St. Patricks Day

Wearin’ the Alt Green - Kinda

carroll oconnor “If it was raining soup, the Irish would go out with forks.”
—Brendan Behan

St Patrick’s Day! The only legitimate excuse for Whisky and Parades! … Drunken Bar Room Crooning, St Pat Happy Hats – Green of course, Green Shamrocks, Streamers, Beads, Kiss Me I’m Irish Stickers, Green Chocolate - but what’s worse- Green Beer, YIKES Green Rivers!

And, everyone’s favorite – the ineradicable Corned Beef and Green Cabbage.
Dia cabhrú liom!

No, No… I want something Irish that I can survive! Then it hit me. I want what Bill’s and my dear friend, Carroll O’Connor always wanted: Boiled Beef and The Quiet Man - John Ford's romantic comedy starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, filmed in and around the picturesque village of Cong, near Ashford Castle, County Mayo.

Not Your Usual St. Patrick's Drinks

green 4 Just a year ago, Barbara Hebert and I were sitting on her stoop in what passes for early spring in New England. I was nursing a cold and she'd just made me a get-well drink. (I didn't know what was coming so I had a tuna sandwich at home first.) It was bright green and it certainly looked healthy and surprise, it tasted better than you think. I didn't know it then but I was hooked.

By way of introduction, Barbara's a health coach; we've been eating our way through kale, collards, chard, spinach, tons of celery, salad greens, cranberries, blueberries in and out of season, onions, mushrooms, lentils and beans of every description.

The ANDI system, aggregate nutrient density index, rates food from 1 to 1,000 evaluating its vitamins and minerals. For example, collards, kale and watercress come in at 1,000; spinach is at 740 and arugula's 560.

For the very green cocktails here, go organic and fresh over frozen, although frozen fruit works fine. We whipped these up on a Friday night. Although it's March, we are digging out from a foot of snow earlier and we were smarter this time to outsource the photos to Mr. J.

Irish Cream and Coffee Chocolate Truffles

truffles irishcoffee I couldn’t let St. Patrick’s Day come and go without making something to celebrate this “green” holiday.

This year I wanted to gift the teachers with a little sweet treat. With an unopened bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream that we received at the holidays, chocolate truffles were calling my name.

Truffles are a wonderful gift because you can make a big batch in very little time. Using premium ingredients, a ganache is whipped up in minutes and then rests on the counter to cool. While this batch of ganache rested, I went for a 3 mile walk. Came home, put it in the fridge for 45 minutes while I straightened up my house.

The end results are impressive. Wrapped in pretty boxes and gifted to those that deserve them wins bonus points for weeks to come. Although he doesn’t know it, I hid a few in the back of the pantry for Levi. He is doing such a great job with the transition into a gluten free diet, that a little sweet treat is my way of showing him how proud I am of him.

Guinness Porter Cake with Orange-Whiskey Butter

portercake What I like about Irish baked goods is that they're always hearty and wholesome, like soda bread, scones, porter cake, and biscuits. And I especially like it when recipes are easy to make—ones that don't require yeast, rising dough, and all the things that come with it. One of the easiest cakes to make is porter cake, which gets its name from the Irish beer used. Yes, a bread recipe that uses beer!

In this case the beer is Guinness, the beer of Ireland: A rich, dark, and malty stout with a creamy head that requires a slow and steady multistep pour to get it just right. Guinness was first introduced as a porter in 1725, but its formula was changed to include roasted malt, which created a flavor profile that drinkers called "stout porter" and thus the name stout was born. Being that Guinness is my absolute favorite beer, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to bake this cake for St. Patrick's Day.