So, ye lads and lassies - what does one do when St. Patrick's Day falls on a weeknight and you still wish to celebrate in style? You make corned beef sandwiches with saurkraut on rye, buy top quality potato salad, and top it off with a cool one (Irish beer) and another cool one (homemade Irish mint 'n' chip icecream) of course!
Now, they say the Reuben sandwich is an American affair, so the fact that it is created with corned beef just makes too much sense for a weeknight St. Pat's meal, now, right? (Mmmmmm... I say: who wouldn't claim that this does just the trick, eh?)
I always listen to music while I bake/cook and this dinner is for sure no exception. Every St. Patrick's Day dinner has to start by setting the mood with some good solid Celtic tunes: The Chieftains, Altan and some mournful Irish airs will always get you started off right!
Stop by your favorite Deli for some really good rye, the best fresh potato salad you can find, good Irish Dubliner (preferred) or Gruyere cheese, saurkraut, Thousand Island dressing, and fresh corned beef...
(...well heck, at 6PM on St. Patrick's - they were fresh out of corned beef(!) but we found some really great beef pastrami to be a great alternative so just play along with us, if you will... :)
Slice a piece of cheese for each sandwich you make.
Ryes come in many varieties - this lighter New York Style was awesome.
Lightly toast your bread to your liking (*This awesome Kitchen Aid countertop oven is [next to our mixer of course!] our very favorite kitchen tool. We use it for everything from cooking dinner, to reheating, to toasting, to baking small batches of cookies. I frankly do not know what we did before we had it!) :-)
Grill the beef in a smidge of butter in a frying pan and let the cheese ooze over its top. Add this onto your toasted rye prepared with a little thousand island dressing and saurkraut and your Reuben is set.
So what does one do when one wishes to skip the full-fledged stoutness of true Guinness on a weeknight eh? Well, one discovers (and consequently loves...) this Guinness sister: Smithwick's ale. Awwww - so perfect with these Reubens!
Erin Go Bragh!
A fitting Irish tribute, 'tis this! :-)
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So, in almost as much time as it takes to make your dinner, you can start your Irish ice cream to go with! This awesome KitchenAid IceCream Maker is just incredible for serving 2-6 people. We keep ours in the freezer so it's always ready to go. As you can see - the set comes with the freezer bowl, paddle and special attachment and is an absolute cinch to use and clean. (The Lactaid? You're right - doesn't make sense with the whole cream next to... let's just say that for a 99c clearance item, it was the perfect milk for this recipe!)
Now, when it comes to American ice cream, you just can't beat the masters (that would be Ben & Jerry, natch!) Any entrepreuners that start from scratch with a winning philosophy that ice cream sells in a freezing climate because the chill from it in your body beats any other below freezing temperatures in Vermont are purely brilliant in my book! (Not to mention all the fresh ingredients and cool names they use for their flavors! :-) (Google: "Internal-External Temperature Differential and Equalization Theory", ha.)
So, we turned to the great B&J for their awesome Oreo Mint ice cream from B&J's Ice Cream and Dessert Book and here is our adapted version:
IRISH MINT 'N' CHIP ICE CREAM
(makes 1 generous quart)
Ingredients:
2 large eggs
3/4 c. (organic) granulated sugar
2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. whole (or 2%) milk (Clearance Lactaid not required!)
2 tsp. pure peppermint extract
1 tsp. pure mint extract
pinch of salt (*really brings out the flavor in ice creams)
a bit of green food coloring (optional)
Whisk the eggs in mixing bowl until light and fluffy (~1-2 minutes.) Whisk in sugar, a bit at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended (~1 minute more.) Pour in the cream and milk and whisk to blend. Add the extracts, salt, and green color and do a final whisk. Pour the mixture in the prepared icecream freezer and keep your mixer on low/medium until thickened (about 10+ minutes.) Hand stir-in the chopped chocolate and serve immediately. Freeze any remaining (if any!) ice cream.
A mixture of mainly peppermint with some mint thrown in creates that good minty flavor.
This fancy contraption attaches to the mixer head and then fits right on top of the mixing paddle in the bowl.
Roughly chop your chocolate drops to various sizes to provide some bite. Drops are larger in size and stronger than regular chocolate chips and so are perfect for ice cream.
Hand blend-in your chocolate and serve immediately. If your ice cream is still a bit soft, stick the whole bowl in the freezer a bit until the consistency is right. This recipe keeps really well frozen, so you can continue to enjoy for several days after St. Patty's!
Erin Go Bragh!
1 comment:
That was a wonderful St. Patricks Day dinner. Thank you for all your hard work.
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