Recipes of the Month

If you are planning a St. Patrick’s Day bash this month, go to www.tablespoon.com for all your recipe needs. Here you will find Irish-based recipes for drinks; desserts like Lucky Charm Treats and Pretzel Shamrocks; as well as main dishes. Here are two recipes from that site.

 

Slow Cooker Irish Beef Stew

 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

½ teaspoon dried thyme

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed into bite-sized pieces

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 1/2 cups Progresso beef-flavored or chicken broth

1 ½ cups (12 ounces) dark beer (or substitute additional broth)

Directions

Heat half of the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium high. Place meat in a large bowl and sprinkle with the flour, salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

Place half of the meat in the skillet and brown, not disturbing the meat too often, turning and continuing to cook until most sides are brown. Set the first batch aside to a plate.

Heat the remaining olive oil in the skillet, brown the rest of the meat, then transfer both batches to a 6-quart or larger slow cooker.

(As for me, I don’t see why you can’t brown all the meat at the same time in a very large skillet)

In a small bowl, stir together the Worcestershire, mustard, garlic, rosemary, and thyme. Drizzle over the beef. Add the carrots, potatoes, celery, and onions to the slow cooker, then pour the broth and beer over the top. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

 

 

 

 

Corned Beef Muffins

 

Ingredients

4 cups Cascadian Farms shredded hash browns, thawed (probably you can use any frozen hash browns)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

1 large leek (about ½ cup), chopped, washed and drained

½ cup yellow onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

6 ounces chopped canned corn beef (or thickly sliced deli corned beef)

Egg Mixture

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a regular-sized muffin tin.

Melt the butter over medium-high heat and cook the leeks and onions for 6-7 minutes until tender.

While the leeks are cooking, combine the hash browns, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Press about 2 heaping tablespoons of hash brown mixture into each muffin cup. Distribute any remaining hash browns. Bake on the middle rack for 30-40 minutes or until the hash browns are golden brown.

Make the egg mixture. Combine the beaten eggs salt, pepper and Irish mature cheddar cheese in a bowl.

Put a heaping tablespoon of chopped corn beef in each muffin cup followed by a heaping tablespoon of the leek mixture. Put 3 heaping tablespoons of the egg/cheddar mixture in each muffin cup. Distribute any leftover mixture.

Bake the muffins at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes until they’re golden brown. Let the muffins sit in the tin for 5 minutes before removing them.