St. Patrick’s Day – turn your kitchen into an Irish pub

There’s so much more to Irish cuisine than just corned beef. Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by serving Irish food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Better come hungry, Irish food is not for light weights in the appetite department. Lots of meat and potatoes with Irish stout and thick slices of buttered bread.

Let’s begin our festive day with my recipe for Corned Beef Hash. It’s my husband’s favorite breakfast served with over-easy eggs and rye toast. Guinness Black Lager gives the corned beef a rich malty flavor and it’s super easy to make in your slow cooker.

GUINNESS BLACK LAGER  CORNED BEEF HASH
Makes 6 hearty servings

Place raw corned beef brisket (approximately 2 pounds) in a slow cooker. Cover with Guinness Black Lager (2 – 3 bottles) and sprinkle with spice packet that is included in the corned beef package. Cook on high for 4 hours or until corned beef can be cut easily with a knife.  Turn off heat and allow to cool. Cut corned beef into small cubes (cut off any fat) and set aside.

1 small onion, diced

24  fingerling potatoes sliced into thin slices

4 ounces butter (+ more butter if needed)

freshly ground black pepper

12 eggs

Rye, whole wheat or French bread toast

Melt butter in a large skillet. Add onion and sauté until onions are transparent and starting to brown. Add fingerling potatoes and spread evenly across the bottom of the skillet. Allow to cook over medium heat until potatoes are soft and lightly browned. Add more butter if needed to keep the potatoes from sticking to skillet.  Sprinkle potatoes with freshly ground black pepper.  Add cubes of corned beef and stir to combine all ingredients. Keep potato onion mixture warm while preparing eggs.

Prepare over-easy/medium or poached eggs to serve with corned beef hash and serve with your favorite type of toast.

Did someone say “Irish Nachos”? Layer thinly sliced roasted potatoes or potato chips with shredded Irish cheddar cheese, bacon or corned beef, sauerkraut, sour cream and green onions and more cheese…broil in the oven until the cheese is melted and gooey…then watch them disappear! Especially good with a pint or two of Irish stout.

Still hungry? You betcha! Let’s have Bangers and Boxty for dinner. You’ve probably heard of bangers…sausages made of ground pork, fried up ’til crispy. But what in the world is boxty? Boxty is an Irish potato cake, made by combining mashed and grated potatoes, then fried on a griddle. The taste is yummy potato with a crispy pancake like texture. It’s the perfect accompaniment to many Irish dishes.

What delicious Irish dishes will you serve on St. Patrick’s Day? Will you be lifting a pint or two while enjoying Irish food all day?