St. Patrick’s Day is coming and it’s never too early to start planning your feast. And if you don’t normally do a St. Patty’s Day dinner each year, why not start a new tradition? It’s a great meal to put together, the food is uniquely awesome and celebrating St. Patrick’s Day marks the lifting of Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol, hence an excellent excuse to party in the middle of March.
Only drunken frat boys drink green beer on St. Patty’s Day. Instead, drink beer like the Irish with a deliciously rich pint of Guinness . But if you’re more of a cocktail person, shake up a batch of Irish Blondes or Emerald Isles and you’ll be singing When Irish Eyes Are Smiling in short order. For cocktail hour nibbles, who doesn’t love a deviled egg? Play up the green theme with this Green Eggs and Ham version of the traditional southern classic. Depending on the size of the crowd, this meatless, but sufficiently decadent Irish Cheddar and Stout Fondue makes for a fun, interactive appetizer. Plus, you can put to use that old fondue maker that’s been collecting dust.
Most old school feasts start out with a soup or salad option, and given that the Irish have been St. Patrick’s Day for 1000 years, who are we to buck the trend? Green Goddess Dressing over Iceberg Wedges makes a nice, refreshing start and Potato-Leek Soup soothes the soul every time.
The main course is where it gets interesting. The dish that’s synonymous with St. Patrick’s Day and all things Irish in the U.S. is corned beef and cabbage. But in Irish Country Cooking, author Malachi McCormick says he likes corned beef, but then adds: "But our national dish? No, it's a New World dish!" And that’s putting it politely. Corned beef and cabbage is indeed an American dish created by the Irish when they came to this country and were discriminated against and starving. They bought meat on the verge of going bad, pickled it and served it with cheap green cabbage. On that uplifting note, let’s just say a lot of really delicious food arose out of desperation (the first oyster, anyone?) and corned beef and cabbage is no exception. You can go with the super-authentic 243-hour, 30-minute version, the “short” 12-hour version, or bypass the dilemma entirely and opt for Old World Irish Beef and Stout Stew.
If we haven’t lost you entirely, you’ll need dessert, and more likely, an after dinner drink. Believe it or not, chocolate and stout makes a great pairing – especially in the form of cupcakes. Irish Pirates sans rum for the kids and Original Irish Coffee if it’s still chilly in March or a batch of Irish Eyes – a delicious take on the white Russian that subs Irish whiskey for vodka provide the perfect wrap-up to an amazing feast.
