I LOVE St. Patrick’s Day!  I love to show my Irish pride by wearing green (and dressing up my dogs too), and cooking corned beef & cabbage!  Yum!!!  Back in the day I was all about going out after work and getting schnockered on green beer, but I like to think that I’ve matured and thus no longer add the schnockering to my St. Patty’s Day festivities.  My fibromyalgia meds also dictate that I don’t drink alcohol.

This year, I donned a bright green shirt which went quite well with my red hair and pale, freckled, Irish complexion.  For the doggies…Dante wore a lucky horseshoe collar; Izzie wore the shamrock collar; and, Vinnie got to wear the “Luck ‘O The Irish” Doggie T…My Irish-Italian Greyhounds.  But, what’s the point in dressing up if no one is going to see you?!  So out we went.  I took the Littles to the brand new Petco in their Irish attire.  They were the talk of the store.

And then it was time to start cookin’!  Corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and Irish soda bread.  How much easier could it be to make a whole meal?!  Just two years ago I found an amazing recipe for homemade Irish soda bread.  I think that it was on Epicurious.com.  This recipe is quite simple to make and only takes a few minutes to prepare.  I’ve found that starting the bread when you start boiling the corned beef (if you make your corned beef on in a pot on the stove) works out quite well time-wise.

IRISH SODA BREAD

  • ½ cup white sugar
  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • ¾ tsp. salt
  • 3 cups raisins
  • 1 tbsp. caraway seeds
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1¼ cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup sour cream
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350°
  2. Grease a 9″ round cake pan.
  3. In a mixing bowl, combine flour (reserve 1 tbsp.), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, raisins, and caraway seeds.
  4. In a small bowl, blend eggs, buttermilk, and sour cream.
  5. Stir liquid mixture into flour mixture just until flour is moistened.
  6. Knead dough in bowl, about 10 to 12 strokes.  Dough will be very sticky.
  7. Place dough in the prepared pan and pat down.
  8. Dust with reserved flour.
  9. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 65 to 75 minutes.
  10. When bread begins to rise in the middle, cut a 4″ x ¾” deep slit in top of bread.
  11. Let cool and turn bread onto wire rack.

Pretty simple, huh?!  Personally, I can do without caraway seeds, so I leave those out of the mix.  And, instead of using a round cake pan, I use a spring-form pan.  Just remember, regardless of what kind of pan you use, coat the inside of your pan with a thin film of Crisco shortening and then shake some flour around in the pan.  This will help the bread release after baking.  (click the photos to enlarge)

The next day, if you still have some soda bread left:  cut a couple slices; pop them in the toaster; spread your favorite buttery spread; sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon; sprinkle with a bit of sugar; and, you have your very own homemade cinnamon raisin toast!

I’ve been making corned beef and cabbage for many years, and just recently figured out the best way to cook the potatoes, carrots, and cabbage.  You’d think I would have figured it out sooner, but apparently I’m a slow learner.  The key is a stock/pasta pot.  Once you are done boiling your corned beef and have transferred it to the roasting pan in the oven (don’t forget to add a bit of water to the bottom of the pan so the corned beef doesn’t dry out, and make sure that the fat-side is up and coated liberally with brown sugar!!!), strain the fat from the corned beef water and transfer to the stock pot.  Now, layer your veggies!  Potatoes (russet…peeled and quartered) go in first.  Then, carrots (I like to use baby carrots).  Finally, add your washed & quartered cabbage.  The way that this works is so simple…the potatoes boil in the bulk of the liquid; the carrots boil also, but won’t get mushy; and, the cabbage will steam because most of it is on top of the liquid.  You’ll only cook the veggies for about 20 minutes.  If you like, you can transfer them to the roasting pan with the corned beef for a few minutes and sprinkle with a bit of brown sugar for more flavor.

I hope that you had very happy and safe St. Patrick’s Day!