Ever wonder about St. Pat's Day?  Wonder why there's no corn in corned beef?  Here are a few facts:

?It's a mostly American-created holiday.
?The Irish historically considered green to be an unlucky color to wear because it meant fairies would snatch you up and steal you.
?The traditional Irish diet consisted mostly of lamb and garden and root vegetables.
?Corned beef was most likely created on Manhattan's Lower East Side in the 1800s when Irish immigrants took a page from their Jewish neighbors and made brisket their own.  

Now for some nutritional facts that you may or may not want to know!

Corned beef

 The "corn" part refers to the coarse salt used to cure the meat, and has nothing to do with actual corn.
I could really find a true story, but there's probably some truth that Irish families cured the meat to keep it from spoiling.  

It seems that Irish immigrants borrowed brisket from their Jewish neighbors on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 1800s. It was said that the Irish immigrants were looking for a substitute for Irish bacon and simply adapted their newfound neighbors' brisket recipe.

Because it's one of the least tender cuts of meat, it requires a lot of boiling, low and slow, to break down the fibers.

Not only is this tough, but very fatty-according to Weight Watchers a mere 3 oz serving is worth 6 points!  

Cabbage

A very traditional accompaniment to corned beef.  Although it's likely to make many kids wrinkle their noses, the weight-conscious should regard cabbage as a friend.  It contains fiber and is rich in vitamins C and K with red cabbage also being rich in vitamin A. It's said to be brimming with antioxidants, and some research has even suggested it may help to stave off cancer.

In the most usual ways it's seen on this upcoming holiday cabbage is cubed and added to the boiling pot of corned beef during the last 20 minutes of cooking. Heavy amounts of pepper help bring it to life.

Because it's fat-free this is the stuff to pile high atop your plate when sitting down to toast good old St. Pat. (Be warned: Cabbage can make you gassy.  So go buy some beano or open up the windows)

Potato

A bona fide Irish original if ever there was one, the potato, is one vegetable with a bad rap, a must-have for any authentic Irish feast.

The potato literally meant life or death for the Irish between 1845 and 1852.  The "Great Potato" famine is a mere blip in Irish history, but over a million people did die during those few years.

The traditional thing to do is peel and quarter the spuds and put them in at the same time as the cabbage and serve.
If you serve this right out of the pot-they are fat free and low in calories.  But if you must make mashers or the very traditional colcannon (cabbage and potatoes)-don't use the cream and butter!  Use skim milk instead.

Now, most people feel St. Patrick's Day is nothing without raising a pint or two of beer-just remember if you're watching your waistline or your health-pile up on the veggies, weigh out the corned beef and enjoy a "lite" beer and do some extra exercise!

We have some shy foodies here at fab40!  Cynthia (Chocolatier) shared that she did bake corned beef one year with a BBQ sauce glaze.  Sounds pretty yummy!   It reminded me that one year I also tried baking the roast-I used a brown sugar and coffee glaze on it.  Love that salty/sweet combo.

Here are some fun ideas:

Now I don't drink beer (or any spirits), but to "green" up your suds, add a couple of drops of green food coloring.

This same tinting works well in white wine and any clear soda.

Make sugar cookies and either use the green food coloring in the dough and cut into leprechauns, 4-leaf clovers or any other festive shape OR color some icing sugar and sprinkle over the shapes for a sparkly look. Of course you can also use green frosting and decorate them that way.  

I wanted to share an Irish Soda Bread recipe with you-it's such an easy and hearty quick bread to make and very low in fat.

I pulled this one off of the McCormick site, what's great about this is that unlike some this one needs no kneading and it's terrific toasted for breakfast:

Makes 16 servings.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons MCCormick? Caraway Seed (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon McCormick? Cinnamon, Ground (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins or currants
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon McCormick? Pure Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 350?F. Lightly grease 9-inch round cake pan.  

2. Mix flour, sugar, caraway seed, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in large bowl. Stir in raisins. Mix buttermilk, eggs and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients. Spread in prepared pan.  

3. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.  

per serving
Calories: 129
Fat: 1 g
Carbohydrates: 26 g
Cholesterol: 28 mg
Sodium: 182 mg
Fiber: 1 g
Protein: 4 g

And when all else fails for ideas-make some green eggs and corned beef hash for a real comforting celebration!

Okay, I’m nowhere near Irish-but I do like to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!  Just like most of the free world.

However, green is my least favorite color in the entire world.  I usually hole up in my office and/or my family because I haven’t a single thing to wear.  

My wonderful daughter corrected this faux pas last year when she worked for Ed Hardy for a brief period of time.  She brought me home a very dark green tee with one of his signature parrot “tattoos“.  I like it and wear it quite often.

Back to cooking and St. Pat’s Day.

I must admit, my husband (you’ve heard of him, the red meat hound)loves corned beef.  So it’s with him in mind that I buy one of the more expensive cuts and make a tradtional boiled/slow-cooked dinner.

We all know by now that I’m all about the greens and veggies-so I eat the rest of the meal with relish. Not literally, but let’s say “with zest“.

My way of preparing the dish?  I actually bring out the crockpot.  I buy a good bottle of Guiness too.  And the head of cabbage,the red potatoes (hold up way better than Idahos/russets), carrots and I throw in an onion.

Why the more expensive cut?  Simple-less stringy (as long as you cut it correctly, against the grain) and better taste.

I chop up the veggies and place them on the bottom of my 5 quart crock, then put in the beef and the seasoning packet and finish by pouring on the Guiness.   It really does add a good dose of flavor.  Then I just plug it in and turn it to low.

The best part of this method is that I don’t have to watch on the stove for either adding water or boil-overs and it comes out great.

What I would like to know is this:  Do you have a special way of prepping your corned beef dinner?  Bake it (I’ve tried that w/ a brown sugar glaze one year and it was actually well received!!  Do you stick to strict tradition?

And your sides?  Do you put a twist on those?  My son hates boiled cabbage so once our daughter moved out, I switched to cole slaw for a while.  

And what about Irish Soda Bread?  Do you make it?  Use it straight or add dried currants, raisins or other dried fruit?

Let’s see if we can share some of your recipes-I’m sure we‘re all ready for a new twist on an old favorite!

Truly, I was hoping that everyone would chime in and share some of their Spring favorites-mealwise!  So far terma shared her penchant for grilling, at least her husband’s!

Her share?  Hubby wrapped asparagus in bacon and grilled it.  

I decided to try a new chicken recipe using my version of adobo seasoning.  I combined garlic powder, kosher salt, applewood smoked black pepper and oregano and rubbed/marinated some chicken thighs.  

Before grilling I combined 1/2 C of mango nectar, 1/4 C of honey and 1tbsp of cholula (hot sauce).  

I let the thighs grill on one side about 5 minutes and then basted them w/ the juice mix, turned and repeated.  

They were juicy, spicy and pretty good.  Not too spicy though-my hubby gets the hiccups if it is, and he didn’t.

I served it over brown rice.  There was some remaining baste mixture left so I heated it to the safety of boiling point and served it over the chicken and rice.  

Our vegetable side that night was a very simple spinach, mushroom and tomatoe salad.  

Now, back to sharing some new ideas on what to cook this Spring-remember the season officially arrives on March 20th!

Spring’s almost here!  Thank goodness.  It rained a good portion of my weekend, but I could still see the telltale signs-pink blossoms on fruit trees, my mint springing up all over its original bed and a good portion of our slope and then there was my trip to the produce market!

Asparagus was abounding-and the stalks were nice and thin, not the size of a small tree trunk, plus it was so affordable that I bought 2 pounds worth.

Can you tell they‘re one of my favorites?  

Made them by simply snapping off the bottoms, giving them a light spray of olive oil and mixing them with some minced garlic, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.  Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned rain, they were roast in the oven for 20 minutes instead of outside on the BBQ.

Same could be said for the BBQ pork ribs.  Another Spring favorite around my house.  I dry rubbed those in some Montreal Steak seasoning and roasted them for 3-1/2 hours at 250 in the oven as well.  Then I liberally coated them with Jack Daniel’s BBQ sauce and continued the “Low and Slow” method for yet another 1-1/2 hours.

Besides the asparagus, I also bought some great looking Asian pears, strawberries and our St. Pat’s day corned beef.

Spring always comes just in the nick of time-doesn’t it?  Just as I, for one, am just about ready to scream if I have to eat one more apple-it arrives along with wonderful berries and stone fruits!

What do you love to eat in the Spring?  Do you have an out-of-the-box way of preparing corned beef?  A great and different way to serve berries?  A slightly different recipe for Irish Soda Bread?

Let’s share some of those recipes and ideas in the coming weeks!

good day to all you cookie monsters!

As promised, here’s another version of those great breakfast cookies that I had up several months ago!

BREAKFAST COOKIES

1-1/4 C br. sugar
1/2 C butter flavor shortening (keeps them soft!)
1/2 C crunchy peanut butter (I also love using chocolate peanut butter from Henry’s if you have one near you!)
1/4 C cold coffee
1 egg
1 tbsp. almond extract or pure vanilla
1-1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda
1 C 9 grain cereal (or old-fashioned oats)
1 C dried cranberries
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 C Kashi Go Lean Crunch

Pre-heat oven to 375 (350 if you have a convection)

In mixer, cream sugar, shortening and peanut butter.  Add coffee, egg and extract.  In a separate bowl mix the flour, oatmeal, salt and soda.  Stir into creamed mixture.  Slowly stir in cranberries, chips and Go Lean.

Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets by either 1/2 C or 1/3 C measures.  Flatten so that they‘re 1” thick.  Bake 13-15 minutes-check after 10 though in case your oven is off.

Very important!!!  Let stand on sheets for 5 minutes before removing.  Cool on racks and store loosely covered.  

I usually get about 18-using the 1/3 C measure.