Going Green: SSC's Drunk(er than usual) Edition

St Patrick’s Day is one of our favorite holidays here at Supper Sanity Club. So, of course this past March, we decided to have a party celebrating just that. I know what most of you are thinking, we love having the excuse to day drink. But while any reason to have an extra cocktail always makes us smile, we like St Patrick’s Day for other reasons. We love that Boston is beaming with (drunk) smiles, we all really enjoy Irish fare, and lets face it, we do like that everyone is abuzz with talk of beer, wine, and cocktails.

Sadly, Fiona, our only Irish member was transferred to New York just a couple weeks before her big day, so we had to make do without her. Luckily, we had her recipes and a ton of Irish whiskey to get us through the night…


Rachel's Shepherds Pie (Serves 6)

Stew
2 1/2 lbs lamb stew meat, carefully trimmed
2 leeks (wash well), white and pale green parts only chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 yellow onions, cut into ½ inch wedges
1 shallot, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
4 parsnips, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
3 portobello mushrooms, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup white mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
1 bottle of full bodied red wine
2 cups beef broth
3 tablespoons butter
flour as needed
salt and pepper to taste

Heat 3 tablespoons oil (I prefer canola bc it gets hotter and does not impart flavors) in large pot. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper. Brown meat on all sides, working in batches (about 3/4 minutes each side). Put meat aside.

Add leeks, garlic, onions, and shallots and cook until onion is light gold (about 10 minutes), deglazing pan as you do this.

Add carrots, parsnips, rosemary and thyme and cook on high heat until veggies are roasted but not mushy (about 12-15 minutes), stirring every few minutes.

Add mushrooms, sprinkle salt and pepper and continue to stir for about 3 minutes
Transfer all veggies to bowl. Add wine and broth to pot and reduce until 2 cups (about 20 minutes).

Add meat and vegetables and butter to pot and simmer for 1 1/2- 2 hours (lamb meat should fall apart easily), skim top of stew occasionally to get rid of extra fat.

Thicken with flour as desired. Season with salt and pepper.


Mashed Potatoes
(Everyone has their own “super secret, super awesome” mashed potato recipe so I say use yours, or if you want try mine.)

3 yukon potatoes, cleaned, chopped into 1 inch pieces, skin still on
½ stick butter
½ cup fat free Greek yogurt
salt and pepper to taste (but the stew can get pretty salty so be careful)

Boil potatoes until completely soft. Drain potatoes and then put back into pot
Mix in all other ingredients with electric mixer.

Final Prep
Put stew in ovenproof large shallow pot (I had to use 2). Dollop potatoes over stew.

Bake for 10 minutes at 400. Broil for 7 minutes (Broilers all work differently so I would do 3 minutes at a time, rotating pan every time you check.) EAT!


Corned Beef and Cabbage

3 pounds corned beef (I bought it pre-brined)
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
2 12 ounce bottles of dark ale or stout
2 tablespoons mustard
1 medium head of cabbage, cut into small wedges

Set slow cooker to low.

Place corned beef (fat side up) and vegetables in slow cooker. Pour beer over beef and vegetables. Spread mustard on beef.Cook beef for 8-9 hours or until very tender.

Remove beef. Place cabbage in slow cooker, turn cooker to high and cook for 30 minutes
Slice beef against grain and serve with cabbage, vegetables and creamy horseradish sauce.


Creamy Horseradish Sauce

½ cup fat free Greek yogurt
¼ cup drained prepared horseradish

Mix well. Done!


Christa's Guinness Brownies
These brownies are a bit fudgier than regular brownies and have more of a dark chocolate flavor. Sort of a grown up version of regular brownies...and by that I mean, a bit less sweet and more prone to alcoholsim.





1 cup flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temp)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided)
1/2 block unsweetened bakers chocolate
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1-1/4 cups (10 ounces) Guinness Extra Stout beer (room temp)*
confectioners' sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with foil.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt combined. Set aside.

Put butter, 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, unsweetened chocolate and white chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl. Microwave for a minute. Stir. Continue to microwave in 15 sec increments, stirring in between until everything is melted together. This can also be done in a double boiler...but umm, I don't have one, so this is what I did instead.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add melted chocolate mixture, beating until combined.

Beat the flour mixture into melted chocolate mixture. Whisk in Guinness. The batter will seem kinda thin. Drop the remainder of semisweet chocolate chips evenly on top of batter.

Pour into baking pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.

Let brownies cool, uncovered, to room temperature. Cut and dust with confectioners' sugar.

*Note: Make sure the Guiness is extra stout. For some reason it works better for baking, I have no clue why. Also, don't include foam in the measurement. You can either spoon off the foam (and eat it...heh) or let it rest until the foam subsides.


Booze Pairings

Wine: Red
2009 Puydeval $15

This wine is a blend of Cab Franc, Syrah, and Merlot from the Vin De Pay D’oc. It emits a beautiful bouquet of flowers, blackberries, licorice, pepper, and a hint of basil. It is a perfect representation of all its varietals. In the palate it is rich, spicy and very well balanced and its lingering finish is elegant and complex making you rush to your next sip. Needless to say, it was absolutely perfect with our stew!




Wine: White
2009 Burgans Albarino $14

Okay, lets be honest here, we only chose this wine because it had an Irish looking label.. Luckily though, it was also delicious! It had a nose of mineral, flowers, tropical fruit, and citrus. On the palate it was medium bodied with an abundance of herbs and natural fruit. I would not necessarily recommend this with heavy stew but it was the perfect aperitif!




Beer
What else? Guinness!!

Cocktail
Irish Eyes

1 part Irish Whisky
¼ part green crème de menthe
2 parts cream

Combine ingredients with ice. Shake well and strain into glass.

Cheers!
Christa, Rachel, Phoebe & Fiona (from afar!)