Since St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Friday, it’s a great excuse to celebrate all weekend. I plan to eat up and raise a glass or two responsibly, and eat green – dyed green. From cake to beer, along with obligatory Irish dinner of corned beef and cabbage – make that an Irish-American dinner. That’s right. That plate of corned beef and cabbage you eat isn’t Irish.
“Most Americans are shocked when I tell them that my first meal exposure to a St. Patrick’s meal of corned beef and cabbage was when I moved to the U.S.A.,” said Judith McLoughlin, an Irish chef and author of “A Return to Ireland: A Culinary Journey from American to Ireland.” “What we (the Irish) refer to as corned beef in Ireland comes in a tin and is a rather unsavory entrée choice; but in America, corned beef is a brined, cured beef that is delicious and has its origins with the Irish immigrants in the Americas who brined beef as they did pork back in old Ireland.”
Corned beef, traditionally made from beef brisket, was a specialty of the Eastern European Jewish immigrants who introduced it to the Irish sharing New York’s tenement neighborhoods during the 19th and early 20th century. The Irish embraced corned beef, and boiled it with what my mother always called Irish potatoes and a head of cabbage. The combination became a favorite boiled dinner of the Irish-American, and the iconic must-serve dish to honor St. Pat and the Old Sod (Ireland).
Countless bars and pubs will gladly color your beer with a drop of green food coloring this weekend. Blueberry Hill will have green beer at the bar and a corned beef and cabbage soup special. Others are adding a little coloring to make the weekend more festive such as McArthur’s Bakery, whose cake of the month is Crème de Menthe – a chocolate cake filled and iced with mint buttercream and topped with chocolate curls and a chocolate drizzle.
For something a little more sophisticated, Clementine’s has created an Irish Tea Biscuit & Cream made with Bewley’s Dublin Morning tea imported from Ireland, and flavored with sweet cream, vanilla, brown sugar and a scratch-made Irish oat cake. For a taste of Irish whiskey, try a scoop of Wild Irish Rose, a combination of Irish cream, creme de cocoa, a drop of whiskey and rose water – touted as the thing to make Irish eyes smile.
Corned beef and cabbage will be featured on the menu everywhere. However, to celebrate St. Patrick on his special feast day and beyond, I recommend cooking your own corned beef. Pair it with a traditional side of colcannon, the Irish take on mashed potatoes mixed with cabbage. Judith McLoughin has generously shared her recipe, which is great served anytime.
Patrick’s Colcannon & Corned Beef
Colcannon potatoes ingredients:
2½ lbs. potatoes (starchy variety)
4 T (1/4 cup) milk
7 oz. curly kale (hard stalks removed)
8 spring onions (finely chopped)
1½ t sea salt
¼ t black pepper
4 oz. (1/2 cup) unsalted Irish butter
4 fl. oz. (1/2 cup) heavy whipping cream
4 fl. oz. (1/2 cup) reserved cooking liquid from kale
Corned beef ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. flat-cut brined corned beef
Olive oil
Parsley cheese sauce ingredients:
2 oz. butter
2 oz. flour
1/2 pint (1 cup) whole milk
1/4 pint (1/2 cup) chicken stock
1 oz. (1/4 cup) Dubliner Irish cheese (grated)
1 t Dijon mustard
Handful of curly parsley (leafy part only and finely chopped)
Curly parsley sprigs (for garnish)
Directions
1. To cook the brisket, it can be slowly boiled or baked in the oven. Low and slow is the key. For the oven method, preheat the oven to 300°, then wrap up the brisket like a parcel inside a sheet of foil, fat side up.
2. Drizzle a little olive oil over and roast for 1 hour per pound, leaving 15 minutes for the meat to rest before carving.
3. To make the Colcannon, place the potatoes in a large pan of cold, salted water with milk, adding just enough water to cover the potatoes.
4. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork.
5. Drain the potatoes with a metal strainer then set the potatoes back on the warm stovetop to allow them to dry out a little.
6. In a large saucepan, bring some water to a roaring boil and blanch the kale for 1 minute.
7. Saving some of the cooking water, drain the kale, roughly chop, and place the kale in a blender, pulsing for a few seconds.
8. Melt the butter with the cream and 1/4 cup of the retained cooking liquid from the kale. Infuse the spring onions, cooking for 30 seconds to soften.
9. Mash potatoes and slowly add the resulting liquid. Fold in the kale, salt, and pepper.
10. Prepare the parsley sauce by melting the butter in a small saucepan. Add the flour and allow to cook gently for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Whisk in the milk and chicken stock and bring the sauce to a simmer and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the cheese and mustard and cook for 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper and stir in chopped parsley.
11. To serve, spoon the potatoes onto a warm plate. Place slices of corned beef on top. Drizzle meat and dish with about 2 tablespoons of parsley sauce.
12. Garnish with a small sprig of curly parsley and serve immediately.
