I DO love St.Patrick's Day. I am of Irish descent, grew up on the South Shore of Boston and now reside in the very Irish Windsor Terrace neighborhood of Brooklyn. My favorite color is, has, and always will be green.
I DO NOT have too many good things to say about the month of March, except that it is almost outdoor flea market season again. Yay!
This coming weekend March 16th & 17th I am selling at the Brooklyn Flea
at Hanson Place. Because I will not be home to make a boiled dinner, my mom is coming to "man" the stove. I will not be opening my shop on weekends again until early April.
Perhaps because I'm missing out on cooking this year, I would like to share a few of my favorite St. Patrick's Day recipes. Rest assured, this is not becoming a cooking or lifestyle blog. Just this once….
A long, long time ago (before Brooklyn, kids or antiques) I lived and worked on the west coast as a chef. In Seattle, I was employed at a quirky private club called The Ruins. The owner, Joe McDonald, taught me a preparation for corned beef that I have used to this day. It is more of a method than a recipe. It is a nice upgrade to the traditional boiled meat- makes it both prettier and tastier.
You gently simmer the corned beef as you normally would and remove it from the cooking liquid when it is tender, but not falling apart. Let it rest for at least an hour then pat dry. Make a glaze conatining 6 oz whole grain mustard, 6 oz Red Currant Jelly and 6 oz Irish Whiskey. Just whisk them together until smooth, pour over the corned beef and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour-uncovering for the last 20 minutes or so.
Here's something to go with it. From the popular 1980s Silver Palate ladies:
Here are some nice things, from my inventory, to set your table.
WINDSOR PLACE ANTIQUES 