St. Patrick's Day Recipes

St. Patrick's Day is only one week away and that means that it is time to start planning your St. Patrick's Day menu. I always enjoy planning my St. Patrick's Day meal as the dishes are always interesting and tasty! It is a great time to cook with some alcohol such as an Irish beer, stout or ale or an Irish whisky or even some Irish cream. Corned beef is of course a favourite for a main but there are plenty of options and lets not forget that there are some really nice desserts. If you do make some corned beef, be sure to make a lot because the leftovers can be even better than the dish that they came from. Here are a few of my St. Patrick's Day recipe favourites:

You will have to forgive me for starting with dessert; normally the main course holds more interest for me but this Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake is so unbelievably good that I have to mention it first. Guinness and chocolate are an amazing flavour combination and the Guinness brings out even more chocolaty goodness. If there is only one thing that you make for St. Patrick's Day this year, this should be it!

My all time favourite main course for St. Patrick's Day has to be corned beef, probably more for the leftovers, and this Apricot Glazed Corned Beef is a great way to go. I commonly serve this with a side of Colcannon, which is a Irish form of mashed potatoes with cabbage and bacon, along with some sauteed cabbage with, you guessed it, even more bacon.

Another great option for St. Patrick's Day is an Irish Lamb Stew and this one uses Guinness in the broth. Serve with some freshly homemade Irish Soda Bread to help soak up all of that tasty broth.

A close second for corned beef is this Corned Beef Glazed in Honey and Mustard and to make things easier you can cook some cabbage, carrots and potatoes in the same pot as the corned beef.

If you are looking for an alternative to corned beef then this Steak and Guinness Pie is hard to beat with its light and flaky all butter crust and slowly braised until falling apart tender beef and cheddar filling!

When I think about Irish food I often arrive at fish and chips and last year I tried something new, a Crispy Beer Battered Fish Sandwich. The fish is coated in a Guinness based batter and it is fried until the coating is nice and crispy and the fish is moist, tender and flaky and once cooked I place it into a sandwich along with some coleslaw. and tartar sauce. When served with a side of homemade fries it is just like a fish and chips meal in sandwich form.

If the Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake sounds too rich for you then this light, fluffy and moist Chocolate Stout Cake with Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting is definitely the way to go.

The first thing that I do with my corned beef leftovers is to make a Reuben Sandwich which I like to butter up and grill until the dark rye is nice and toasty and the swiss cheese has melted. If you are on the more adventurous side then try adding some kimchi to the mix to make a Kimchi Reuben Sandwich which has some bite. (Trust me it is really good!)

A Reuben Dip is a fantastic way to satisfy your snacking desires and another great way to enjoy some of that leftover corned beef.

If quesadillas are more your style then you are going to want to try these Reuben Quesadillas.

A new favourite, that I made for the first time last year, is this Corned Beef, Cabbage and Kimchi Burrito which also includes some avocado salsa verde and plenty of melted cheese in the filling.