We have never been big on celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. However, I feel like when you have kids you celebrate every holiday and it is just way more fun! When we were younger it was all about a day to go out and have a little too much fun! Now it is about staying in and celebrating with the kids and family.
When I was working in restaurants it was all about making sure we had the classic corned beef and cabbage plates. Of course with soda bread. Which, I kind of secretly love, but I love it the next morning toasted with creamy melted butter. Now we will be making the classic for our kids and teaching them what St. Patrick’s Day really is. Which believe it or not is not just a day to go out and party! All though, that can still be fun once in a while, right?
What is St.Patrick’s Day, really?
Truly this is a religious holiday if you are Irish. March 17th marks the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this holiday for over 1000 years and yes, it is a day to celebrate and drink and dance and have fun. Yet, that is not all it is about. It was also about the food and family get together’s to remember St.Patrick.
What do Irish people traditionally eat on St.Patrick’s Day?
Traditionally the day would start with a full breakfast of Irish bacon, eggs, sausage and potatoes. Then you would move more into the main dishes of stews or Dublin Coddle. Which essentially is more bacon, sausage and potatoes, just in stew or casserole form. Traditionally in America the dish would be corned beef and cabbage with carrots and soda bread. Some side dishes traditionally are mashed potatoes or even Guinness Rarebit, which is really just beer cheese on toast.
Some classic desserts would be puddings or cakes. These were generally made with leftover breads or even Irish creams. Lastly, you cannot have a traditional Irish feast without the mention of the drinks. The dark ales, the Mead, (sweet honey wine) and of course the Irish Whiskey.
So, How did we get Corned Beef and Cabbage on St. Patty’s Day?
Well, since you have read above that this is not the traditional Irish meal on this day, you are probably asking, “How did it become so popular here?” The answer is this, on St.Patrick’s Day a long time ago when the first Irish Americans settled here in America, they were looking for foods that reminded them of the traditions back home. They would normally dine on boiled bacon, sausages and potatoes. You are now probably thinking, well, we have all of that here. You would be correct, however, at that time pork was very expensive. Poor immigrants could not afford the high prices of pork sausages and bacon.
So, they turned to the next best thing which was the low cost cheaper cuts of meat, being the brisket. The Irish immigrants brought in the cooking methods they knew from back home which meant to salt cure or to brine the meat. Now you are probably asking, “Why is it called corned beef if it is salt cured or brined?’ Well, the “corned” actually refers to the corn sized salt kernels that they used to brine the meat.
That explains the meat…
Now the cabbage came from the same necessity and that was the cheapest vegetable that they could get along with potatoes. All of the ingredients for soda bread were also very cheap and they could cook it in many different ways. You did not need an oven to cook soda bread. The soda bread could be made over an open fire in a casserole dish or even on an iron plate. This was very easy for anyone to make.
Traditionally in American we add in raisins or currants to the soda bread. That is also not traditional in Ireland unless it is a special occasion or the family making and serving it is well off. Generally when the Irish add fruit to the bread it is for tea time and then called tea bread.
Lastly the boiled and slightly mashed potatoes with butter. I think we can all understand that this is truly straight from Ireland. This is a very traditional way to make potatoes for the Irish and then the immigrants that came here just added this to their cabbage.
Totally nontraditional take on this fun filled day
So, now that we know all of that, I say let’s have fun with it! Since things got changed anyway, let’s keep spinning it on it’s head! I am going to show you some super fun meal, dessert and even drinks for celebrating this iconic Irish holiday that are not traditional at all. Yet, they are loads of fun for the whole family!
For the Dinner
I wanted to keep it classic, well, classic American. So I wanted to do the whole corned beef and cabbage with potatoes and carrots, but I want to give you some great tips to get this done on a week night. With that being said, I am going to give you the classic corned beef and cabbage with potatoes and carrots and a couple of tips to make that a little quicker, but let’s face it, it is what it is and takes as long as it takes. There is another way though to make it weeknight friendly and that is to make Ruben’s, homemade baked fries and carrots. This will give you all of the best of the corned beef and cabbage meal and take you a LOT less time seeing as how St. Patty’s Day falls on a Wednesday night. Now, one last little tip there is that you can always take a little more time and make the classic corned beef and cabbage this weekend and then on Wednesday, use the leftovers of the corned beef to make your Ruben’s.
I also wanted to include a soda bread recipe for you that I love. It is simple and easy and something fun that the kiddos can help with as well.
For Dessert
We are going super nontraditional for the dessert. Nontraditional for Ireland and for America! We are making Lucky Charms cookies. We made these for National Cereal Day at our house everyone flipped for them. They are super simple, the hardest part is separating the marshmallows! Which just takes a little time and if you have little hands helping you, this is the perfect job for them. We even made these into ice cream sandwiches with mint chocolate chip ice cream and…YUM!
Don’t forget the drinks
Since it is a celebration, we cannot forget the libations. Even though it is a Wednesday night, we can have one or two and help with the rest of the week! I will give you two fun takes on the classics that you can enjoy any day of the week.
Corned Beef and Cabbage with potatoes and carrots
Ingredients
- 1 4- to 5-pound corned beef brisket
- 1 tablespoon mixed pickling spices
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon mustard seed
- 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
- For the Vegetables:
- 6 medium red potatoes - peeled and cut into halves or quarters depending on size
- 2 cups baby carrots- or 4-6 large carrots cut into large pieces
- 1 medium cabbage- cut into 8 wedges
- For the Glaze:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar - lightly packed
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup prepared mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Put the beef brisket in a large Dutch oven or stockpot and cover with water. Tie spices in a double thickness of cheesecloth tied tightly with twine. Add the spice bag to the water.
- Place the pot over high heat and bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
- Add the potatoes,and carrots. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes longer.
- Add the cabbage wedges, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes longer, or until vegetables are tender. (Cabbage can be cooked in a separate pan if you don't have room, in a small amount of salted boiling water.) Cover the pan and simmer for about 15 minutes. Continue to simmer the potatoes and other vegetables until tender.
- Heat the oven to 375 F.
- Transfer the corned beef brisket to a baking pan.
- Combine glaze ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Spoon over corned beef
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, basting a few times.
- Transfer the glazed corned beef to a large serving platter and slice the meat. Arrange the cabbage wedges, potatoes and carrots around the sliced brisket. ENJOY!
Chef’s Tip-
If you want to make this quicker for during the week, you can buy a precooked corned beef and just do the glazed portion of the recipe. Boil the potatoes and carrots, toss with a little butter and serve. You can also cook the cabbage separately as directed in the recipe. That would cut a lot of your time off. Just make sure that you buy a good brand and that it is not too salty.
Lucky Charms Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup cereal marshmallows plus more for topping at the end
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ËšF and line a baking sheet.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Set aside
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add egg and vanilla, beating until each has been incorporated.
- Mix in marshmallows until evenly distributed.
- Scoop cookies onto baking sheet about 2 tablespoons in size, a few inches apart.
- Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until the tops have just set but haven’t started to turn brown.
- Remove from oven and press additional marshmallows into the tops while cookies are still warm.
- Allow the cookies to rest for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. ENJOY!
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