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Health & Fitness

You know it's coming... St. Paddy's Day Feast!

St. Paddy's Day celebration feast ... top picks for Irish food here!

Hello to all Oakdale Patch readers. As much as I would have liked to do a Valentine's blog, and I apologize for not posting one, I just couldn't get it together after my long, arduous bout of bronchial pneumonia. My heart goes out to all who have had to suffer the plight this winter season. I am starting to feel a little better, gaining a little energy back and I am ready to kick up my heals and post a St. Paddy's day celebration menu because it is right around the corner!

I am not even Irish, but who is stopping me? I still love to whip up a batch of "Potatoes Colcannon" or a good boiled dinner. Who doesn't love corned beef and cabbage?

Potatoes Colcannon

Ingredients:

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  • 2 pounds cabbage, shredded
  • 2 cups water
  • 4 pounds potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 cup chopped green onions
  • Salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • Crumbled cooked bacon and minced fresh parsley

Directions:

  • In a large saucepan, bring cabbage and water to a boil. Reduce heat;
  • cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until tender. Drain, reserving
  • cooking liquid. Keep cabbage warm.
  • Place cooking liquid and potatoes in a large saucepan; add enough
  • additional water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce
  • heat; cover and cook for 15-17 minutes or until tender. Drain and
  • keep warm.
  • In a small saucepan, bring milk and onions to a boil; remove from the
  • heat. In a large bowl, mash potatoes. Add milk mixture; beat until
  • blended. Beat in the cabbage, salt and pepper. Drizzle with the
  • melted butter, bacon and parsley. Yield: 12-16 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 3/4 cup (calculated without salt and bacon) equals 149 calories, 4 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 11 mg cholesterol, 50 mg sodium.

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Traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage

Directions:

  • 1 corned beef brisket, about 4 pounds
  • 1 small bay leaf
  • 6 peppercorns
  • 2 to 3 rutabagas, cut in chunks
  • 1 pound carrots, or about 8 to 10, trimmed, scraped, and left whole
  • 12 small whole onions, peeled
  • 6 medium potatoes, peeled
  • 1 medium head of cabbage, cut in wedges

Preparation:

Place meat in a deep stock pot or kettle; cover with water. Add bay leaf and peppercorns. Bring to a boil; skim off foam. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 3 hours. Add vegetables; simmer for about 45 minutes longer, or until vegetables and meat are tender. Serve corned beef surrounded with vegetables.
Corned beef dinner serves 8 to 10

 

St. Paddy's Day Green Jello

Directions:

Mix together to dissolve:
2 large packages (6 oz each) of green Jello (or any flavor)
1 packet of unflavored gelatin
4 cups boiling water

Add:
1 quart vanilla ice cream (I would use less ice cream next time)
Stir til dissolved

Pour:
9 x 13 glass dish

Refrigerate overnight, cut and serve! The ice cream will float to the top of the jello.

 

Shepherd's Pie

Directions:

  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 1½ carrots, minced
  • 1½ pounds/750 g lamb, minced or ground
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 cup/240 ml hot beef or lamb stock or chicken stock
  • Salt and pepper
  • 4 cups/850 g freshly made Mashed Potatoes
  • 2 tbsp butter, melted

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C (Gas Mark 4).

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until they are soft but not browned.

Raise the heat to high, add the lamb, and cook until well browned. Stir in the tomato paste and mustard, then add the stock. Reduce the heat to low, season to taste with salt and pepper, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the stock is mostly but not completely evaporated.

Transfer the meat mixture to a round or rectangular ovenproof baking dish. Cover the meat with mashed potatoes, flattening the top with a knife. (Make a wave or crosshatch pattern in the top of the potatoes, if you like.) Brush the top with melted butter, then bake for 50 minutes.

 

Sweet Irish Scones

 

Sweet Irish Scones for St Patrick's DayMakes 3 to 4 dozen, depending on the size

Ingredients:

 
6-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
3 teaspoon baking powder
1-1/2 sticks butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup currants or raisins
3 eggs
2 cups milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Sift the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder together.

2. Mix the butter pieces into the dry ingredients and quickly mix with your fingers.

3. Add the currants or raisins and stir with a fork.

4. Mix eggs and milk in a separate bowl.

5. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the eggs and milk.

6. Working with 1/2 of the dough at a time, shape into a ball and pat out to about 1-inch thickness, onto a lightly-floured board.

7. Cut into shapes using any circle cutter. A glass dipped in flour will work.

8. Brush the top of each scone with a little milk to glaze.

9. Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.

 

Twice Baked Irish Potatoes

Ingredients:

12 baby Idaho potatoes

3 Tbsp pesto sauce (prepared or homemade)

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

1 Tbsp butter salt and pepper to taste


Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash the potatoes well and place them on a baking sheet. Bake the potatoes about 40 minutes, until they are soft enough that the tip of a knife slides in easily.

Let the potatoes cool until you can handle them without burning yourself. Leave the oven on. Cut about 1/4 inch off the top of each potato lengthwise. Discard the top slices. With a small spoon and working very carefully, scoop out the insides of each potato, leaving about a quarter-inch layer of potato flesh all around. Be careful not to pierce the skin - you need the potato shells intact.

Put the potato flesh into a small mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes with the tines of a fork, then stir in the pesto, cheese and butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper (be more generous with the salt than you think you need to be). Using the same small spoon with which you scooped out the potatoes, fill the potato shells with the filling, mounding it above the opening.

Return the potatoes to the baking sheet and put it back in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are sizzling and browned on top.

Serve immediately.

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 1 hour 10 mins Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes.

 

Irish Potato Soup

* 9 potatoes, peeled and diced
* 6 stalks of celery, sliced
* 4 large carrots, sliced
* 2 small onions, chopped
* 3 cups water
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 3 teaspoons chicken soup base, dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water
* 4 cups milk and 2 cups heavy cream

* 1/2 cup flour
* 1 stick of butter

Combine the potatoes, celery, carrots, onion, water, and seasonings in a large pan. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook until tender, about 30 minutes.

Combine a small amount of milk and flour until smooth. Add this mixture and the rest of milk to the potato mixture. Stir in the butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until the soup thickens.

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