Irish Nachos with Guinness and Irish Cheddar Sauce

I hope that there is time for one last recipe for St Patrick's Day and this one is a good one, Irish nachos in a Guinness and Irish cheddar sauce! Irish nachos are pretty much your regular nachos only they are made with home made potato chips, in this case crispy baked potato chips. The most important part of these nachos is of course the Guinness Irish cheddar sauce or fondue which allows you to get some Guinness right into your meal in addition to washing the nachos down with a pint! The sauce is pretty much a bechamel sauce where the liquid is Guinness which the Irish cheddar mellows out giving you a creamy and tasty sauce. Next up is the meat and I like to go for a spicy Mexican chorizo but any sausage will work and chopped up corned beef or even bacon would also be perfect. From there you can add your favourite nacho toppings and I like fresh tomatoes, onion, avocado, sour cream and cilantro. The perfect pub food for your St Patrick's Day celebration!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Read the recipe »

Guinness Chocolate Pudding

I have really been into the Guinness and chocolate flavour combo lately! Guinness, like coffee, has the ability to bring out chocolates natural flavour and make it even better, if that is possible. Even after the Guinness chocolate cheesecake and the chocolate stout cake I was looking for more and this Guinness chocolate pudding that I found on epicurius was looking pretty good. Not only does this recipe use Guinness in the chocolate pudding but it also reduces some Guinness into a syrup and then mixes it into whipped cream which is then placed on top of the pudding as if it were the bubbly head of a Guinness after freshly poured! How cool is that?

Read the recipe »

Bangers and Colcannon with Guinness Onion Gravy

Over a half a year ago I came across a recipe for Bangers and Colcannon with Guinness Gravy on What Lolita Eats and I immediately thought that it would be a perfect recipe for St Patrick's Day. It was difficult, but I resisted making it right away, bookmarked it and waited impatiently for St Patrick's Day to arrive and it was finally time. This dish consists of pork sausages that are served on colcannon, an Irish form of mashed potatoes with bacon and sauteed cabbage mixed in, and topped with a Guinness gravy. You really cannot go wrong with creamy mashed potatoes, bacon, sausages and a tasty caramelized onion gravy made with Guinness and it is pure comfort food! The recipe takes a bit of time to make but it is pretty easy and if you multitask it will come together even faster and it is definitely worth the effort.

Read the recipe »

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.

Crispy Beer Battered Fish Sandwich

Over the last few days as I have been contemplating my St. Patrick's Day dishes, but I could not get the thought of fish and chips out of my head. After a while I decided that the easiest way to get past the road block was to simply give in and make some fish and chips. I do not make fish and chips all that often so when I do I like to indulge a bit and I go with cod for the fish. Cod is my favourite fish for fish and chips as it has an amazing texture after frying that just goes perfectly with the crispy coating. Speaking of the batter, with all of the thoughts of St Patrick's day I could hardly not go with a beer batter and a Guinness beer batter at that!



At this point another one of my recent obsessions, an obsession with po'boys, took hold, and I could not resist turning the fish and chips meal into a crispy fried fish sandwich with fries. So the idea was a fried fish sandwich but the fish was looking rather lonely in the bun all by itself and a dollop of mayo was certainly not going to be good enough! We needed some serious condiments for this proud and noble fried cod in a bun! After a quick thought about a remoulade sauce was dismissed as not being Irish enough, I realized that I would be missing out on my favourite fish and chips sides, the creamy coleslaw and the tangy tartar sauce and with that I had my condiments and they would do the cod proud!

Crispy Beer Battered Fish Sandwich

Light flaky, tender and moist cod wrapped in a beer batter and fried until crispy and golden brown; served in a baguette with coleslaw and tartar sauce.

Servings: makes 4 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) bottle beer
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 pound cod fillets, or halibut, or haddock, etc., cut into sandwich sized pieces
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup flour
• oil for frying
• 1 baguette, cut into 4 sandwich sized pieces and sliced in half
• 2 cups coleslaw
• 1/2 cup tartar sauce

Directions

1. Mix the beer, flour, baking powder, salt and egg into a batter in a bowl.
2. Season the fish with salt and pepper.
3. Dredge the fish in the flour and shake off any excess.
4. Dip the fish into the batter and lightly shake off the excess.
5. Fry the fish in preheated 375F oil until cooked, golden brown and crispy, about 4-5 minutes.
6. Assemble sandwiches and enjoy.

Similar Recipes:
Beer Battered Fish N Chips
Fried Tuna Ball Po Boy
Shrimp Po Boy
Apple BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Apple Slaw

Serve with:
Fries

Looking for more St Patrick’s Day recipes?

Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake

St. Patrick's day is coming up and this weekend I started working on my meal plan. Normally I do not start with the dessert but when I came across this recipe for a Guinness chocolate cheesecake I knew that I would be making it immediately. Last year I made a Guinness chocolate cake and I discovered that the combination of Guinness and chocolate is a wonderful one and I could not resist using it in one of my favourite treats, a cheesecake!

Read the recipe »

Reuben Quesadillas

The first thing that I think about when I have leftover corned beef is reuben sandwiches which are among my favorite sandwiches, but I was looking to change things up a bit. There was this half finished package of tortillas just sitting there begging to be used and I knew what I had to do, reuben quesadillas. I figured that a simple, straight translation of the sandwich recipe to a quesadilla recipe would be the best (It's too bad there aren't any rye tortillas around.), though I did saute the sauerkraut a little because I did not want a soggy quesadilla. I also warmed the corned beef up just a bit as I envisioned a nice and thick quesadilla and I did not want the center to be cold. The quesadillas version of the rueben turned out really well! The lightly toasted tortillas worked just as well as bread at holding this amazing flavour combination together. I made sure to keep all of the cheese near the tortillas to ensure that it all melted up nicely and it came out really ooey, gooey and stringy and good!

Read the recipe »

Apricot Glazed Corned Beef with Colcannon and Sauteed Cabbage

I don't know what it is about St. Patrick's day but every year I seem to go all out and this year was no different. Last year I came across this recipe for apricot glazed corned beef with sauteed cabbage and colcannon on Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy a bit late to make it in time but I have been patiently waiting and now it was finally time to try it. I have used apricot glazes in savoury dishes before so I know that they work well and the honey dijon glazed corned beef that I made last year was a great success with its sweet and tangy glaze so I knew that this one would also be great.

Read the recipe »

Chocolate Stout Cake with Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting

Since I was previewing a St. Patrick's day meal on the weekend, I knew exactly what I wanted to make for dessert. I had been seeing recipes for a chocolate stout cake around for a while and I really wanted to try it. I would not have thought about adding a stout beer like Guinness to a cake and I was very curious to see how it would work. I also liked the fact that this chocolate cake used sour cream which I also found interesting.

Read the recipe »

Corned Beef Glazed in Honey and Mustard Dinner with Cabbage

While I was at the St. Lawrence market this weekend I noticed that a lot of the butchers had corned beef. I had never seen uncooked corned beef brisket in a store before and I picked one up immediately. It was in vacuum sealed plastic along with some spices so it looked like it had had a nice long marinate giving it time to pick up the flavours of the spices. Cooking corned beef is pretty easy; you simply simmer it along with the spices until it is fork tender. What makes a corned beef dinner even better is that it can be a one pot meal as you can throw the vegetables, like cabbage, carrots and potatoes into the water to cook along with the corned beef. This way the vegetables get a chance to pick up the flavours from the corned beefs spices. I had recently enjoyed a maple and mustard glazed chicken and I was thinking that the corned beef would be even better with a sweet and tangy honey mustard glaze. I pulled the corned beef out of the water a little early, patted it dry, applied the glaze and finished cooking it in the oven. The corned beef dinner turned out great! The corned beef was nice and moist and tender and tasty! The honey and mustard glaze was once again, a real winner. I must say that I almost enjoyed the spiced cabbage as much as the corned beef itself. What a great meal! And just in time for St. Patrick's day. Now I am looking forward to enjoying some reuben sandwiches with the leftovers.

Corned Beef Glazed in Honey and Mustard Dinner with Cabbage

(makes 4+ servings)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 (3 pound) corned beef brisket with pickling spices
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 cabbage, cut into wedges
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1 inch pieces
• 2 potatoes, peeled and cut in half

Directions for Stovetop

1. Place the corned beef along with the pickling spices into a large pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer covered until tender, about 1 hour per pound, adding the vegetables for the last 2 hours.
2. Place the beef in a baking pan, mix the honey and mustard, brush onto the beef and sprinkle on the brown sugar.
3. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the glaze is bubbling, about 20-30.
4. Let it rest for 10 minutes, slice and serve with the vegetables.

Directions for Slow Cooker

1. Place the corned beef along with the pickling spices into a slow-cooker/crock-pot, along with 2 cups water and cook on low until tender, about 8-10 hours, adding the vegetables for the last hour.
2. Place the beef in a baking pan, mix the honey and mustard, brush onto the beef and sprinkle on the brown sugar.
3. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the glaze is bubbling, about 20-30.
4. Let it rest for 10 minutes, slice and serve with the vegetables.

Ideas for Leftovers:
Reuben Sandwich
Breakfast Reuben Sandwich
Reuben Quiche
Reuben Dip
Reuben Quesadillas
Reuben Soup
Corned Beef Poutine with Guinness Gravy
Corned Beef Hash
Reuben Cauliflower Corned Beef Hash
Kimchi Reuben Sandwich
Corned Beef, Cabbage and Kimchi Burrito
Corned Beef Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Guinness Caramelized Onions
Corned Beef Cuban Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Similar Recipes:
Guinness Glazed Slow Cooker Corned Beef
Apricot Glazed Corned Beef
Pot Roast
Maple and Mustard Glazed Chicken
Curried Honey Dijon Roasted Chicken
Ham Crusted with Mustard and Gingersnap Crumbs

More amazing recipes for St. Patrick's Day

Irish Soda Bread

What better to go with Irish lamb stew on Saint Patrick's Day than some Irish soda bread? Irish soda bread is a quick bread that uses baking soda rather than yeast. Traditional soda bread consists of only flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk. The buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to produce carbon dioxide and thus rise. I decided to go with the brown soda bread which replaces half of the flour with whole wheat flour. I also decided to add some rolled oats for additional texture and flavour. I halved the recipe as I did not want to have too much in the way of leftovers. Soda bread would normally just be hand formed and baked on a baking sheet but I decided to put it into a loaf pan to give it a loaf shape. While looking for recipes I saw several that called for some non-traditional ingredients such as raisins, caraway seeds, etc.

The soda bread was the easiest bread that I have ever made. You just mix everything and bake it. It turned out pretty good. The crust was crispy and crunchy without being too hard and the inside was nice and soft and light. I timed it such that the bread came out of the oven at the same time that the stew was done so I got to have the bread while it was still warm from the oven. Of course I had to spread some butter on a few slices to melt into the bread. Melting butter on freshly baked bread is one of my favorite things. Given how easy this bread is to make it would be little trouble to make it for almost any meal.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:
1. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt and rolled oats in a bowl.
2. Mix in the buttermilk and form a dough.
3. Shape the dough and place it on a baking sheet or in a loaf pan.
4. Bake in a preheated 375F oven for 40 minutes (the top should be golden brown).

Goes well with:
Irish Lamb Stew

More St Patrick’s Day recipes!

Irish Lamb Stew

With Saint Patrick's Day coming up I was feeling like something Irish. I had seen some nice looking lamb at the grocery store and I was thinking that a nice lamb stew would do. It kind of worked out well as we got buried in snow again and the stew really hit the spot on a cold day. I went with a pretty basic lamb stew that contained lamb, onions, carrots and potatoes. I was thinking that you could also add parsnips, rutabaga, barley, celery, etc. Of course I could not resist adding a Guinness to the pot. :) I wanted to get a lot of lamb flavour so I made sure to brown the meat really well. I also wanted the lamb to be fall apart tender so I braised it for several hours. Since I did not want the carrots and potatoes to fall apart I did not add them to the stew until the meat was almost ready and then simmered just long enough to cook the vegetables. The lamb stew turned out really well. It was tasty and had a nice lamb flavour. The lamb was melt in the mouth tender. I enjoyed the lamb stew with a Guinness and some Irish soda bread.

Read the recipe »