St. Patrick’s Day cooking is all about embracing the traditional fares of Ireland, and adding green to your menu. When cooking for St. Patrick’s Day consider using a slow cooker, or a programmable crock-pot. Most of the traditional Irish meals require some time to prepare, and so having a crock pot can be a very useful tool.
The following is a look at some of the recipes you can embrace and try out for your St. Patrick’s Day cooking: Irish lamb stew, corned beef and cabbage, hash, and just about any drink or dessert that has Bailey’s Irish cream or Irish whiskey in it.
Here is a great take on one of the favorite dishes for St. Patrick’s Day besides cooking corned beef and cabbage.
Irish lamb stew is a traditional Irish dish that may work better for children and those with a picky set of tastes than a traditional corned beef and cabbage. For this you are basically making a lamb stew, and can add or take away anything that does not work for you. However, here is a basic recipe:
Ingredients and directions:
Combine the following in a crock pot:
2 pounds boneless leg of lamb. You will want to trim the fat off of this and cut it into about one-inch pieces. You are going to be combining everything so do this from the beginning.
1 3/4 pounds white potatoes. These should be peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces as well. This is a stew, so make them smaller if you have small kids who will be eating this.
3 large carrots. Again, peel and cut up into bite size pieces.
3 stalks celery. Again chop these into slices.
3 large leeks. For this, you will only want the white part, halve it and wash it, and slice it thin.
1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth.
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme.
1 teaspoon salt.
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper.
It takes about 8 hours to cook it, and so you will just want to check it and see if it is fork tender, and when it is, it is done. At the end, take 1/4 cup packed parsley leaves, chopped to add right before you serve it.
In addition to this, you can try any number of recipes for baked or boiled corned beef and cabbage. If you do not like the more traditional boiled corned beef and cabbage, consider a baked version with mustard or other season rub. You may find that it is a very tasty meal, and one that you will have just as much fun cooking as you have eating. Add a little flare and fun to your St. Patrick’s Day cooking by having plenty of mint sprigs and green food coloring on hand to make it even more festive and more holiday oriented.