Back home, in America, everyone is Irish at this time of year!  St. Patrick’s Day is a fun time, with fabulous parades, music and parties with friends.  Where we lived in Syracuse, New York, the parade was three hours long!   We loved seeing the Irish dancers, the pipe bands, the fire trucks, the firemen and policemen. When we moved here four years ago, we experienced some culture shock when we first attended our local parade and it was over within an hour and there were no Irish dancers!!!  We did, of course, still have fun!  It was just a different experience than we were used to.  Instead of Irish dancers, there were hip-hop dancers, and there were scouts, and tractors, and local theater groups.  Without a doubt, everyone enjoyed themselves!

Our Irish connections are a bit closer since I married a man from Dundalk.  “Authentic Irish” we like to joke.  We met in Dublin while I was in a “study abroad” program in college. It’s been quite an experience!  The Irish and the Americans are really two different cultures.  We lived in America for ten years, and during that time I would have been conscious of how things were just that little bit different for him.  We’re now living in Ireland, and thankfully he is aware of how different things are for me!  It’s necessary to have some cultural sensitivity, especially in our relationship.  I’m thankful for friends who appreciate that as an American  I think a wee bit differently than the Irish.  (I expect quite a few of my friends to be smiling to themselves right now!)

My husband has always enjoyed Irish cooking, even more so while living abroad.  One of the  first cook books he bought was Darina Allen’s Irish Traditional Cooking.  This has become one of my favorite cookbooks for traditional Irish cooking.  Beef & Guinness Stew is one of the tried and true recipes that we love and is easy to make.

For all of my Irish, and non-Irish friends, I wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Dana

Beef & Guinness Stew

2 lb (900 g) lean stewing beef
3 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons flour
salt and freshly ground pepper and a pinch of cayenne
2 large onions (about 10 oz/285 g), coarsely chopped
1 large clove garlic, crushed (optional)
2 tablespoons tomato puree, dissolved in 4 tablespoons water
1/2 pint (300 ml) Guinness
8 oz (225g) carrots, cut into chunks
sprig of thyme

Trim the meat of any fat, cut into cubes or 2 inches (5 cm) and toss them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon oil. Season the flour with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch or two of cayenne. Toss the meat in this mixture.

Heat the remaining oil in a wide, frying pan over a high heat. Brown the meat on all sides. Add the onions, crushed garlic, and tomato puree to the pan, cover and cook gently for about 5 minutes.  Transfer the contents of the pan to a casserole, and pour some of the Guinness into the frying pan. Bring to the boil and stir to dissolve the caramelized meat juices on the pan.  Pour on to the meat with the remaining Guinness; add the carrots and the thyme. Stir, taste, and add a little more salt if necessary.  Cover with the lid of the casserole and simmer very gently until the meat is tender – 2 to 3 hours. The stew may be cooked on top of the stove or in a low oven at 150 degrees C/300 degrees F/ gas mark 2.

Scatter with lots of chopped parsley and serve with potatoes.

(Dana’s adjustments to this recipe: I used two large pinches of cayenne. I sweat the onions on their own before browning the meat.  I also used an entire small can of tomato puree (150g), and the entire pint of Guinness. I cooked my stew on the stove.)

I really enjoy having friends over.  It’s something I don’t do nearly enough (how do I fit that in with my husband’s and the kids’ busy schedules???).  But when I do manage to make it happen, it is such a wonderful feeling!  I love connecting with my friends.

I wanted to make something special for our  friends Catherine & Paul.  It’s funny how we met them, actually.  Nearly 4 years ago, they bought the house we wanted to buy!  We are so glad they did though, because we would not have met them otherwise.  Thankfully, we ended up finding a house much closer to my husband’s work, too.  As the saying goes “it all works out”!

I started simple with an appetizer of brie wrapped in puff pastry.  This had apricot jam in the pastry which gave it an extra (lovely) flavor.  I turned to my favorite food blog for this recipe: the gourmand mom.  http://thegourmandmom.com/2010/08/06/cheese-please/    I’ve tried quite a few of her recipes and they are all delicious!

The salsa & salmon recipes are from Emeril Lagasse and were perfect for something a little different, yet simple to prepare (you should note a theme here!). They had enough kick to liven dinner up, but not too much, which is always my fear when using hot spices.

The salsa was my favorite!  The fresh lime juice, fresh cilantro (called coriander in Ireland), and the jalapeno just made the taste perfect for me.

These two recipes I found on the foodnetwork.com site.  They were super easy and super delicious.  I hope you get the chance to enjoy some special time with friends!

Enjoy,

Dana

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups cooked corn kernels, cut from the cob
• 1 red  or yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced or 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely minced
• 1/2 bunch scallions, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (coriander)
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 6 (6 ounce) salmon fillet pieces
• 1 tablespoon Essence, recipe follows
• 3 tablespoons canola oil

Directions

Essence (Emeril’s Creole Seasoning):

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Yield: about 2/3 cup

Recipe from New New Orleans Cooking, by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.

One thing I love about Ireland is shopping at the local butcher.  There are two that I always shop at; one in our village (Gus Kelly), and one in town (Tony Kieran in Dundalk).  I’m a frugal kinda gal, but I just like having the butcher there for us. They are great butchers, and I like their team.  It’s a personal thing.

On Thursdays we have morning swimming from 6:30 A.M. to 8:00 A.M, which means a 5:00 A.M. start to our day.  By dinner time, I want something quick and easy.  Tonight’s dinner was just that.

I used coconut oil with soy sauce to brown the cubed  pork.  Then I shaved some ginger, that I had in the freezer, and added it with garlic to the pork.

In no time I had mashed potatoes, broccoli & pork for dinner.  Glad  to say that everyone was happy!

Happy home-made dinner to you, too!

Quinoa, pronounced Keen-wah, is good for you.  Plain and simple.  I only discovered it a few years ago,  and  I was intrigued.  I want to eat healthy foods, so I  checked on-line and found a great site for lots of health information about quinoa.  whfoods.com is the site.  They have everything you want to know and more.  For me, I found it interesting to learn that quinoa is commonly considered a grain, but is actually a relative of leafy green vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard.  It’s high in protein, and the protein it supplies is complete protein.  This means  that it includes all nine essential amino acids.  That was enough for me, I wanted to try this super food.

Breakfast is where I’ve worked it into my routine.  I eat a seriously substantial breakfast!  I tend to like things sweet, so I use maple syrup. I like it for it’s taste, and the fact that  it is a natural sweetener.  Quinoa is easy to make. Boil one cup of dry quinoa with two cups of water for about 10 minutes (until the water is absorbed).  Unless your quinoa says otherwise, you have to rinse it.  I find it easier to cook it first and then rinse.  I cook it once a week (about one cup), and then take what I need everyday.  For my breakfast  I use 3 heaping tablespoons of quinoa, (I heat it in the microwave), and add about 1/2 cup of Glenisk Greek Style yogurt, two teaspoons of Linwoods Milled flaxseed wtih cocoa & berries, a tablespoon of pure maple syrup, and a few tablespoons of my homemade maple granola (see my previous post on making granola https://mominthegarden.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/mom-in-the-kitchen-making-granola/ ). Since I’m going for that power punch in the morning, it’s nice to know that milled flaxseed is a good source of Omega-3 essential fatty acids.  I like breakfast!  Have fun with this!

Dana’s Quinoa Pack a Punch for Breakfast recipe:

• 3 tablespoons cooked & rinsed quinoa
• 1/2 cup Greek Style yogurt
• 2 teaspoons milled flaxseed (any variety)
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup granola

Dinner.  We eat  it every single day.  It’s not a surprise when the time for dinner rolls around again.  Kids, especially, want to eat.  Yet sometimes dinner time just seems to sneaks up on me and then I have no idea what we’ll be eating.  Yikes. This surprise feeling happens way more than I’d like to believe!  Today wasn’t so bad.  I had a general idea of what food I wanted to try and throw together. But honestly,  I do somewhat enjoy the  challenge of seeing  if I can come up with something interesting, healthy, and that the kids will eat – all  with no planning!  Sticking with my healthy theme, I wanted lentils and whole grain basmati rice.  To start things off with the vegetables, I used coconut oil and added  onions, celery, yellow peppers, one hot red chili pepper, and spinach.  Spices included a teaspoon each of turmeric, coriander & cumin, some cinnamon, and garlic.  Finally, I added full cream.  It smelled pretty good, so  I served  the vegetables on the rice with a dallup of whole fat Greek Style yogurt on top.   Phew! Finished just in time to eat and get the kids to their Irish dancing class!

It’s my favorite room in the house: my kitchen.  I really enjoy cooking, and baking, and eating!  I try to maintain a healthy balance with what we eat.  Really, I do try.  Sometimes my kids like it, and sometimes they wish I’d be more like their friends’ moms and not care so much!  Like I said, I’m trying to get that balance right.

I think granola is a nice healthy snack food.  There is a wonderful restaurant in Ithaca, NY called the Moosewood.  The last time I was there, a few years ago, I was so taken aback by our experience that  I bought their “New Classics” cookbook (and even had it signed!).  They have a Maple Nut Granola recipe that is just too easy not to make.  Variations are a snap, too.   I really like to eat this granola with Organic Greek Style Yogurt from Glenisk.  I have to write a small note about Glenisk.  They are a company that I love to support by eating their products!  An Irish, family run, all organic company in County Offaly.  You just feel good eating their food!  I buy their organic yogurts – Greek Style for me, and fruit for the kids.  There, that’s the end of my plug for Organic!   I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Maple Nut Granola from Moosewood Restaurant’s New Classics cookbook:

4 & 1/2 cups medium-cut organic rolled oats
1/4 cup oat bran
1/2 cup sunflower seed
1/4 cup hulled sesame seeds
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup blanched and sliced almonds
1/4 cup whole toasted cashews*
1/4 cup coarsely chopped Brazil nuts
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons barley malt or unsulphured molasses
*toast cashews in a single layer on an unoiled baking tray at 350 degrees F for 5 to 10 minues until fragrant and golden brown.

I made mine using cashews, pecans, and coconut – in exchange of the nuts listed above.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F or 177 degrees C. Lightly oil a baking pan.

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, oat bran, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, cinnamon, and the nuts. In a small bowl, combine the vegetable oil, maple syrup, and barley malt or molasses (I used molasses). Stir the maple mixture into the oat mixture and toss well to coat thoroughly. Spread the granola evenly on the prepared baking pan.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes; stir at 5 minute intervals to ensure uniform baking, until golden brown.

Remove the pan from the oven and place on a cooling rack. When completely cool, place in an airtight container for storage. Will keep for 7 to 10 days.