ST. PATRICK'S DAY MENU

Our menu for St. Paddy's day only varies a little from year to year - this year being no exception.

St. Paddy's Day 2014 was the first year that Trader Joe's was available to us all the time (thank you TJ's for coming to Boise) and we tried their uncured corned beef and declared, hands down that it was the best we have ever had.  We will be picking up our corned beef later this week.

I am happy to share these tried and true recipes with you and hope you find something you like.

Recipes:

I have been making Sally Lunn bread since my boys were little.  It is an easy bread to make and will fill your kitchen with wonderful bread smells.

Sally Lunn Bread 

• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
• 1 cup warm milk (110° to 115°)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 5-1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, butter,
• sugar, salt, eggs and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in
• enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
• Do not knead. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the
• top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Stir the dough down. Spoon into a greased and floured 10-in. tube
• pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Bake at 400° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from
• pan to a wire rack to cool.

    
 Traditional Bread Pudding

Ingredients

2  cups milk

¼  cup butter

2  eggs, slightly beaten

½  cup sugar

1  teaspoon ground cinnamon or nutmeg

1/4  teaspoon salt

6  cups soft bread cubes (about 6 slices bread)

1/2  cup raisins, if desired

Top with whipping cream, if desired

Directions

• 1 Heat oven to 350ºF. In 2-quart saucepan, heat milk and butter over medium heat until butter is melted and milk is hot.
• 2 In large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir in bread cubes and raisins. Stir in milk mixture. Pour into ungreased deep round pan.
• 3 Bake uncovered 40 to 45 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Serve warm with whipping cream.

Note: The Sally Lunn recipe makes a big loaf of bread so this year I am going to try something new - I am going to make my bread on the 16th. and use part of the Sally Lunn for the bread pudding.  I think the texture of the bread will be great for pudding - keeping fingers crossed! It just means I will serve sliced bread on a shamrock plate instead of that impressive, big loaf. UPDATE: March 17, 2015 - made the pudding with the Sally Lunn bread and it is really good - the texture of the pudding is wonderful and this is such a big and heavy loaf of bread that there is still plenty of bread left to serve with dinner - a new tradition is born at our home for St. Paddy's Day dinner - bread pudding made with Sally Lunn Bread. j.

Creamy Horseradish Sauce

Ingredients

¼ cup prepared mayonnaise

½ cup prepared horseradish

2 T Dijon mustard

¾ Heavy whipping cream

Salt, pepper

1 T Sugar

Mix together the mayo, horseradish, mustard, salt, pepper and sugar.  In a separate bowl whip the cream and then gently fold the whipped cream into the other ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use.

Note:  This is the same sauce I use for prime rib and it is good with ham too.

French vinaigrette

Makes about 1/4 cup (60 ml), enough for one large green salad.

Aside from not using balsamic vinegar in salad dressings, another astuce is to use freshly-ground black pepper, which is best added when tossing the salad with the dressing.

1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar
1/2 small shallot, peeled and minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard - I use only Edmond Fallot
3T to 4T (45 ml to 60 ml) olive oil
fresh herbs, if desired

1. In a small bowl, mix together the salt, vinegar, and shallot. Let stand for about ten minutes.

2. Mix in the Dijon mustard, then add 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of olive oil. Stir well, then taste. If too sharp, add the additional olive oil and more salt, if necessary. Romain said one needs to add beaucoup de mustard, so feel free to add more as well.

If you wish to add fresh herbs, it’s best to chop and mix

 
N0te: This is David Lebovitz's recipe and I make it all the time with a couple of changes - I like to use Trader Joe's Champagne vinegar and I add some Sweet & Low to make it more of a sweet and tart dressing.  I only add any herbs if I have fresh herbs in the summer or some on hand - it is not necessary.  This is our favorite salad dressing of this type. I do manage to find Edmond Fallot mustard.

New England Boiled Dinner - the star of the show!

This is a one pot meal it really is quite easy.  I always try and find corned beef in the bag that has already been seasoned and follow their instructions for cooking.  About mid-way through the cooking of the corned been taste the broth and if it is too salty, pour out the broth and put in fresh water.  Sometimes it can be way too salty. At this time add the carrots, potatoes, turnips and parsnips.  After 30 minutes add the cabbage, after 15 or so minutes when the cabbage is done the other veggies will be done too. Some people like to add onion as well as caraway seeds.  We happen to like parsnips so I add them when I add the carrots and potatoes. When it is done scrape off the fat and cut the meat across the grain and serve slices of the corned beef with the veggies. I like to serve it with the creamy horseradish sauce.

Resource

Corned Beef, Sally Lunn Bread & Bread Pudding Recipes, "Big Red" the Betty Crocker cookbook from the 50's

Salad Dressing recipe, David Lebovitz

Edmond Fallot Mustard, Fallot's Fallot's Dijon Mustard and at specialty grocery stores.

Celtic Garmond the Second Font used on the menu, Free download, http: Link

Thank you for stopping by.