While these aren't my Lucky Charms, they sure come close and while it might not be your typical Irish meal for St. Patty's day, they are delicious and I think they are worth a try. We did a St Patty's day meal a little early for various reasons and I even have leftovers so I'll still have some left for the holiday.
Don't know how Irish this is but it is my favorite flavor of cocoa. Come on over here and we will share Irish lymerics over a hot cup of Irish Creme Stephen's.
I've been told Irish steel cut oats are the way to go and once I have my oatmeal this way, it is hard going back to rolled. Well I got some to try for breakfast tommorrow so I'm excited.
Irish Brown Bread
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
Step 1 Heat the oven to 400°. Combine everything but the buttermilk in a large bowl and stir the ingredients with your hands. Make a well in the mixture and pour in 1 1/2 cups of the buttermilk.
Step 2 Continue mixing with your hands, adding the remaining cup of buttermilk as you combine the ingredients. The resulting dough will be wet and very sticky.
Step 3 Dust your hands with flour, shape the dough into a ball, and place it on a floured cookie sheet (we used a nonstick baking mat). With a knife, score a deep X in the top of the ball, widening it with the sides of the blade as you cut.
Step 4 Bake the bread until it's golden brown, about 50 minutes. Transfer it to a wire rack and let it cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing. Makes a crusty, dense loaf about 7 inches in diameter.
Irish Lamb Stew
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds thickly sliced bacon, diced
2 1/2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup water
4 cups beef stock
2 teaspoons white sugar
5 large carrots, cut into bite-size pieces
1 1/2 pounds thickly sliced bacon, diced
2 1/2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup water
4 cups beef stock
2 teaspoons white sugar
5 large carrots, cut into bite-size pieces
2 large parsnip, cut into bite-size pieces
3 potatoes
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
3/4 cup cooked wheat berries (opt)
3 potatoes
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
3/4 cup cooked wheat berries (opt)
DIRECTIONS
Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
Put lamb, salt, pepper, and flour in large mixing bowl. Toss to coat meat evenly. Brown meat in frying pan with bacon fat.
Place lamb into crockpot (leave 1/4 cup of fat in frying pan). Add the garlic and yellow onion and saute till onion begins to become golden. Deglaze frying pan with 1/2 cup water and add the garlic-onion mixture to the stock pot with beef stock and sugar. Add carrots, onions, potatoes, thyme, bay leaves, and wheat berries. Cover cook on high for 3-4 hours in crockpot. Add more water for thinner consistency if desired.
Serve with bacon pieces to garnish.
*The bacon and grease really are essential - skimping on the fat here really affects the taste so add the wheat and make the brown bread to make you feel like you are eating something really healthy....
Happy St. Patrick's Day Tomorrow!!!
Looks yummy! I have corned beef in the crock pot as we speak (so to speak). It's our first try at an Irish feast, so we'll see how it goes. Let us know about the oats!
ReplyDeleteOk, update on the oats, had them this morning and they were good but aside from texture, I didn't notice a huge difference. But maybe that is because I have to have milk and brown sugar on mine and that masked any taste difference... Still, I felt very festive eating Irish oats!
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