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St. Patrick's Day Brunch: 2003

Source of Recipe

Ann Ring


Recipe Introduction

Had a grand time preparing these recipes...most of which were posted by fellow Recipe Circus members. Thank you all. The brunch was a success!

List of Ingredients

Top O' The Mornin' Potato Soup
Irish Soda Bread/Crusty Rolls with Whipped Butter
Cranberry-Orange Muffins
A Wee Bit O' Green Jello

Irish Rover's Unicorn Pub Shepherd's Pie
Pot O' Gold Stuffed Shells (for the non-Irish)
Lucky Leprechaun's Ham & Egg Casserole
Blarney Stone Hash Browns
Emerald Hickory Smoked Bacon

Baileys Irish Cream Cheesecake
Irish Oatmeal Cookies


Recipe

POTATO SOUP:

Source--King Arthur Flour
7 medium potatoes (2 3/4 pounds), peeled and cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch cubes
3 medium carrots (9 ounces), peeled and thinly sliced
3 celery stalks (3 1/2 ounces), thinly sliced
1 large onion (12 ounces), peeled and chopped
1 1/2 quarts (48 ounces) water
2 cups (16 ounces) broth (chicken, beef or pork)
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter
2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup (9 ounces) sour cream*
*Or just use an 8-ounce container, if you like.




Recipe
Place the potatoes, carrots, celery and onion into a large pot. Add the water and broth, and cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid. Cook the soup over medium heat for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper. Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it bubbles. Add 1/4 cup of the sour cream, stirring till smooth, then add the remaining sour cream and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir the sour cream into the soup. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve the soup hot, garnished with chopped parsley, chives, or scallions, if desired.

YIELD: About 14 Cups, 9 to 10 Generous Servings
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CRANBERRY-ORANGE MUFFINS:

Source--The Olde Thyme Inn

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
grated zest of one orange
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
Topping: 1 tsp cinnamon, 3 tbl. sugar

Preheat oven to 400 F; spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. In large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Add the orange zest, cranberries, and almonds. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, vanilla, egg and oil. Add the buttermilk mix to flour mixture. Combine with as few strokes as possible. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each 1/2 - 2/3 full. Make topping by mixing cinnamon and sugar; sprinkle batter with the topping. Bake for about 20 minutes or til tops are golden and crunchy. Makes 12 muffins.
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I used 2 packages of sugarfree lime Jell-O and added a can of fruit cocktail (drained), I put it in a pretty mold.
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IRISH ROVER'S UNICORN PUB SHEPHERD'S PIE

Source: John aka Mooseman at CD Kitchen

2 lb Ground beef, lean
1 cup Onion; diced
1 cup Carrots; diced
1 cup Celery; diced
1 2 cup Corn; fresh or frozen
2 Garlic clove; minced
Salt; to taste
Pepper; to taste
2 Tsp.. Nutmeg
8 oz Beef broth
2 Tbsp. Butter; mixed with
2 Tbsp. Flour
2 lb Potatoes; cooked and mashed
Butter

Cook ground beef in frying pan until brown. Add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Lower heat and cook for 10 minutes or until vegetables are wilted. Add beef broth, bring to a boil. Stir in enough of the butter/flour roux to make a thick gravy
to bind the filling. Pour into large shallow baking pan and cool. The filling should be about 1 1/2 inches deep.
Cover the meat mixture in the pan with the corn and then top with the hot mashed potatoes. smooth potatoes evenly, brush surface with butter. Bake at 325 F for 35 - 40 minutes.

NOTE: The Irish Rovers, of "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "The Unicorn" fame, own a very successful "Old Country Pub" in Calgary, Alberta. Their Shepherd's Pie is justly famous. Vincent Lee, kitchen manager at the Unicorn says the recipe came directly from Ireland via the Irish Rovers more than 10 years ago.
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STUFFED SHELLS

Source: Mine....recipe to follow

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Source: Cilla at Recipe Circus (from her friends)


2-3 slices whole wheat bread, butter both sides
2 slices white bread, cut in small cubes
1 c. grated cheddar or swiss cheese (I used cheddar)
1/2 c. diced cooked ham
3 eggs
1 1/4 c. milk
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
dash pepper and paprika
( I added: 1/2 c. fresh slice mushrooms
3/4 cup zucchini, diced & 3/4 c. broccoli florets, sliced thinly
3 green onions...I sauted these ingredients in bacon fat and then drained it)

Cut whole wheat bread slices into triangles. Stand them up aroung sides of an 8 inch baking dish.

Place bread cubes in dish; sprinkle with cheese and ham.

Beat eggs, milk and seasonings; pour over bread cubes.

Bake @ 350° for about 30 mins; until puffy.

NOTE: I doubled the recipe and placed it in a 9x13x2 inch baking dish. Cooking time was 40 minutes.
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HASH BROWN CASSEROLE

Source--Cracker Barrel


2 pounds Frozen Hash Browns-thawed
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 can condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1 pint Sour Cream
1/2 cup Onions-chopped
2 Cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 teasp. Salt
2 cups Corn Flakes-crushed
1/4 cup Margarine-melted

Combine next 7 ingredients and mix with Hashbrowns. Put in casserole dish. Saute cornflakes in butter and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.
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HICKORY SMOKED BACON

Store bought: Jones Bacon

I made 2 pounds (chopped some of it up fine to sprinkle on the Potatoe Soup)

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BAILEYS IRISH CREAM CHEESECAKE:

Source--Charissa Aclin @ Recipe Cottage

Crust

10 whole graham crackers, broken into pieces
1 1/4 c. pecans (about 5 ounces)
1/4 c. sugar
6 T (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 c. sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 c. Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 ounces imported white chocolate (such as Lindt), broken
into pieces

Topping --- SEE NOTE

1 1/2 c. sour cream
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1 1/2 ounces imported white chocolate, grated
24 pecan halves

For crust: Preheat oven to 325F. Lightly butter 9-inch
diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Finely
gring graham crackers, pecans and sugar in processor. Add
butter and blend, using on/off turns. Press crumbs onto
bottom and 2 inches up sides of prepared pan. Refrigerate
20 minutes.

For filling: Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and
sugar in large bowl until smooth. Whisk eggs, Baileys and
vanilla in medium bowl until just blended. Beat egg mixture
into cream cheese mixture. Finely chop white chocolate in
processor using on/off turns. Add to cream cheese mixture.

Transfer filling to crust-lined pan. Bake until edges of
filling are puffed and dry looking and center is just set,
about 50 minutes. Cool on rack.

For topping: Mix sour cream and powdered sugar in small
bowl. Spread topping onto cooled cake. Sprinkle grated chocolate over cake. Place pecans around
edge and serve.

REFRIDGERATE OVERNIGHT - YOU MAY FREEZE THIS

NOTE: I've fixed the cake with and without the topping, and
I prefer it without the topping. As a suggestion, prepare
the topping, but serve it on the side.
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KIM'S OATMEAL COOKIES

Source: kimberlyn59 Posted by Mona at Recipe Circus

1 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon + a dash or two of nutmeg, clove, allspice and ginger
1/2 t. salt
3 c. Oats - quick or old fashioed
1 c. raisins, or RAISINETTES (the best)
(I added 1 Tblsp. of pure maple syrup)-optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. GREASE COOKIE SHEETS!
2. Beat butter and sugars. Add rest of wet ingredients.
3. Mix and sift together the dry ingredients except for the oats and raisins.
4. Add the dry to the wet and mix well. Add the oats and the raisins. Scoop up by fairly large spoonfull - I use one of those cooky dough scoops that works like an ice cream scoop (these are the bomb).
5. Bake 10 -12 minutes. Cool one minute on sheet then transfer to racks.

----------------------------------------------------------- AN IRISH BLESSING

May soft gentle breezes brush o'er your face,
Fore each loving touch is God's warm embrace.
May you have enough for all that you need,
And never be hurt by another one's greed.
The Lord keep you safe from terrible things,
And at the end of this life, lift you up on His wings.
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This was a fun brunch...Some of the little touches:


For the invitations, I went to this site: http://www.irishabroad.com and sent out email invitaions straight from Ireland. They has several different styles.

I was able to purchase green tulips (white ones that were dyed). I put gold wrapped Hershey kisses into decorated claypots (Pots O' Gold).

I gave each guest a party favor....either Irish Jelly or Jams, Irish Tea from Dublin or the traditonal Irish Blessing in a crystal frame.

For the table, I used an Irish lace tablecloth and decorated it with green candles in glass candle holders and flowers which consisted of white lilies, white carnations, Irish bells, white roses, to name a few placed in a crystal vase.

GUESTS: Jim & Tara, Shannon, Kirk, Amy, Mike & Wendy and Ann & Bill