5 Things About Saint Patrick’s Day

So as it turns out, there are a lot of things that I didn’t know about St. Patrick’s day.  Here are five facts about the Holiday that you might not know. 

#1 St. Paddy’s v.s. St. Patty’s

In Ireland, Patty is short for Patricia and Paddy is short for Patrick, technically short for Pádraig, a variant of Patrick.  I did know that Paddy is short for Patrick as this is my father-in-law’s name, but I didn’t think about it in relation to St. Patrick’s Day - which I’m sure I have referred to as St. Patty’s a millions times - probably right here on this site. Apparently, a few years back,  the Dublin Airport even issued a statement regarding this in an attempt to banish the term St. Patty’s as a reference to March 17th festivities.  I will try to remember this one and call it St. Paddy’s Day from here on out.

Clapping to the rhythm during an Irish dance performance. 

#2 St. Patrick

Do we even know what we are celebrating on St. Patrick’s Day? Green beer? I learned a little bit about St. Patrick just the other day from a friend.  St. Patrick’s Day is cultural and religious holiday that takes place on the traditional death date of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. St. Patrick was thought to have used the three-leaf clover to explain the Holy Trinity to Irish pagans. St Patrick's Day parades began in North America in the 18th century and did not spread to Ireland until the 20th century.   St. Patrick’s Day has been recognized as a national holiday in Ireland since 1903.  Today, St. Patrick’s Day parades are held across the world. Paul and I even went to one in Japan when were were there in 2012.

#3 Leprechauns

So far as I can tell, these little fairies, who, as a part of Irish folklore, are usually found mending shoes and searching for the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, have nothing to do with St. Patrick’s Day, except of course that they are Irish.

#4 Corned Beef

So this one I knew. Corned beef is an Irish-American thing. Corned beef and cabbage is the Irish-American variant of the original Irish dish of bacon and cabbage. Some say that, in America, Irish immigrants weren’t able to obtain the cut of bacon used for boiling bacon which led to using cured brisket as a stand in. In New England, the proximity of Irish and Jewish communities may have led Irish immigrants to start using brisket, introduced to them by their Jewish neighbors, for this dish as it most closely approximated the taste and texture of Irish bacon.

#5 What do you do when March 17th falls on a Friday?

According to the archdiocese of Chicago, Chicago’s Irish-Catholics MAY eat corned beef today, as long as you substitute another form of penance. Whew. Just kidding. I made this corned beef on Wednesday so we could eat it before St. Patrick’s Day and again after since it’s even better a day or two later. It was my first time EVER making corned beef. And well, I didn’t really make it. I was planning on getting all of the ingredients to cure my own a couple of weeks ago but when I ran into our local market for a gallon of milk, the pre-cured ones were right there in front of me and I couldn’t help myself. Maybe next year I will cure my own, but this first time all I did was buy it, rinse it off and throw it in the slow cooker.  It was GREAT.

Here’s how I made it.

Open the package of corned beef.

Rinse off the meat under cold running water. 

Throw it in the slow cooker with enough water to go ½ to ⅔ the way up the sides of the meat.

Turn slow cooker on low for 7 hours.

At the 5 hour mark, turn the meat over and throw some cabbage, carrots and potatoes in with the brisket.

Once the timer goes off, remove and slice your corned beef.

Remove the vegetables from the pot leaving the cooking liquid.

Place your vegetables on a large serving platter and lay slices of corned beef on top.

Add 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard to the cooking liquid and boil the liquid for about 10 minutes until it is reduced slightly - tasting to make sure it’s not reducing too much (i.e. getting too salty).

Pour the cooking liquid over your meat and vegetables and serve.

Happy St. PADDY’s Day!!!

The Wind that Shakes the Barley: Irish History and Beef and Barley Soup

Beef and Barley Soup.  I eat all my soup topped with hot sauce, plain yogurt and something green. 

Reading Tread Softly on My Dreams has really got me interested in Irish history.  I’m now reading the next book in the Liberty Trilogy and lately, I’m bordering on obsessed. Like please-stop-reading-for-a-few-minutes-because-it’s-time-to-tuck-your-children-into-bed obsessed. Have you heard the song "The Wind that Shakes the Barley"? It’s in the movie of the same name. According to wikipedia:

“The song is written from the perspective of a doomed young Wexford rebel who is about to sacrifice his relationship with his loved one and plunge into the cauldron of violence associated with the 1798 rebellion in Ireland. The references to barley in the song derive from the fact that the rebels often carried barley or oats in their pockets as provisions for when on the march. This gave rise to the post-rebellion phenomenon of barley growing and marking the "croppy-holes," mass unmarked graves into which slain rebels were thrown, symbolizing the regenerative nature of Irish resistance to British rule. As the barley will grow every year in the Spring time of the year this is said to symbolize Irish resistance to British oppression and that Ireland will never yield and will always oppose British rule on the island.”

It makes you think of barley in a whole new light doesn’t it?

I was already a big fan of barley, it’s whole grain, healthy and delicious. Whenever I think of barley, I remember scorching hot  summers spent in Japan, drinking ice cold barley tea and slurping up bowls of cold noodles. I think of my grandmother, and my best friend’s mom, each of whom knew exactly what I liked to eat and always made sure I got the best bites.

It’s probably not the picture most Americans have in their mind’s eye when they think of barley.  I would venture to guess that Beef and Barley soup is the most common way we consume barley here in the U.S.  I love it in soup too, soup lover that I am. So I was pleased to see that seriouseats.com, one of my favorite food websites, recently included a recipe for Beef and Barley Soup as one of their best in 2016.  It might just be one of my best for 2017. You can view the recipe here.

This soup is perfect for a cold February day, even though I have no complaints at all about the winter we have had this year.

And, just in case you are interested, here are the words to that beautiful, sad song.

I sat within a valley green,
I sat there with my true love,
My sad heart strove the two between,
The old love and the new love, -
The old for her, the new that made
Me think of Ireland dearly,
While soft the wind blew down the glade
And shook the golden barley.

Twas hard the woeful words to frame
To break the ties that bound us
Twas harder still to bear the shame
Of foreign chains around us
And so I said, "The mountain glen
I'll seek next morning early
And join the brave United Men!"
While soft winds shook the barley.

While sad I kissed away her tears,
My fond arms 'round her flinging,
The foeman's shot burst on our ears,
From out the wildwood ringing, -
A bullet pierced my true love's side,
In life's young spring so early,
And on my breast in blood she died
While soft winds shook the barley!

I bore her to the wildwood screen,
And many a summer blossom
I placed with branches thick and green
Above her gore-stain'd bosom:-
I wept and kissed her pale, pale cheek,
Then rushed o'er vale and far lea,
My vengeance on the foe to wreak,
While soft winds shook the barley! 

But blood for blood without remorse,
I've ta'en at Oulart Hollow 
And placed my true love's clay-cold corpse
Where I full soon will follow;
And round her grave I wander drear,
Noon, night and morning early,
With breaking heart whene'er I hear
The wind that shakes the barley!

Irish Beef & Guinness Stew

TGIF! We have a big weekend planned with a double birthday party for Emmett (4) and Isla (2) and some cooking to take the pressure off the week ahead. I'm also hoping for some downtime to finish reading "Tread Softly on my Dreams" by Gretta Curran Browne.  I'm enjoying this book so much. It is the life story of Robert Emmet and couldn't be more fascinating if it was fiction. I'm so glad that it's Part 1 of a Trilogy so that I can read them all.

Reading about Ireland and Irish history over the last week put me in the mood to cook something Irish.  It doesn't get more Irish than Guinness.  And I love beef stew.  In fact, other than stuffing, the dish that I remember being most excited about when I was a kid was my mom’s beef stew.  It was and still is the best. I’ve tried to make her version of beef stew a few times but I feel like I’m now old enough and wise enough to leave well enough alone.  It never really tastes like hers. Even if it did, I probably wouldn’t perceive it that way.  So these days I do different variations, knowing that I will feel more successful if I’m not trying to make it taste like a favorite food memory.

I’m surprised that I have never made beef stew with Guinness before. I thought it was delicious. Very hearty and savory with the Guinness giving it the subtle complexity in flavor that a makes a dish like this one shine.  Paul asked me if it had bbq sauce in it which left me equal parts confused and insulted - though I’m sure he meant it in the best way since he LOVES bbq sauce (and managed to polish off quite a lot of this stew). Maybe it was the brown sugar? We ate this with some horseradish sauce made by mixing sour cream with scallions, prepared horseradish, lemon juice and salt and pepper. 

If you aren't planning on making corned beef and cabbage for Saint Patrick's Day you might want to make this. Next time, if I'm feeling ambitious, I may try to adapt this recipe to make a beef and Guinness pie. Or hand pies. Yum. 

Irish Beef & Guinness Stew

1 ½ lbs lean beef stew meat, cut into 1” cubes

salt and pepper

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions, roughly chopped

1 Tbsp tomato paste

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup all purpose flour

4 cups chicken broth, low salt

1 1/4 cup Guinness draft

1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar, firmly packed

1 Tsp minced fresh thyme

1 lb yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1" pieces

1 lb carrots, cut into 1" pieces

2 Tbsp fresh minced parsley

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. 

Remove beef from Dutch oven.  Plate Dutch oven back on the stovetop over medium heat.

Add onions and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add tomato paste and garlic and cook until rust-colored and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.

Whisk in broth, ¾ cup Guinness, sugar, and thyme, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.

Stir in beef and return to simmer. Transfer to oven and cook, uncovered, for 60 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.

Stir in potatoes and carrots and continue cooking until beef and vegetables are tender, about 90 minutes longer, stirring halfway through cooking. Stir in remaining ½ cup Guinness and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

The best thing about this dish is that it gets better with time, making it a great option for cooking on the weekend and eating later in the week.