Festive St. Patrick’s Day Dishes!

March 17th, 2009

Why not celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with some traditional and fun dishes for the family?

This Irish Soda recipe found at parentsconnect.com is an easy and fun way to celebrate the holiday with everyone:

* 1 large can pineapple juice
* 1 12-ounce can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
* 1 cup sugar
* 4 cups cold water
* 2 to 4 drops blue food coloring
* 2 liters ginger ale
* 1 quart lime sherbet

Combine pineapple juice, frozen lemonade, sugar, water and food coloring in a large punch bowl or pitcher. (If using a pitcher, cut the recipe in half.)

Carefully stir in ginger ale to avoid too much bubbling.

Gently float scoops of lime sherbet on top and serve.

Why not serve it with some Shepherd’s Pie which is a casserole, lined with cooked meat and vegetables, topped with mashed potatoes, and baked. Try this recipe found at Elise.com

Easy Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 lbs ground round beef
* 1 onion chopped
* 1-2 cups vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas
* 1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)
* 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
* 1/2 cup beef broth
* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

Method

1 Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).

2 While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick) in large frying pan.

3 Sauté onions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat has initially cooked.

4 Add ground beef and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add worcesterchire sauce. Add half a cup of beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist.

5 Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste.

6 Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well.

7 Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.

Serves four.

Need a good masher for those potatoes? Try this Cutco Potato Masher reviewed by ontheroad

Entry Filed under: Cook's Tools & Gadgets, Food & Beverages