Luck of the Irish!

Jen's Version

(Acworth, GA)

I married an Irish man and have an Irish father. There's no real escaping "meat and potatoes" in my life. For St. Patrick's Day - I personally just like to dye my beer green and call it a day. This year Val and I decided to feature a recipe for the special occasion. We chose Shepherd's Pie because finding a corn beef and cabbage fan in our lives is far and few between. I've made this dish for my husband plenty, because it's pretty simple and a great excuse to use left over mashed potatoes. Plus, he LOVES meat and potatoes! Unfortunately, he was out of town this year for St. Patrick's Day, so I decided to treat my parents and family instead. I knew my dad would be a fan! I also needed an excuse to have my mom's 7 Up biscuits. We are not GF M-F, so we ate a ton of biscuits.

First I sauteed the carrots I chopped up to soften them up (and completely disguise, so the non veggie eaters would approve)

Then I added the chopped up onion. 

Next, I added the ground beef and seasoned with salt and pepper. I love cooking at my mom's because a) it's not my kitchen I'm messing up and b) I love her salt and pepper doo dad's. Mostly reason a.

I TOTALLY made this part up, being that I wanted to be festive. The recipe called for red wine, I substituted with Guinness. I took the risk. And with beer, I mean, can it really go wrong?

With the help of flour and butter and stirring and such, I made a nice gravy, saucy, meaty dish. 

After pouring it into the dish, I topped with the taters. These were store bought due to lack of time, but I highly recommend making your own mashed potatoes. Highly recommend.

After it's baked to perfection, dig in. Clearly, we did.

It is best paired with my mom's 7 up biscuits. That way you can clean up the sauce with something other than your finger. Other than...in addition to..

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Traditional Irish Shepherd's Pie

Recipe adapted from  food.com

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 lb ground beef 

1 large onion, finely diced

3 -4 large carrots, finely diced

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon butter

1 12 oz. bottle of Guinness

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 cup beef stock

1 large quantity mashed potatoes

1 egg, beaten

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400°F.

Saute carrots in the olive oil until starting to get tender. Add in the onions and saute for a minute or two then add the meat. Season with black pepper. Cook until browned then drain fat.

Add the butter and sprinkle with flour and stir through.

Add tomato paste, beer and Worcestershire sauce. Let this reduce slightly then add the beef stock. Allow to reduce down until you have a thick meaty gravy. Season to your taste. Remove from heat. Grease an oven proof dish** (9x13 works for me, as does an oval baker) with butter and add the sauce. Spoon or pipe the mashed potatoes over top. Brush with egg.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until the potato is nice and browned on top.

Val's Version

(Denver, CO)

(This is just a side note - I'm gonna kill Jen. I had my portion of the post completed before her, as usual, and somehow she managed to delete 3/4 of the ENTIRE dialogue and my photos. Now I get to go back and try to remember all the clever things I had included the first time. If this wasn't her idea, I'd fire her. Sisters.)

Let's try this again …

Top o' the mornin' to ya!
(now it's almost dinner time)

I don't like corned beef and cabbage. Not at all. So trying to go the traditional Irish route was not an option for me. This recipe below is apparently English, but I hear a bunch of Irishman eat it. Or maybe that's just a trick the pesky little leprechauns play on people less informed. Who knows.

Since I'm "trying" to be GF Monday-Thursday (yes - that means I have the weekend to cheat), I pulled this up and thought it looked pretty simple. I added more veggies and sweet potatoes to make it healthier and it came out pretty good. It reminded me of my Dad who just takes all the foods from his plate and piles them together. Continuously. Over and over again with his metal fork, scraping the foods into a mound in the center of his plate. With a metal fork. I despise metal forks.

Lucky me, there wasn't too much to this recipe. It can really be altered to accommodate just about anything you have in the fridge or pantry.

If you're in a pinch, use a bag of frozen veggies.

After about 3-5 minutes, add in the cooked beef and take a swig of your favorite Irish brew. 

Cheers for Beers!

While the meat mixture is simmering, boil and mash your taters. Looking back - I shoulda used my green food coloring to make this step more festive. 

Layer your baking dish with meat and veggies on the bottom and tots on top. Use a fork to make little peaks throughout the taters and fluff it up a bit.

If you use sweet potatoes, they look a little soggy if not completely drained. Lesson learned. 

While it was baking, I whipped up some pimento cheese dip. Added me jalapenos for the green flare.

At the end of every rainbow is a pot 'o gold. Serve and enjoy it!

Or bathe in it.

Kiss us even though we're not Irish :)

Shepherd's Pie (Gluten Free)

Recipe adapted from Katherine Matinelli

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil
1 T onion powder
1 T garlic salt
1 bag of frozen mixed veggies
1 lb of 93% fat ground beef
3 tablespoons Ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup beef stock
2.2 pounds golden sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
¼ cup butter
½ cup milk
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the veggies, onion and garlic. Cook until softened.

Add the ground beef and cook until browned, stirring often to crumble the meat.

Add the Ketchup and Worcestershire sauce and simmer for a few minutes. Add the broth, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the potatoes in a large pot of cold water and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer until tender. Drain, return to the pot with the butter and milk, and mash until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Put the ground meat mixture at the bottom of a 9-by-14-inch ovenproof dish. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the mashed potatoes evenly over. Use a spatula or fork to create small peaks in the mashed potatoes.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Pimento Cheese Dip (with Jalapenos) 

Recipe adapted from She Wears Many Hats

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 – 8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature (we used a Greek Yogurt cream cheese blend)
3 cups grated sharp cheddar
½ cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons pimentos, mashed and rough chopped

3 tablespoons diced jalapenos
⅛ teaspoon dill
⅛ teaspoon celery salt
⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

• 
  

Directions:

Blend cream cheese until smooth. Add other ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate until serving.