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 A bit of History
One of the greatest Irish festivals, St. Patrick's Day or Paddy's Day commemorates the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. A festive public holiday for the Republic of Ireland but also celebrated with much enthusiasm in places such as Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the United States and New Zealand.
A St Patrick's Day meal isn't complete without a hearty stew and some Guinness. Try these dinner recipes:
Smoked wild Irish salmon with chive pancakes (Blinis)
 Ingredients – serves 6
For the dressing
- 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 100ml olive oil
- juice 1 lemon
For the pancakes
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 140g plain flour
- 250ml milk
- handful chives, chopped
- vegetable oil, to cook
To serve
- 6 handfuls mixed salad leaves
- 12 slices of smoked salmon, preferably wild Irish salmon
- 1 lemon, finely sliced
- handful chives, halved
Method
1. To make the dressing, place the wholegrain mustard in a bowl, then using a whisk, add the olive oil slowly. Add a squeeze of lemon, season to taste, then set aside.
2. To make the pancake mixture, mix together the eggs, flour, milk and chopped chives until smooth. Season with pepper and salt, if you want
3. Heat a medium non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Using a piece of kitchen paper wipe the pan with some vegetable oil. Pour a ladleful of the pancake batter into the pan and swirl to cover the base. Cook for about 1 min, then flip, cook for 30 secs more, remove and place on greaseproof paper. Repeat until you've made all six pancakes, then set aside.
4. To serve, arrange handfuls of salad leaves in piles on the side of each of six plates. Fold pancakes into four and sit next to the leaves. Loosely drape two slices of smoked salmon over the leaves and pancakes. Tuck two slices of lemon and a few chives under the salmon, then drizzle the mustard dressing over everything and serve.
Photo: simple version of blinis made with Smoked Salmon, Creme Fraiche, and Chives.
Irish Chicken Stew with Dumplings
Ingredients
- 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 2 onions, quartered
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 5 carrots, sliced
- 1 (10 ounce) package frozen green peas
- 4 potatoes, quartered
- 3 cups baking mix
- 1-1/3 cups milk
Method
1. In large, heavy pot, combine soup, water, chicken, celery, onion, salt, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat about 1-1/2 hours.
2. Add potatoes and carrots; cover and cook another 30 minutes.
3. Remove chicken from pot, shred it, and return to pot. Add peas and cook only 5 minutes longer.
4. Add dumplings.
To make dumplings: Mix baking mix and milk until a soft dough forms. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto boiling stew. Simmer covered for 10 minutes, then uncover and simmer an additional 10 minutes.
Guinness & honey glazed pork loin
Ingredients – serves 6
- 300ml Guinness
- 100ml clear honey
- 250g light muscovado sugar
- 2kg skinless, boneless loin of pork, ask your butcher for the thick end
- splash white wine , Champagne or water
- few sprigs flat leaf parsley
Method
1. To make the glaze, put the Guinness, honey and sugar into a pan. Reduce by almost half to form a sweet syrupy glaze, then allow to cool.
2. Heat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark4 (200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 for fan assisted oven). Season the pork with pepper and salt, if you want, place on a baking tray and roast for 20 mins. Then turn the heat down to 140°C (160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3 for fan assisted oven). Remove the pork from the oven and brush all over with most of the glaze (reserving a few tbsp) cook for a further 40-50 mins, brushing and basting the pork as it cooks until it's beautifully caramelised and glazed.
3. Remove the pork from the roasting tray and leave to rest. Pour the remaining glaze into the roasting tray, then add the wine, Champagne or water. Place the pan on the heat and bring everything to the boil, simmer for a few mins until you have thick gravy. Carve pork into thin slices. Glaze with the Guinness syrup, drizzle a little on the plates and finish with a sprig of parsley.
Irish soda bread
Ingredients
- 250g plain white flour
- 250g plain wholemeal flour
- 100g porridge oats
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 25g butter, cut in pieces
- 500ml buttermilk
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 (180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 for fan assisted oven) and dust a baking sheet with flour. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then rub in the butter. Pour in the buttermilk and mix it in quickly with a table knife, then bring the dough together very lightly with your fingertips (handle it very, very gently). Now shape it into a flat, round loaf measuring 20cm/8in in diameter.
2. Put the loaf on the baking sheet and score a deep cross in the top. (Traditionally, this lets the fairies out, but it also helps the bread to cook through.) Bake for 30-35 minutes until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. If it isn't ready after this time, turn it upside down on the baking sheet and bake for a few minutes more.
3. Transfer to a wire rack, cover with a clean tea towel (this keeps the crust nice and soft) and leave to cool. To serve, break into quarters, then break or cut each quarter in half to make 8 wedges or slices - or simply slice across. Eat very fresh.
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