Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Since today is St Patrick’s Day, and since I cannot mix alcohol with my various medicines, rather than celebrating with a few pints of Guinness, I will instead cook an Irish feast! I’ve decided to make some Irish Soda Bread, a shepherd’s pie and green cupcakes for dessert. First up, the soda bread … I really need to buy a pastry cutter. Mixing the cold butter into the dry ingredients is really such a pain in the bottom, but I’ve somehow been able to accomplish it with a fork. As I type, the soda bread is baking away in the oven, filling the house with the most wonderful aromas. You need to keep an eye on your soda bread, if it starts to brown too much on the top, just cover it with some foil until it’s completed baking.

Next up? Time to bake some cupcakes. I’ve decided to make plain, normal butter-recipe cupcakes and will add in some green food dye. Since Dan would probably think that is pretty boring, I will use a little ganache for the frosting.

Now onto the meat … I make a fairly traditional shepherd’s pie, with beef though, not lamb. I start with extra lean ground sirloin, brown and drain that then return it to the pan. While my beef is browning, I start peeling my potatoes for my mashed and set them on the stove in lightly salted water to boil. To the beef, I add beef broth (normally I’d also add Guinness but since I can’t drink it, I forgot to purchase it), Worcestershire, spicy brown mustard, and various seasonings from my cupboard. For my veggies, I’m adding corn, carrots, peas and green beans. I would normally only add peas and carrots, but I’m trying to up my vegetable intake and the farmers’ market really had some amazing produce today. I’ll steam them just a little in my microwave vegetable steamer then add them in with the beef, cover and let it simmer until the broth reduces (you may need to add a little roux). If you’re not as fortunate to live in a warmer climate that has access to fresh vegetables year round, or if you’re just lazy and not in the mood, you can totally use frozen mixed vegetables in place of fresh.

Your potatoes should be nice and tender by now and ready for some mashing. For shepherd’s pie, I only add milk, butter, salt and pepper then mash until all the lumps are gone. In a large casserole dish, pour the beef mixture, then top with the mashed potatoes. Make sure as you smooth out the mashed, you leave little peaks and valleys rather than making it perfectly flat across the top. Dot the top of the casserole with a few pats of butter, some salt and pepper and pop it in the oven for about an hour at 350. Let it set on the counter for a good 10-20minutes before serving; otherwise, when you go to scoop out that first piece, it all comes pouring out and your beef to potato ratio is reduced.

Well the soda bread is just about finished so it’s time to stop typing and start the cupcakes. I hope everyone has an absolutely wonderful St. Patrick’s Day, enjoy a pint for me!!

My recipe for Irish Soda Bread:
4 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
3tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
¾ tsp baking soda
6 tbsp COLD butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups buttermilk
(1 ½ cup raisins and 1 tbsp caraway seeds if you want, but I leave these out since I don’t like them)

Combine dry ingredients and cut in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. (stir in raisins and caraway seeds if you’re using them)

In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk and all but 1tbsp of the egg (set aside for later). Stir liquid into the crumb mix until moistened … it is VERY sticky at this point. Turn the dough onto a very well floured area and knead about 10-12 times then shape into a ball.

Place the dough on a greased baking pan (I like using baking stones, it comes out better), cut the traditional “X” in the top and brush the top/sides with 1tbsp of the egg mixture. Bake at 350 for about an hour and 20 minutes. Keep an eye on your soda bread, I usually have to cover mine with foil for the last 20 minutes of baking because the top browns too quickly.