Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Below is the St. Paddy's Day Feast I cooked for my family today.  As I have a bit of the Irish within me, I love to celebrate the day. However, my daughter who also has a wee bit of the Irish within her, continues to remind me that St. Patrick was Italian.  Since we're both - then I guess it's still okay for use to celebrate.

For starters, I cooked Beer Braised Irish Stew. I searched high and low for a recipe and read all of the reviews before I settled for one.  Below is the recipe that I've adapted for my family.  The original recipe can be found here - Beer Braised Irish Stew

I also made Irish Champ and Cheddar Beer Soup (click for recipes) again I read the reviews.  With these recipes, I altered the soup by doubling all of the cheeses. Make sure you follow the recommendation to use a Pilsner.

 
For dessert, I traditionally make my scones or Irish Soda Bread, however I forgot to pick up apricots and butter milk at the grocery store, so it's mint chocolate chip ice cream made into Shamrock Shakes (ice cream, milk, and vanilla cream (used in coffee)).

Adapted Recipe

Image from Allrecipe.com

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
3 pounds beef chuck stew meat
6 ounces of Guinness Stout Ale (original recipe called for 12 ounces)
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup coarsely chopped onion 
1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped carrot (approximately 5 medium)
1 1/2 bay leaves (original recipe called for 2)
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (original recipe called for 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic minced
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until very hot, and brown the meat in 2 batches, stirring to brown the cubes on all sides. Return all the meat to the Dutch oven, sprinkle with flour, and stir lightly to coat the meat with flour. Stir in onion, carrots, dark beer, bay leaves, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, and cover.
3. Place the Dutch oven into the preheated oven, and cook for 45 minutes; uncover, stir the stew, and cook until the beef is very tender and the liquid is reduced by half, about 45 more minutes.