St. Patrick's Day Dinner: Corned Beef, Colcannon, and Irish Cream Ice Cream

Being of strong Anglo-Irish stock, I can never let St. Patrick’s Day pass without preparing some sort of traditional celebratory meal. I know, I know, corned beef and cabbage is more of an American institution, but it’s also good, hearty comfort food that’s usually only consumed in great quantities around this time of year, so let’s just run with it.

Now, you could very well make your own corned beef from scratch (which I have done before), but if you don’t want to bother with the task of brining, check the meat department at your local grocery store. On multiple occasions, I’ve purchased pre-brined corned beef brisket from Kroger that comes ready to cook with its own seasoning kit, and it’s just as good as any I’ve ever tried.

I must also admit that I had planned on providing you with a completely-100%-from-scratch recipe for homemade corned beef. However, I waited too late. The beef has to brine for a pretty extensive amount of time, and I wanted to post this blog entry in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Though, let’s be frank – if the grocery store is willing to do most of the work for you, then why not take advantage of their generosity? Not to mention, corned beef briskets are a great investment. They’re perfect for feeding a large crowd, and chances are you’ll have plenty of leftovers for reubens or stuffed cabbage!

Most corned beef recipes instruct cooks to boil the meat. However, I personally take issue with boiled beef (I don’t care how “traditional” it is), so I prefer to roast my corned beef. The best method for roasting a pre-brined brisket is to wrap it in aluminum foil, place it on a baking sheet, and allow it to roast at 300 degrees, one hour for each pound or until the meat is fork-tender.

As for the second part of my Irish meal, what could possibly be more Irish than potatoes and cabbage? But who wants plain old boring boiled vegetables? No one, right? So that’s why I decided to go with colcannon. For those who are unfamiliar with this dish, colcannon is essentially mashed potatoes mixed with cabbage or kale. For many years, it was a cheap staple dish in the Irish culinary scene, but because of its heartiness and unpretentiousness, many modern recipes “jazz it up” a bit. For my version of the dish, I add bacon (because, I mean, why not?) and sautee the cabbage and onions to develop their flavor before adding them to the potatoes.

This is such an easy and affordable recipe to prepare, and it can be served as a side dish or as a complete meal on its own.

2 ½ - 3 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

½ head of cabbage, chopped or julienned

1 large onion, chopped

5 strips thick bacon, chopped

½ cup butter

½ cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes until tender, then drain. With an electric mixer, beat the potatoes with the butter and heavy cream until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Reserve.

 In a heavy-bottomed skillet, brown the bacon on medium-high heat, then remove it from the pot and place it on a plate covered with paper towels to absorb the excess fat. Add the cabbage and onion to the rendered bacon fat, and sautee the vegetables until tender. Gently fold the reserved bacon and cooked vegetables into the mashed potatoes until thoroughly incorporated.

(Corned beef and colcannon, the finished product! And to think that this used to be "poverty food." REALLY?)

For Christmas, my mom bought me a fantastic Cuisinart ice cream freezer, and it’s become my new favorite kitchen gadget. It’s so much more user-friendly than those noisy models that require copious amounts of ice and rock salt, and I’ve made several batches of ice cream with it. Being a big fan of liqueur-flavored ice creams, I decided to concoct a special recipe in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. I must admit, I’m pretty proud of this recipe. The flavor of the Irish cream fuses nicely with the subtle additions of brown sugar and chocolate while still remaining prominent.

Irish Cream Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tsp. vanilla

¾ cup Irish cream liqueur

In a saucepan, bring the heavy cream, milk, brown sugar, and chocolate chips to medium heat. Stir gently until the chocolate has melted and all ingredients are blended together. Remove from heat and add vanilla and liqueur. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 4 hours or until chilled.

Once chilled, pour the mixture into an ice cream freezer and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Make sure to store the ice cream in a freezer-proof container with a tight lid.

Because this ice cream contains alcohol, it takes a bit longer to freeze than other ice cream recipes. I recommend freezing it in your ice cream freezer until it reaches the consistency of a thick milkshake, then pouring it in an airtight container and freezing it overnight. 

(Enjoying my ice cream in my authentic Irish coffee cup! Seriously, it's legit. Imported from Ireland. Marcus Notley. Look it up.)

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! May the wind always be at your back, and all that!