St. Patty's Day

We are beginning to plan our annual (9th) St. Patty's day party.

So far we have invited about 50 people.

The menu is very early, but the usuals will be there:

• Home made corned beef (we corn it ourselves), slow cooked in whiskey and beer (corning recipe) (corned beef recipe)
• Soda Bread
• Dill potatoes
• Baileys Cheese cake (recipe)
• Golumpkis (ok, not irish, but it has meat and cabbage so what the heck) (recipe)
• Irish Stew (recipe)

This will be the first year I get to enjoy it with the bulk of my family since we moved back home last year. We still have quite a few things to add to the menu, but an aunt of mine wants to cook some stuff for it, so I am going to try to come up with some off the wall Irish inspired things for her.

Guess I better get my liver out of my safe deposit box too..

Sounds delish, Jeff!

I haven't given nearly enuf thought to the holiday yet- and I need to! I love corned beef n' cabbage! Could eat a big ol' plate of it any day of the year!

You get 50 of my family and friends together for a St Patty's party, you'd just be asking for trouble once the beer started flowing.
The menu sounds excellent Jafo

I LOVE corned beef, but rarely make it. Thank Jafo for the info - may have to give that a whirl this year. The last time I made something like it, it was late October (years ago), and I used a pumpkin ale. I know - sounds strange, but it turned out remarkably good from what I can remember.

Cheers!

I love my St Patty's Day Menu so much I make the same thing each year. I do smoked trout on apple wedges for appetizers, then Irish Pub salad,corned beef with horseradish sauce, Irish Pub salad, Caramelized cabbage (I hate boiled cabbage), Champs, gluten free soda bread and then I do tend to shake it up for dessert. I've done strawberry and irish soda bread ice cream, bailey's pudding and far breton to name a few.

So I called a butcher from the area to place an order for 30 pounds of brisket for this years party about 2 weeks ago. I needed it by Friday the 13th as that was the last day I could start corning the beef. Something didn't feel right so yesterday I called to confirm and was told, oh yeah, we couldn't get that in time. I was so mad. Was like what the heck? You couldn't call me?

So anyway, after a mad scramble, I actually found a "local" butcher who had a couple heifers that were just ready to start carving up. Well, it was almost an hour drive (Croghan NY), but well worth it. I saved .75 cents a pound and got some wonderful flat cut brisket right off the hook. To top it off, they had a bunch of homemade Croghan Bologna. If you have never had it then you do not know what your missing.

Anyway, we got it in the refrigerators brining away and can't wait until Saturday.

Damn, Jeff! What a disappointment... Sure hope the back-up plan pans-out fine for ya, though.

I guess a courtesy call is just to much to ask for these days. You did good with the deal you ended up with.
I'm still a big fan on bologna. It gets harder and harder to find decent brands anymore. Every time I find something decent they change their recipe. Some is to salty and others add to much garlic. Boars Head has been pretty consistant though for the past few months.

Hi Jeff!

Glad you were able to score some really fresh meat, sooooo good indeed! I used to love to go to this butcher shop and get fresh meats of all descriptions! Yeah I miss bologna (good Bologna) I am glad you found some of the good stuff!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

Cathy

This recipe for the bologna has been around since the late 1800's. It is a local delicacy around here. I remember when I was a little kid my parents would make a special trip to Croghan just to get it. It isn't what they call bologna today by any standards. It comes in a round similar to say pepperoni but tastes unbelievable. When I try to explain it to people I try to relay that it is like what you get when you cross pepperoni, salami and prosciutto together.

Anyway, as for the local butcher, he turned out to be much better. The meat was so vibrant in appearance and smelled just wonderful. I really cannot wait to see how this CB turns out

Jaffo, did you use any saltpeter in your pickling mix?

The Ironic Chef said:

Jaffo, did you use any saltpeter in your pickling mix?

Click to expand...

No, I leave that out. I don't think it is necessary. All it does IMO is add to the preservation process and make the meat look pink. Honestly, I like the color the way it is, and am happier about not using any preservatives..

Funny you should mention salt peter though. My wife was looking for a gift for a baby shower and I recommended Salt Peter.. Thought it would have been a funny joke heh..

Jafo, Saw a Good Eats show a while ago. Alton was making corned beef. I never knew that saltpeter was a high risk cause for cancer and it shouldn't be used. The reason it is used for corned beef is because people don't really eat very much of it. The military thing is just a wives tale, lol, I remember boot camp and the rumor of our food being laced. We all believed it. It is an excellent stump remover and we wouldn't have gun powder with out it.