Real Food Irish Feast for St. Patrick’s Day…Better Late Than Never!
United Irishmen Flag
Well it’s better late than never, I say. Just think of this post as a jump start to next year’s celebration!
These last few months have been very exciting for me. I recently discovered that along with my new found English ancestry (and a few other Northern European ancestries) and in the company of millions of other Americans, I may have some ancestral roots in Ireland. I am still learning about where it comes from, which has been a very fun process for me and has revived in me my love of anthropology and population migrations. I am not sure how much I will ever really know about my heritage, being adopted with no ancestry history, but it looks like there is a strong Northern Irish connection from all my research so far. So this year, I decided that I want to explore these cultures in my ancestral line through the foods of these lands, and St. Patrick’s day seemed like a good place to start, in good company.
I am not Christian, so for me, my St. Patrick’s celebration is not religious or political, but more of a general Celtic heritage and cultural celebration. It should be no surprise that I have Celtic ancestry, as I have always loved Celtic music (even teaching myself to play the fiddle) and culture, and Scottish and Irish desserts have been among my favorites for years. So I felt like even with its religious roots, this would be a good a time as any to celebrate the rich culture and heritage of Ireland with so many others!
Some Irish Feast Ingredients: Fresh Organic Eggs, Organic Cream and Guinness plus Homemade Buttermilk and Whiskey and Aquavit Soaked Raisins
I wanted to celebrate by cooking some semi- “traditional” dishes, and to challenge myself by cooking with Guinness! So the menu is as follows :
*Guinness Stew
*Sautéed Cabbage in a Mustard Glaze
*Brown Soda Bread
*Guinness Ice Cream
Everything is made from scratch, including the buttermilk in the soda bread. The meal turned out great, and I would certainly make any of these dishes again, for St. Pat’s or any other day.
Brown Soda Bread
I was inspired by several different recipes for this meal, and it all started with Jenny’s Brown Soda Bread Recipe .
As many who follow this blog know, I have been tweaking various bread recipes these past many months, so that the flour can be soaked for at least 12 hours before baking ( to find out why click here ). Jenny is a master at this kind of cooking, even recently being featured on CNN for her Real Food Challenge . When I saw her soda bread recipe, I knew I had to make it.
Guinness Stew
From there, the idea for an Irish feast began. I didn’t have a lot of time this year to research “corning” my own beef brisket , so to speak (maybe next year). So I decided to go with something a bit more in my comfort zone – beef stew with a beef and Guinness broth.
I love sautéed cabbage, and since it was on sale at the grocery store, I decided to grab a head and figure out what to do with it later. As I was cooking the stew, an idea for a delicious spicy mustard and honey glaze was concocted in my mind! I will definitely be making cabbage this way again!
Creamy Guinness Ice Cream without white sugar
I had also been wanting to try this recipe for Guinness Ice Cream for about 2 years. However, I did modify it, to make it more healthy by omitting the 2 cups of sugar called for in the original recipe and using date sugar and maple syrup to sweeten it, instead. I also omitted the brown bread, however I may have to add it in the future, because it sounds yummy!
This was a wonderful celebration to begin to connect with some of my ancestral roots and share it with my awesome and supportive family. Thanks Guys! 🙂 Hope my readers enjoy this menu as much as we did! Recipes under the cut…
Guinness Stew
(inspired by this recipe )
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. Stew beef chunks
2 TBS whole wheat flour to dust
oil for cooking
3 russet potatoes, chunks
6 carrots, rustic chunks
1 small onion, chunks
2 cloves garlic, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dried thyme
2 cups homemade beef stock
1 bottle of Guinness
1 cup caramelized onions
2 tsp arrowroot
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350F. Toss meat in flour (reserve any leftover flour that does not cover the meat). In a large dutch oven, over medium-high heat, heat olive oil on stovetop – and brown meat on all sides. Then add potatoes, carrots, raw onion chunks and garlic and season with salt, pepper and dried thyme. Cook veggies in meat fat and oil until browned – about 5 minutes. Add 2 cups beef stock, one bottle of Guinness and caramelized onions. Then add any extra flour and stir. Bring to a simmer. Then place in the oven, and cook for about 1 hour, stirring every 30 minutes and checking for liquid. If extra liquid is needed at any time, add water, more beef stock, or even more Guinness – the choice is yours! But I doubt that you will need any. Then bring it back to the stovetop and let it simmer, with the lid on for another hour. Right before serving, whisk in 2 tsp of arrowroot to thicken. Serve with Irish Soda bread – and a side of cabbage. Save room for Guinness Ice Cream for dessert!
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Sautéed Mustard Glazed Cabbage
INGREDIENTS:
1 head of green cabbage
2 TBS olive oil
salt
pepper
¼ cup good quality spicy mustard
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2 TBS honey
METHOD:
Heat oil in a cast iron skillet until very hot. Add half the cabbage to the pan, with salt and pepper and sautee until soft. Then add the other half. Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk mustard, apple cider vinegar, and 2 TBS honey. After all the cabbage is cooked and soft – about 10-15 minutes, pour the glaze over top.
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Brown Soda Bread – see Jenny’s recipe . The only modifications I made were that I couldn’t find currants, so I had to use raisins. Also, I soaked the raisins in a mixture of whiskey and Danish Aquavit – to bring out the caraway flavor.
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Guinness Ice Cream – as inspired by this recipe from Ice Cream Ireland !
INGREDIENTS:
½ c. date sugar
5 organic egg yolks
1 1/8 c. organic heavy cream
1 1/8 c. whole organic milk
1 Can (500 ml) Guinness
½ cup maple syrup
½ tsp ground cinnamon
METHOD:
Measure out 100ml of Guinness and set aside. Boil 400ml Guinness until it reduces to 100ml in volume. Cool. Beat the date sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow. Bring the milk to a simmer. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream. Pour the mixture back into pan and place over low heat. Stir until the custard thickens slightly (around 70C). Use a thermometer, as at 75C the eggs will scramble! Allow the custard to cool.
Once the custard is cool, stir in both the reduced and non-reduced Guinness. Whip the cream in a separate bowl and gently fold into the custard. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer. Yield: 6 Servings
Jessica @ How Sweet - March 22, 2010 at 12:48 pm
That guiness ice cream looks fantastic!
Pam - March 22, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Love it that the ice cream is without white sugar….delish!
xoxo
dawn - March 22, 2010 at 1:10 pm
geeez jenn that is one heck of a spread. i don’t know which one i want to recreate first? wow.
Kieran - March 22, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Wow! What a feast! Glad the ice cream came out well, and interesting to hear it worked will with date sugar.
Núria - March 22, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Cheers to you Jenn! (with a guinness of course). What a fantastic menu :D, I love all the dishes… only some Van Morrison music is missing here… maybe the Brown Eyed girl would be the perfect choice for you ;D
Rosa - March 22, 2010 at 1:40 pm
A delicious meal! that ice cream must be divine!
Cheers,
Rosa
Happy Cook - March 22, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Looks like you went the whole stretch for celebrating st patricks day.
Teresa - March 22, 2010 at 2:51 pm
I told you that I thought you were Celtic, remember? Anyway, the menu is delicious. I’m certainly not Irish, but I’ve celebrated St. Patty’s Day for as long as I can remember. I have a dear friend who is Irish,named Patrick and was born on March 17th. Oh, the celebrations we used to have.
The Leftover Queen - March 22, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Nuria! Actually I am a green-eyed lassie! 😉
Sounds like a fun celebration, Teresa – and I do remember you thought I was Celtic – looks like I am in several ways – English, Irish, possibly Scottish and then possibly Danish! So quite a mix! 🙂
nina - March 22, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Gosh Jenn, I haven’t been around for such a long time, but now I am back. That soda bread is just amazing!!!
bellini valli - March 22, 2010 at 3:27 pm
My daughter has latched onto Irish roots because of her name for years when the roots are on her dads side. Who knows, if we did the test we may find something very surprising. Thanks for sharing your Irish feast with us Jenn.
sugar plum fairy - March 22, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Ha ha,im still posting my Irish recipes too and love ur’s ….i tried the stew and soda bread too-they pair so beautifully dont they…
Ur complete meal is super fantastic…..cheers and have a fantastic week….
Joan Nova - March 22, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Very nice menu, Jenn. Everything looks good but that soda bread really caught my eye!
Natashya - March 22, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Great menu! I am especially intrigued by the ice cream. I will keep an eye out for date sugar.
ValleyWriter - March 22, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Everything looks great! I’ve had Guinness Ice Cream before and it was tasty – but I’m betting the date sugar & maple syrup make your version even better – great idea!
Jenn - March 22, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Nice!!! definitely a great way to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day. I’d eat up that cabbage and ice scream before anyone else could get to it. hahaha…
Peter G @ Souvlaki For The Soul - March 22, 2010 at 5:39 pm
What an incredible meal Jenn! everything from the stew to the cabbage and that soda bread scream “delicious!”. You can def see the Celtic connection in your cooking!
Juliana - March 22, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Wow, what a nice treat! Everything looks delicious…great way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!
Applecheek Farm - March 22, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Wow Jenn everything looks so delicious! The Guinness Stew recipe sounds divine!
Jen of a2eatwrite - March 22, 2010 at 7:28 pm
I did a modified traditional – doing my own spin on both champ (potatoes mashed with shallots and spinach) and cabbage (an apple/red cabbage/raw sauerkraut mix) with some non-nitrite corned beef. My husband loves anything with Guinness – I may have to make your ice cream for his b’day – because maple is probably the other favorite. Your feast looks stunning!
peter - March 22, 2010 at 10:00 pm
The good thing about Irish Stew is that is good enough to be eaten all year ’round. Don’t see folks having Haggis all year, do ya?
Time for ice cream…one scoop please!
M.J. Jacobsen - March 22, 2010 at 10:18 pm
Ohhh, can’t wait to try the Irish stew and soda bread, we will have an Irish feast on April 17th! Looks good anytime!
lisaiscooking - March 22, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Sounds like a fun way to celebrate! I want to taste the Guinness ice cream. I considered making it this year but didn’t get to it. Instead, I celebrated with brown bread and Irish cheeses.
5 Star Foodie - March 23, 2010 at 10:12 am
Excellent meal to celebrate St. Patrick’s day! I love the sound of Guinness ice cream!
kat - March 23, 2010 at 10:21 am
Wow, that is a feast any Irish woman would be proud of!
Arlene (MOM) - March 23, 2010 at 10:23 am
I was lucky enough to be a part of this feast. It was as tasty as it looks. 🙂
lo - March 23, 2010 at 10:39 am
My salivary glands are working overtime over this, Jenn! That stew looks particularly fantastic!
Elle - March 23, 2010 at 10:44 am
Oh my gosh–this looks and sounds amazing, Jenn! I couldn’t even pick out one favorite if I had to.
Jan - March 23, 2010 at 1:52 pm
What a lovely feast! I must try the Guinness ice cream!
DebinHawaii - March 24, 2010 at 4:02 am
Such a perfect meal! Everything you made looks wonderful. 😉
I bought some date sugar a few weeks ago on my quest to eliminate processed sugars and I am really liking it.
Scorpio Woman - March 24, 2010 at 11:57 am
Thanks for the recipes. Everything looks yummy. I’m curious to try the Guinness ice cream. Can I use plain sugar or brown sugar cause I don’t know where I can find date sugar. I’ve always like the taste of stew made with beer. This one must be yummy. And I like cabbage, I’ll have to give it a try.
Simone (junglefrog) - March 25, 2010 at 11:45 am
Since we don’t really celebrate St. Patricks day here I wouldn’t even notice that you’re late..:)) I especially like the look of that icecream!
nazarina - March 26, 2010 at 11:41 am
Your photos are absolutely beautiful! I love all the dishes you have prepared here and is very much drawn to your soda bread! I am not a Christian either but like you, ethnocentrism is of no accord, it is really all this good food that matters.