St. Patrick's Day Menu

Irish runs in my blood so I love this holiday! Just recently while visiting DC they were celebrating the holiday early in Alexandria, VA. They had their biggest parade of the year just for this holiday. I thought that was pretty cool. Little Irish pubs lined Kings Street where the parade and celebration took place. I was very excited to see so many Irish restaurants. One night while we were there we ate at Daniel O'Connel's, I ordered the Shepard's pie it was okay just a little dry. I was hoping for more of an authentic Irish menu. This will be my St. Patrick's day menu I wanted to share early so people would have the chance to make it themselves if they wanted to.

Corned Beef and Cabbage
Gather all ingredients before starting:

This is for a serving of 6 people.
*3 1/2 lbs corned beef brisket with spice packet
*12 small red potatoes
*6 carrots, washed and peeled also cut
*1 LARGE head of cabbage, cut into wedges

Place corned beef in large pot or Dutch oven and cover with water. Add the spice packet that came with the corned beef. Cover pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer approximately 50 minutes per pound or until tender. Add whole potatoes and carrots, and cook until the vegetables are almost tender. Add cabbage and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove meat and let rest 15 minutes. Place vegetables in a bowl and cover. Add as much broth (cooking liquid reserved in the Dutch oven or large pot) as you want. Slice meat across the grain. Serve with horseradish sauce, or mustard.



Now we cant leave out dessert! This recipe is for an Irish Cream Cheesecake!! YUM! This recipe is out of my Irish Pub cook book.
Gather all ingredients before starting:

Crust
*Vegetable oil, for oiling the pan
*4 tblsp unsalted butter
*1 1/2c crushed chocolate chip cookies
*Creme Fraiche OR whipped cream and fresh strawberries, to serve

Filling
*8 oz. semisweet dark chocolate, broken into pieces
*8 oz. milk chocolate, broken into pieces
*1/4c sugar
*1 1/2c cream cheese
*2c heavy cream, lightly whipped
*3 tblsp Irish Cream Liquer

1. Line the bottom of an 8-inch round spring-form cake pan with parchment paper and brush sides with oil. Put the butter in saucepan and heat gently until melted. Stir in the crushed cookies. Press into the bottom of the prepared cake pan and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
2. To make the filling, put the dark and milk chocolates into a heatproof bowl and set over a saucepan of gently simmering water until melted. Let cool. Put the sugar and cream cheese in a bowl and beat together until smooth, then fold in the cream. Fold the melted chocolate into the cream cheese mixture, then stir in the liquer.
3. Spoon into the cake pan and smooth the surface. Let chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours, or until firm. Transfer to a serving plate and cut into slices. Serve with creme fraiche and strawberries.