Irish Sides, St. Patrick's Day Part II

The babies really got us off schedule this year. We didn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 17th because I had the opportunity to go to Ohio to see Grandbaby #4 and Grandbaby #5 wasn't ready to go out in public yet. And when we cook with all the family attending, that's pretty public!

I did have the chance to cook corned beef for the Ohio Foodies while I was out there. I ran across one idea for a green salad to honor St. Patty. You just took every green vegetable that appealed to you: green lettuce, avocado, cucumber, snap peas, green pepper, etc. It was actually really yummy and the total green color suited the holiday just fine. When I made it in Utah, we topped it with Green Goddess dressing to complete the picture.

When I cooked in Utah, I needed a change from the usual parsley potatoes. I found this fun website that had some great sides. It was littleshamrocks.com. It also sold Irish clothes and other fun things. I think you'd enjoy checking it out.

So here are some of the sides that we tried. They all turned out very well.

Roasted Mustard Potatoes

Ingredients:

1/2 c. Lakeshore Strong Irish Mustard or other spicy mustard

1/2 c. olive oil

3 lbs. new pototoes or red skinned potatoes

2 medium onions, sliced for garnish (about 1 1/2 c.)

Chopped parsley for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Scrub the potatoes leaving skins on. Cut into 1 1/2 in. cubes. In a small bowl, combine mustard and oil. In a large bowl, comine potatoes, onion and mustard mixture, tossing to coat well. Spread evenly on baking sheet.

Bake at 400F for 45-50 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and crispy. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve. Yield: 6 servings

These were really tasty, but I didn't cook them long enough. You might want to leave a little more time to make sure the potatoes get done. I might try adding another 10 to 15 minutes next time. It could be because I doubled it and the volumn didn't cook as quickly.

Irish Cabbage

Ingredients:

1 small cabbage, cored and thinly shredded

1 stick butter

6 T. water

1 pinch nutmeg

1 tsp. flour

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt half the butter in a heavy pot; then add the cabbage and toss until coverd with the butter. Add water, cover and cook gently for about 20 minutes. By this time, the liquid should be nearly absorbed, and the cabbage cooked. Add the nutmeg, the flor, and stir well; then add the rest of the butter and toss until melted into the cabbage. Add pepper if desired.

This was really good and a nice change from the normal steamed cabbage we serve with corned beef. It was quite good, but then a stick of butter makes everything better.

Orange Glazed Carrots

Ingredients:

1 c. orange juice

4 T. granulated sugar

5 T. butter

1 pinch red pepper

15 carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise with stalks still attached

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Place the sugar, juice, butter and red pepper in a saucepan and simmer until butter and sugar have melted to make a glaze. Place carrots into an oven proof dish and pour over the glaze. Bake until the carrots are tender. Yield 8 servings.

These were really pretty, but I only cooked them about 15 minutes and they definitely needed 5 - 10 minutes longer. It was a nice touch of color and looked really pretty.