Next week's St. Patrick's Day holiday got me thinking about a trip to Ireland I took with friends years ago. In the weeks leading up to the experience, I kept getting more and more excited - even with folks telling me over and over that I wouldn't be excited about the food once I got there.
The Emerald Isle is known for lots of things, they told me, but good food wasn't one of them.
Sure enough, most guide books warned of tasteless meats, lifeless vegetables and bland potatoes disguised every which way. Although the country was in the midst of a culinary renaissance at the time, most said it would be years before Irish visitors would come away pleased with the food they found.
Lucky for us, we must've hit the right places at the right times. We found the food mostly top-notch, with an abundance of fresh seafood and vegetables balancing out a healthy dose of heavy, hearty soups and stews.
We enjoyed elegant beef, chicken and pasta dishes in Kinsale, hearty breakfasts featuring beautiful haddock and steel-cut oatmeal in Dingle and an abundance of fresh seafood in Galway.
But here's the thing: I have no problem with corned beef and cabbage. Love the stuff, actually - especially if my late Pappaw Messer was the one making it.
Good Irish comfort food is just like any other comfort food you like. Meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, chicken and dumplings, whatever. If it's good, it's good!
So to celebrate "lowly" cooking, I'm offering a lucky batch of make-ahead Celtic classics to bring a little luck o' the Irish to your table.
Slow cooker corned beef and cabbage lets your Crockpot do the work, with the added bonus of simmering smells wafting through the house all day. Featuring seasoned beef, lamb and potatoes, shepherd's pie with cumin and chickpeas can also be made ahead and just popped in the oven before serving.
Both recipes are from McCormick, and you can pair either with a loaf of super-easy Irish Soda Bread, either made traditionally with cinnamon and raisins (as in the recipe in today's paper) or flavored with cheddar cheese for a savory take (as shown on www.McCormick.com).
n n n
On that same trip, one of the culinary highlights of our vacation was homemade breakfast at a charming bed and breakfast in the Dingle Peninsula on Ireland's Western shore. Among the mouthwatering choices was rustic oatmeal drizzled with Drambuie, and the hint of honey-spiced whiskey in the morning was too good to pass up.
But something clearly was lost in translation, because "drizzled" apparently meant "drenched" as our hilarious innkeeper drowned the bowl in an ocean of 80 proof. We weren't right the rest of the day.
That's the first thing I thought of when I came across this video for traditional Irish oats made with Irish whiskey: http://bit.ly/1CMtuHf. Looks good to me but, if for nothing else, you should check out the video just to hear the chef's awesome brogue accent.
n n n
If you have a hankering to celebrate this green holiday in the Greenbrier Valley, St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Ronceverte is hosting its annual Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner Tuesday.
A tradition spanning nearly 40 years, parishioners from St. Catherine's and St. Louis, King of France, Church in Lewisburg will serve corned beef and cabbage, potatoes, rolls, dessert, coffee and iced tea from 4 to 7 p.m., with takeout available from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Last year's dinner sold out within the first two hours, but Father Chapin Engler Jr. of the Catholic Churches of the Greenbrier Valley said that shouldn't be a problem again.
"We have ordered nearly twice as much corned beef and cabbage," he said. "We shall be ready this year!"
The dinner is $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 5 to 12, with children under 5 eating free. All proceeds will go toward the newly remodeled kitchen project in the parish hall.
The church is located at the corner of Walnut Street and Greenbrier Avenue (WV 63), just behind the Ronceverte Public Library. For more information, call 304-536-1813 or email cwilliams1948@frontier.com.
n n n
Finally, you can celebrate St. Patrick's Day Eve (is that a thing?) with a free ice cream cone from your local Dairy Queen.
To kick off the company's 75th anniversary celebrations, Dairy Queen is offering a free small vanilla soft-serve cone to all customers who visit during "Free Cone Day" Monday.
And why is March 16 the lucky day, you ask? Just so happens to be the 75th day of the calendar year. Steven Keith writes a weekly food column for the Daily Mail. He can be reached at 304-348-1721 or by email at dailymailfoodguy@aol.com. You can also follow him on Facebook and Pinterest as "DailyMail FoodGuy," on Twitter as "DMFoodGuy" or read his blog at http://blogs.charlestondailymail.com/foodguy.
RECIPES
Slow Cooker Corned Beef & Cabbage
8 small red potatoes
2 cups baby carrots
1 small onion, quartered
1 corned beef brisket, rinsed and trimmed (4 lbs.)
2 Tbsp. mixed pickling spice
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 head of cabbage, cored and cut into wedges
1. Place potatoes, carrots and onion in 6-quart slow cooker. Place corned beef brisket over vegetables. Sprinkle with pickling spice and minced garlic. Add enough water (about 8 cups) to just cover meat.
2. Cover and cook 7 hours on high. Add cabbage, then cover and cook 1 to 2 hours on high until cabbage is tender-crisp.
3. Remove corned beef brisket to serving platter. Slice thinly across the grain. Serve with vegetables.
Shepherd's Pie with Cumin and Chickpeas
1 1/2 lb. potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 can (15 1/2 oz.) chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (divided)
1/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 tsp. salt (divided)
1 lb. ground lamb
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup whiskey (Irish preferred)
1 cup beef stock
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup frozen carrots, thawed
1 cup frozen green beans, thawed
1. Place potatoes in 2-quart saucepan. Add water to cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain and return to saucepan. Add half of the chickpeas, milk, butter and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Coarsely mash until well blended and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brown lamb and beef in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat and drain fat. Add onion, cumin, coriander, remaining 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until onions are tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in whiskey. Stir beef stock into cornstarch until smooth and add to skillet, stirring constantly until well blended. Stir in vegetables and remaining chickpeas. Spoon into 2-quart baking dish and spread potato mixture evenly over top.
4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until mixture is bubbly and top is golden brown. If needed, place under preheated broiler to brown potato topping.
Traditional Irish Soda Bread
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. caraway seed
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup raisins or currants
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease 9-inch round cake pan. Mix flour, sugar, caraway seed, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in large bowl. Stir in raisins.
2. Mix buttermilk, eggs and vanilla in medium bowl, then stir into dry ingredients. Spread in prepared pan.
3. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes, then remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.