Growing up I never liked Irish food, mainly because I think my mom would make cabbage and very dry corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day. She was a good cook and learned all my father’s family’s Italian recipes and I think probably homemade "macaroni and gravy" (if you know, you know) tended to beat out cabbage for kids. Although still not always at the top of my list for foods, I do feel some obligation to honor my red haired, green-eyed mother in March, perhaps not with boiled cabbage though.
Shepherd’s Pie
My husband freakishly loves shepherd’s pie. He’s always very excited when its offered at a restaurant, especially if it’s "Guinness" Shepherd’s Pie. I should probably make it more often to insure a happy marriage. This recipe also freezes well, so you could make it and put in two smaller pans to serve half and freeze half as well to reheat at another time.
Mashed Potato Topping
I have made this in the past with mashed sweet potato topping as well, which is also a hit. If you put your mashed topping of choice in a piping bag and an icing tip you can make your pie look very fancy and everyone will be amazed.
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into big chunks
- 4 tbs butter
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ to ½ cup milk
- salt and pepper, to taste
Meat Filling
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups frozen peas, carrots, and corn medley
- 2 tbs. flour
- ½ cup beef broth
- 1 tbs. tomato paste
- 1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tps. rosemary
- ½ tps thyme
- 1 bay leaf
Cooking Instructions: Preheat oven to 350EF. Boil the potatoes in water to cover until fork tender and then drain the water. Add the butter, sour cream, milk, salt, and pepper to taste and mash the potatoes with a hand masher or mixer until you reach your favorite mashed potato consistency. Set aside. In a large skillet brown the ground beef along with the onions and garlic. Drain any excess grease.
To the same skillet add 2 cups of the frozen vegetables. Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle the flour over the meat and veggies and stir to mix. Add the tomato paste and stir to mix it in. Add the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and then reduce heat to low. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, adding additional broth if necessary to prevent the meat from drying out. Remove from heat. Spread the meat mixture in an even layer in a 9×13 dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
Make sure to remove the bay leaf before adding the mixture to the 9×13 dish. Top the meat with the mashed potatoes making an even layer of potatoes. You can get all fancy and pipe the potatoes onto the meat or you can use a spoon and spread the potatoes evenly and then use a fork to make designs and ridges in the potatoes. These little ridges will brown nicely! Place the dish in the oven and bake for 30 minutes until brown and bubbly. You can place it under the broiler for a few minutes to brown the potatoes more if necessary.
Irish Soda Bread
This is a great, easy bread that uses baking soda as its leavener so you are not waiting for it to rise and then proof before baking. You can just mix it together and put it in the oven. I love soda bread for its ease, crispy and crumbly crust and the biscuit like texture of the crumb. The great debate in soda bread is whether it is traditional to put dried fruit, like currants or raisins in it. Try it both ways and see what you decide.
This is an easy recipe that even the littlest sous chefs can help with. While it bakes you can also make a compound butter to go the extra mile.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups of flour
- 1 and 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 4 tbs. sugar
- 1 tbs. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup softened butter (one stick)
- 1 egg
Glaze
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
Cooking Instructions: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix together the dry ingredients: Flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Use a whisk to make sure it is well combined. Add in the wet ingredients: buttermilk, butter, egg and use a hand mixer to help combine everything. Turn out the dough on a floured surface and kneed it for about 10 minutes. Dust it with flour as needed. It's done when it is about the consistency of Playdough.
Form dough into a loaf and put it on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. The parchment paper is going to be important to keep the bottom of the bread from over cooking. Cut a large X in to the top of the dough. This is very important to help the dough cook through. Add the dough to the oven for 15 minutes.
While the bread is cooking, make the glaze by melting butter (microwave or stovetop) over a low flame and let it rest for a few minutes. Continue to mix it on the stove top to keep it from burning. Add the buttermilk to the butter and mix well. Continue to mix occasionally.
When the 15 minutes are done, take the bread out of the oven and and brush the glaze over the top of it. Then do this intermittently as the bread bakes for about 1h15min. Bread is done when an thermometer reads 190F, or if a toothpick comes out clean. When done, let the bread rest for 20 minutes.
How to make a compound butter
A compound butter is just a butter with something added to it, like honey or cinnamon, or can be savory like garlic or herbs. Start with one stick of butter at room temperature, softened and place it in a bowl and mix in your additions.
- Maple Cinnamon: 1 TBS maple syrup, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, pinch of salt
- Honey Orange: 1 TBS honey, 1 tsp finely grated orange zest, pinch of salt
- Herb Butter: 2 TBS fresh chopped herbs (dill, parsley, thyme), pinch of salt and pepper
These can be served with bread soft, or you can roll them in plastic wrap and chill them for future use. Chilling the butter is great for savory flavors, if you want to use them to top proteins like fish or steak.
