemade or from a box)
- Vanilla icing (homemade or from a can)
- Crushed peanuts
Instructions:
- Start these by choosing to make a yellow cake mix from scratch or a yellow cake mix out of the box. Either one works well and it really just depends on your motivation and time commitments.
- In a 9x13 pan, bake your cake mix, just like baking a regular cake.
- Once finished, allow the cake to cool and then cut into 12 small squares or rectangles.
- Coat the small rectangles in icing.
- Roll the icing-coated rectangles in crushed peanuts.
Reuben Sandwiches
(for March 18th with your leftovers)
Ingredients:
- Dark rye bread
- Swiss cheese
- Sauerkraut
- Thousand Island dressing
Instructions:
- Add a slice or two of Swiss cheese and thinly sliced corned beef to a slice of bread.
- Top the meat and cheese with sauerkraut, dressing, and another slice of bread (I actually prefer mine without dressing but you can add and determine the amount based on taste).
- We like to cook ours over the hot stove top or in the George Foreman.
- Grease the pan or George Foreman with cooking spray or butter or directly butter the slices of bread prior to cooking.
- Cook on low to allow cheese to melt and meat to reheat.
