A little background, I went to the Catholic Church to find out more about Ireland's patron saint, St. Patrick. I've heard something about him casting snakes out of Ireland. Hey, anyone that gets rid of snakes is a saint to me. Unfortunately, there was not any mention of it on the web page. What I did find was that he was never actually officially canonized, but early christians declared him a saint. I would encourage you to read about his life, it sounds like a great novel. He's associated with the shamrock due to referencing it in his explanation of the trinity.
Let's talk food. I must say I was greatly disappointed in my search for Irish foods. For one, apparently in the US, if it has Irish Cream Whiskey, Stout Beer, or green, it must be Irish. If this is so, if it has Jim Beam or Jack Daniels then it is American? Then, my search also pulled up Welsh, Scottish, English, and Yorkshire. In full disclosure, the furthest I've been out of the US is Canada and you can correct me if I'm wrong. This is the same as calling Chicago style pizza, Southern Cooking. Thank you for listening to me vent.
For dinner, I cooked Shepherds Pie and Irish Soda Bread. For dessert, I found a traditional Irish Lemon Pudding. I've made this Shepherds Pie recipe so often I don't even open the cookbook, Better Homes and Gardens, 1985 edition and it is listed as Hamburger Pie. I admit, this is not a traditional recipe. It uses soup and frozen vegetables. I do make it a little different than the recipe calls for. For example the original recipe calls for instant potatoes. Sorry, can NOT do it.
1 lb ground beef (I use a 96/4 ground beef)
1 onion (diced, if using a sweet onion only half - or about 1/2 to 1 cup)
1 clove garlic crushed
16 ounce package of frozen mixed vegetables
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1 can tomato or cheese soup
ground pepper to taste
mashed potatoes (4-5 medium sized potatoes, 1/2 cup milk & 1/2 Parmesan cheese)
1 cup of shredded cheese
I usually start cooking my potatoes first. They will usually be done cooking at about the time you will need to mash them and place them on top of the meat. Cook your diced onions in a little oil or butter until slightly caramelized, add, and brown ground beef. Once the meat is fully cooked add the pepper, thyme, and mixed vegetables. Mix the vegetables into the meat, this prevents clumping of the vegetables when you through about a 1/4 cup of water on top. Cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes to cook the vegetable. Once the vegetables are soft, add the can of soup. I've made it with both the cheese and tomato soup, both are good. The cheese soup is going to be higher in fat and calories. Transfer the meat and vegetable mixture into a 3-4 quart casserole dish, place mashed potatoes and shredded cheese on top. Place into a 375 F degree oven, bake for 25 minutes. If preparing ahead of time, it should be in the oven for 45 minutes.
The Irish Soda Bread (The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, copyright 1973, The Harvest Corporation, pg 426)
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 T sugar
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
3/4 t baking soda
6 T butter or margarine
1 1/2 cup raisin
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Preheat oven to 350 degree. Grease 2 quart round casserole dish. Mix dry ingredients with a fork and cut in butter with pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs. I skipped the salt and used salted butter.
Slightly beat eggs and reserve about a tablespoon prior to adding to the buttermilk (I actually substituted the buttermilk with sour milk). Mix the wet ingredients with the dry until flour is moistened. It will be sticky. Turn onto a floured surface, knead about 10 strokes to mix thoroughly. Shape the dough into a ball, place into casserole, cut a 4 inch cross about 1/4 deep into dough, and brush dough with reserved egg yolk.
Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool in dish on wire rack for 10 minutes: remove from dish and cool completely on rack. I ended up cooking it for almost an hour before it was done. My husband still said that it tasted slightly doughy, but at the end of the night there was only one piece left. He later said it was really just a large scone.
For dessert, I made the Traditional Irish Lemon Pudding. That is after I went to two McDonald's for Shamrock Shakes for my husband. Yeah, I know the only thing that makes it Irish is the name and that it's green. It's recipes like this that I really do appreciate specifics. The recipe below is for a double recipe.
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar (see notes below)4 eggs separated (if you are unsure of yourself when separating eggs - use one dish/cup to drop your whites in, then upon successful separation add to the rest of your egg whites to prevent contamination with a failed separation. Also, if you get a shell in it, use a moistened finger for retrieval.)
1 cup flour
4 Lemons zested and juiced (see notes below)
2 1/2 cups milk
Cream butter and sugar, add egg yolks one at a time. Mix in flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, milk.
In a separate dish, whip egg whites into stiff peaks. Carefully fold egg whites into your lemon mix. Pour into a 9 inch springform pan with a pan under it to catch any seepage. I always use a wide rimmed pizza pan under my springform pan. You can also use a nine inch round cake pan. Bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes.
Garnish with whip cream (definitely needed to break some of the bite) and powdered sugar.
Without specific amounts, it did make it a little challenging. Four Lemons - the amount of zest and juice can truly vary depending on the size. I did double the recipe and ended up after researching about how that much it is, I used 1/4 cup of zest and 3/4 cups of juice. In the end, I think it was too much zest and not enough of sugar. It does have a sour bite. I would decrease the zest to about 1/8 cup (2T) zest and increase the sugar to a full cup for a double recipe.
I would also add, do not be alarmed at it being thinner than a batter consistency.
When it's baked, it has a very light (lighter than angel food cake) cake on top of the more pudding below. This is where using the spring form pan a little of a challenge.
Mine baked for 45 minutes before it appeared set or mostly firm on top.
For your movie, there are several Irish films. The one that comes to mind is Michael Collins with Liem Neeson.
Next week Easter! So, yeah ham, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, rolls, veggies, and I haven't decided on dessert yet. Really, with all of the candy, do you need a dessert? Thoughts?
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