My Irish Dinner

While I love celebrating St. Patrick's Day (several times over), there is one thing I do not partake in: eating corned beef.  As a pescatarian, I don't touch the stuff.   Luckily, there are plenty of other foods to eat to celebrate the day.

This year I made a souped up version of mashed potatoes and broiled cod with dill sauce (not sure how Irish that is, but dill is green!).  Here is a quick rundown of how I made them. 

Cabbage and Potato Bake

Preheat oven to 400. 

In a large pot, prepare mashed potatoes to your liking (I used 5 Yukon golds, kept skin on and left a little lumpy)

Add parboiled cabbage (cut into 1 inch squares) to the pot of potatoes.

Stir in some scallions and mustard (Coleman's is best).

Put potato mixture into a sprayed casserole dish. 

Top liberally with shredded Irish cheddar.

Bake for about 20 minutes until cheese is bubbly.

  

 

Broiled Cod with Dill Sauce

Rinse and pat dry cod filets. 

In a small bowl, mix together mayo, dijon mustard, horseradish, and fresh dill.  Make enough to cover the cod filets; use as much or as little as you want according to taste.

Place cod in sprayed shallow baking dish.  Season with salt and pepper and fresh lemon juice.

Put cod under broiler for about 7 minutes.  Take out and spread dill mixture over top of cod.  Put back under broiler for another 2-3 minutes.  Cod is ready when it flakes with a fork. 

 

Who needs corned beef?

Chocolate Guinness Cake!

Guinness is one of my favorite beers, especially this time of year.  I figured there was not much you could do to improve a Guinness...until I saw this recipe!  Even those who do not like beer or Guinness will love this cake.  It's very chocolaty and dense but still moist and gooey in the middle (mine was a little underdone, but I think that made it even better).  It's also super easy to make - everything is combined in one pot.  I would recommend making this cake any time of the year.  It is truly that good.

Chocolate Guinness Cake

From Feast by Nigella Lawson
Yield: One 9-inch cake (12 servings)

For the cake:

Butter/flour for pan
1 cup Guinness stout
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups superfine sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan. In a large saucepan, combine Guinness and butter. Place over medium-low heat until butter melts, then remove from heat. Add cocoa and superfine sugar, and whisk to blend.

In a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add to Guinness mixture. Add flour and baking soda, and whisk again until smooth. Pour into buttered pan, and bake until risen and firm, 45 minutes to one hour. Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely in pan.

For the icing:

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar (I used more)
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream

pinch salt

Using a food processor or by hand, mix confectioners' sugar to break up lumps. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth. Add heavy cream, and mix until smooth and spreadable.

Remove cake from pan and place on a platter or cake stand. Ice top of cake only, so that it resembles a frothy pint of Guinness.

Irish Soda Bread

There is nothing better than homemade bread, but the thought of making it might be a little intimidating.  Such is not the case for soda bread, which is made with baking soda and baking powder and therefore is more like a quick bread than a regular yeast bread.  I have always been a fan of soda bread, but did not know the extent of how delicious it can be until I made it from scratch last year.  I cut off a little piece to try when it was still warm and eventually found myself eating half the loaf.  The same thing happened this year - I guess it's going to be an annual St. Patrick's Day tradition.   

The recipe I use can be found here.   The only thing I changed was I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all purpose flour.

Here is what it looks like before going into the oven:

 And here is the final product.  The crusty top is the best part!