The kitchen project-St. Patricks Day Menu

Shining Through The Tears

It’s easy to be pleasant when life flows by like a song.
But the man worth while is the one who can smile
When everything goes dead wrong.

From an Irish Proverb.

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(Old Irish Saying)

Drink is the Curse of the land.

It makes you fight with your neighbor,

It makes you shoot at your landlord, and it makes you miss him.

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Ohh to imagine being in Ireland and invited to a nice country home. After a brisk walk in the country side, going into the kitchen and smell an Irish stew or Steak and Guinness Pie simmering on the stove. Fresh soda bread baking in the oven, and an Irish coffee to warm me up.


Irish Soda Bread

This is just a nice simple bread that is so good and just a bit

different. It has this delicious  texture that is cake like with  good wheat,

raisins and caraway  flavors.    I like the way it is baked in a pie tin and then

cut in wedge shapes.

I  wanted to make this as simple as I could. It takes only a few minutes to mix up.

2 cups biscuit mix

1 cup whole wheat flour 
3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt
3 tablespoons butter or oil (leave out to reduce calories)

2 eggs beaten 
1 tablespoon caraway seed
1/2 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup buttermilk or milk

In a large bowl, combine the biscuit mix ,flour, brown sugar,

salt and butter.  Mix well with your fingers

until fine crumbs form.  Mix in caraway, and raisins ;

add the buttermilk or milk and beaten eggs . Stir until well blended.

Shape into 2 pie or cake tins

Bake in a 375F oven until deep golden, 30 to 35
minutes.  Serve warm or cool.  Cut into wedges.

Check out This interesting bread from this Lovely web site.

Barm Brack bread

It looks particularly good. It uses strong tea mixed with fruit for the flavoring.

http://members.aol.com/imladriscb/irishrecipes.htm#barm

Steak and Guinness Pie

INGREDIENTS;

1 1/2 lbs. Beef Round Steak cut in cubes.

1/2 C flour

1 onion chopped

3 strips of bacon chopped

3 chopped prunes or 2 T raisins

1 T brown sugar

1 bottle Guinness stout beer.

Pie Pastry to cover casserole dish (Enough for a double crust Pie)

DIRECTIONS;

Flour the beef and heat a large Dutch oven to medium hot on the stove .

Add bacon and sweat, add beef sauté beef until browned.

Add onions and sweat them.

Keep a nice medium temperature not too hot. Long slow cooking is the best.

Add the Guinness, prunes or raisins and brown sugar.

Simmer for 2 hours or until tender.

Put into a oven proof casserole and cover with pie crust or pastry dough. Carve your initials in the pie crust or something fun.

You can eliminate the crust and it makes a nice stew.

Bake for 15 min.or until done.

Serve this with a nice salad topped with some slivered smoked salmon.

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Hafferty's Irish Baileys Cream Cake

By Joe Hafferty.

1 pkg. Pillsbury yellow cake mix -- pudding in the mix.
1/3- cup of oil
1- cup Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur
3- Eggs

First Glaze
1 - Cup sifted powdered sugar
2 to 3 - Tbs. Baileys

Second Glaze
1 - Cup sifted powdered sugar
2 to 3 - Tbs. Baileys
A few drops green food color

Grease and flour a Bundt pan. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Bake at 350 deg. for 35 - 55 minutes, or until done. Cool in pan 10 min. Remove to plate and pour first glaze over. Allow to dry. When set, pour second glaze over.

******************IRISH TOAST TO FRIENDSHIP *****************

There are good ships,
and there are wood ships,
The ships that sail the sea.
But the best ships, are friendships,
And may they always be.

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