St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is credited with converting the people of that country to Christianity, an accomplishment the Irish and millions of others seem to be enormously grateful for, especially on March 17, St. Patrick`s Day.
On that day in cities across the country, indeed across the world, the memory of the 5th Century ecclesiatic is celebrated with prayer, parades, partying and, almost universally, the partaking of food.
In Ireland St. Patrick`s Day is a solemn, holy day of obligation in the church, when Catholics must attend mass.
But it is also a day looked on as an oasis of merrymaking in the midst of the Lenten season of penitence and fasting, especially by Christians in the United States.
Many people, of course, celebrate St. Patrick`s Day less for its religious significance than for its reputation of being a universal good time. And the stories and legends of St. Patrick abound.
First, historians say, he was not Irish but a British-born missionary who spent his life in Ireland during the latter part of the year 400 A.D., trying to convert the pagans.
A man of rustic tastes and ethereal visions, St. Patrick allegedly used the shamrock clover to explain the Holy Trinity to an unbeliever by showing him the three leaves generated from a single stalk. Now the national emblem of Ireland, the shamrock is the inspiration for the expression, ”wearin` of the green,” a common practice on St. Patrick`s Day.
Another legendary service for which St. Patrick is fondly remembered is his introduction of the art of distillation to the Irish. And certainly, there will be many a toast raised in his name next week.
Over the years the celebration of St. Patrick`s Day has been extremely contagious and certainly one need not have Irish blood to join in. In many households March 17 is a day for families to gather for festive meals.
Traditionally, the food of the day is corned beef, cabbage and potatoes. The menu that follows is a version of that meal, updated to the 1980s.
Bread, the staff of life, when hollowed out and layered with corned beef, cabbage, onions and cheese, becomes a giant sandwich that serves as the main course for a St. Patrick`s Day dinner. The stuffed loaf is heated in the oven, cut into wedges and served warm.
A creamy cabbage soup serves as a perfect first course for the meal or it can be served with the sandwich.
For the Irish, of course, potatoes are a must. In this menu, large baking potatoes are cut into long wedges and baked golden brown in the oven.
The fresh peppery taste of watercress, which has the appearance of glistening shamrocks, tops fresh dark green spinach leaves and slices of fresh oranges for the salad.
No need for the fuss of an ice cream-maker when it comes to the dessert. A homemade Irish ice cream, reminiscent of a popular drink introduced a few years ago but made without liquor, gets its flavor from rum, coconut and vanilla extracts.
The directions for making and drinking Irish coffee come directly from Irish cookbooks and will conclude the meal with ceremony as well as a very good drink.
It is a St. Patrick`s Day dinner to create smiles in any Irish eyes, or any that claim to be.
MENU OF THE WEEK
Green Cabbage Soup
Shamrock Salad
Layered Corned Beef Sandwich Loaf
Oven Roasted Potato Fries
Irish Lager Beer or Dark Irish Stout
Irish Cream Ice Cream
Irish Coffee
SHAMROCK SALAD
Four servings
Preparation time: 10 minutes
1/4 cup each: orange juice, vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon each: salt, pepper
12 leaves fresh spinach
2 large navel oranges, peeled, sectioned
1 large bunch watercress, stems removed
1 hard-cooked egg, sliced
1. For dressing, put orange juice, oil, salt and pepper into jar with tight-fitting lid. Shake to blend. Reserve.
2. For salad, divide spinach leaves among individual serving plates. Top with orange sections and watercress. Garnish with egg slices. Spoon dressing over each salad.
GREEN CABBAGE SOUP
Four servings
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
1 tablespoon butter
4 cups green cabbage, chopped, about 1/2 head of a large head (see note) 1 small potato, coarsely chopped, about 1/2 cup
1 leek, white part only, coarsely chopped, about 1 cup
1 small yellow onion, chopped, about 1/3 cup
1 can (13 3/4 ounces) chicken broth
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon each: salt, pepper
1. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add cabbage, potato, leek and onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, do not brown. Add broth. Heat to boil. Cover. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 30 minutes.
2. Cool slightly. Put in food processor or blender; process until smooth. Add milk, salt and pepper.
3. Return to pan, place over medium heat, just to re-heat. Serve.
Note: Reserve the remaining 1/2 head of fresh cabbage for use in the layered corned beef sandwich loaf recipe below.
LAYERED CORNED BEEF SANDWICH LOAF
Four servings
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
4 tablespoons softened butter
1 cup each: coarsely chopped green cabbage, onions
1 round loaf of bread (about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds), such as Irish soda bread or sour dough bread
About 6 fresh spinach leaves
1/4 teaspoon each: dill weed, salt and pepper
8 to 10 slices Swiss cheese
3/4 pound thinly sliced corned beef
1/4 cup melted butter
Stone ground or country mustard, optional
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in skillet over medium heat. Add cabbage and onions. Saute, just until crisp-tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool slightly.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut small slice horizonally from top of bread; reserve this slice. Hollow out bread to make a 1/2-inch thick shell. Spread inside of bread shell and reserved top slice with remaining 3 tablespoons of softened butter.
3. Arrange spinach leaves, overlapping to completely cover inside of bread shell.
4. Arrange half of the cheese over spinach, trimming cheese to fit. Spoon cabbage-onion mixture over cheese. Lay corned beef slices over cabbage mixture. End with remaining cheese slices. Top with reserved bread slice.
5. Brush outside of bread with melted butter. Wrap assembled stuffed bread in heavy-duty aluminum foil, leaving top slightly open to allow heat to escape while bread heats in oven.
6. Put foil-wrapped bread on cookie sheet and bake in oven just to heat through, about 30 minutes. Remove, unwrap, cut into wedges. Serve with mustard.
OVEN-ROASTED POTATO FRIES
Four servings
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Chilling time: 2 hours
Baking time: 30 minutes
3 large baking potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled
Olive oil
Coarse or regular salt
Paprika, coarsely ground black pepper
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut potatoes into half lengthwise. Cut each half into thirds lengthwise.
2. Put potatoes in large bowl. Cover with cold water. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
3. Remove from refrigerator. Drain. Pat dry on paper towel. Arrange in single layer in roasting pan.
4. Drizle with oil, sprinkle with salt, paprika and pepper. Bake, turning once or twice, until tender and golden, about 30 minutes.
IRISH CREAM ICE CREAM
Four to six servings
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Chilling time: 2 to 4 hours
3 cups whipping cream
3/4 cups sugar
4 egg yolks
2 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee
1/2 teaspoon each: rum extract, vanilla
1/4 teaspoon coconut
1. Heat cream and sugar in heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is completely dissolved. Do not let mixture boil. Reduce heat to low.
2. Lightly beat egg yolks in small cup. Whisk several tablespoons of the hot cream mixture into egg yolks, whisking constantly to blend well. Pour hot egg mixture into remaining cream mixture, whisking constantly. Cook, stirring constantly, with wooden spoon, over medium low heat until mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon, about 10 minutes. Do not let it boil. Remove from heat. Pour cream mixture through strainer into large metal bowl.
3. Add coffee, rum, vanilla and coconut extract. Cover with foil. Put in freezer. Freeze until solid 2 inches in from sides. Beat well with a wooden spoon. Repeat partial freezing and beating 2 or 3 more times. Then freeze solid.
4. To serve, beat again with wooden spoon just before serving. Spoon into individual serving dishes.
Note: If mixture freezes completely, place it on the counter to defrost slightly. Beat with wooden spoon to make a smooth texture. This recipe works very well without the fuss of using an ice cream maker. If you want fluffier ice cream, mixture can be made in an ice cream freezer or beat with an electric mixer.
IRISH COFFEE
Four to six servings
Preparation time: 5 minutes
4 to 6 cups hot black coffee
2 to 3 tablespoons each: Irish whiskey, sugar, whipping cream
Pinch of cinnamon (optional)
1. Pour hot coffee into four to six warm coffee mugs. Add sugar and Irish whiskey. Stir to mix.
2. Hold a teaspoon upside down across the glass. Pour the cold cream slowly over the back of the spoon. Do not attempt to stir the cream into the coffee. The cream should float on the top of the hot coffee so that the coffee can be sipped through the cream. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.
