St. Patrick’s Day At Almost Heaven South

While I’d always thought Doolittle was an English name, the Family Crest the kids gave me several years ago and some follow-up research says it has an Irish origin, so I celebrate St. Patrick’s Day – an excuse for a party.  Last year’s meal was your basic corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots all cooked together in the crockpot.

This year, we decided to try some things from my very favorite recipe book - your blogs.  Please check the respective blogs for the recipes and more pictures.  Our menu was:

2 corned beef brisket flats (Grobbel's) – to ensure leftovers.

A double batch of Bird Flanagan Irish Potato Pancakes from Susan at Savoring Time In The Kitchen. 

Fried cabbage from Mary at Deep South Dish. 

Shamrock shaped rolls inspired by Mary at One Perfect Bite.

Bev’s plan was to make rolls and a loaf of bread, but on TV that morning a local restaurant chef made pepperoni roll pinwheels.  Since pepperoni rolls were invented by Country Club Bakery in my hometown of Fairmont, WV and I grew up on them and then turned Bev onto them, she decided these were a must for this meal. 

We hadn’t planned on a salad or appetizer, but she decided it would be a better use of the dough than just a loaf of bread.  The traditional pepperoni rolls had 3-4 sticks of meat baked inside the roll, but the pinwheel maker used slices and after making some that way, Bev decided a brief spin in the food processor would be even better.  She pressed her dough into a rectangle, spread on the chopped pepperoni, rolled up, and sliced – similar to a sweet roll only much smaller.

After raising, she baked them until lightly browned and served them hot with jarred marinara, grated parmesan, and Irish wine – 2 drops of food coloring in a bottle of white wine.

The corned beef was covered with water and cooked several hours in a roasting pan on the stove top.  We like it pretty tender, so I cooked until my thermometer probe went in easily - same as for smoked brisket.

For the potato pancake, I used a 1 lb. 14 oz. bag of frozen hash browns and doubled the other ingredients – I let the potatoes thaw on paper towels and come to room temperature - also used my homemade Canadian bacon.  I cooked the pancake in a 12” non-stick skillet on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes with the lid on then without the lid until browned. I slid it out onto a plate, inverted the skillet over it and flipped to cook the other side until browned.

I fried the cabbage in a 12” cast iron skillet per Mary’s recipe, including the Slap Ya Mama Irish Cajun Seasoning.

Bev used Mary’s post as a guide for the rolls but used her regular sourdough bread to make them.  We discussed and calculated a while then she used three ½ oz balls for each roll in 3” wide muffin wells and they were a little too small, ¾ oz would have been just right.

Let's eat.  I'd already had a bite of potato when Bev reminded me to take a photo.

I washed mine down with Guinness Draught – sipped a little while cooking as well.  This was the first time I’d had cooked cabbage in a long time and perhaps my first ever fried cabbage – I really liked it.  I love potato everything and thought the single potato cake was very good and an excellent way to feed a crowd - the only issue was doubling the potato recipe made it harder to handle and maybe a little dryer. 

Bev decided to again make the chocolate lava cakes as they are easy and delicious - I was too full to eat any.  We rounded out the Irish meal with some Bailey's Irish Creme before and during dessert - I guess I just had my dessert in liquid form - that stuff sure goes down easy.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Our St. Patrick’s Day Meal

Two years ago: Not Quite Bangers And Mash

Larry

3/17/2012  meal date