Long ago, in a place kind of, but not really all that far away, we used to throw a St. Patrick’s day party. I’d spend a few weeks beforehand getting ready – brining a brisket to make corned beef, stocking in beer and whiskey, baking scones and brown bread, once even making a homemade Irish style dry stout (it was …meh).
Mostly it was an excuse to be social.
Things are different now: We’re in a different city. Our friends have kids. We’ve been in the middle of a global health crisis. My home brewed stout is good now. Really good. And I make cider now too. And a passable Irish Red.
The point, in my roundabout way, is that we don’t throw the same St. Patrick’s Day party anymore. My wife - with three Irish names - will usually pick up some Guinness if there’s not some already in the beer fridge. We’ll have a pint.
This week’s menu is something completely different. It’s not a traditional American St. Patrick’s Day meal. It’s very completely most certainly not a traditional Irish St. Patrick’s Day meal. In fact, it’s not a traditional anything. It’s completely totally absolutely made up. But it’s got boxty and Guinness and Irish whiskey in it – and it’s different and kind of fun. So, if you’re looking for something different than that corned beef in a bag or Guinness and Baileys cupcakes – you could take a shot at some of these dishes.
Or you could just have a pint.
Boxtynomiyaki
Remember when I said that this wasn’t traditional anything and that it was all completely totally absolutely made up.
This is what I was talking about. I mean, the other dishes too, but especially this one. It’s a mash mashup – because it’s two dishes mashed up and it uses mashed potatoes. See what I did there? I’m funny sometimes.
I think most everyone can agree that pancakes are pretty great. I mean all sorts of pancakes: Giant as big as your head diner style in full or short stacks; little silver dollar pancakes; those giant oven pancakes called Dutch babies or some other equally odd name; those really tiny slightly puffy actually Dutch pancakes my nephews all but lived on when they lived in Europe. And pancakes come on the savory side too: kimchi pancakes and the amazing plethora of other griddled cake foods that are part of Korean cuisine; crepes filled with cheese and ham. Then there are two of my favorites: Irish Boxty – potato pancakes made with mashed and grated potato; and the one, the single entry that I would propose as a candidate for worldwide king of the pancake – Okonomiyaki.
Okonomiyaki allegedly means something like “grilled as you like it” – and comes in a few regional variations. But it’s usually a cabbage and onion filled pancake topped with all sorts of savory things like pork belly, bonito flakes, seaweed, mayo, and an amazing sauce that’s somewhere between steak sauce and very sweet barbecue sauce.
I love it.
In fact, I made it for dinner one night last week – at the same time as I was testing and developing recipes for this week’s menu. And that folks, is the roundabout story of why, instead of just boxty with cheese dip, you’re getting this Frankenstein’s monster of a pancake mashup.
It’s boxty and Okonomiyaki in one. Boxtynomiyaki.
I really hope that fake name doesn’t translate into something inappropriate.
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup finely chopped cabbage
½ cup AP flour
1 large russet potato
1 large egg
2 green onions
2 pieces of bacon
1/2 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
¼ cup sour cream
2 tbsp neutral oil
Shredded cabbage and green onion as garnish
Peel and shred the potato into a bowl of cold water.
Trim, and finely chop the green onion.
Whisk together the egg and mashed potato, then fold in the flour, green onion, chopped cabbage, salt, and pepper.
Add the oil to a frying pan over medium heat – a non-stick, cast iron, or French steel pan will work best.
Remove the shredded potatoes from the water, and squeeze out as much moisture as possible (a clean, thin kitchen towel can help with this).
Arrange the shredded potatoes in a single disk in the center of the pan, using a spatula to push in the stray bits.
Arrange a disk of the cabbage/onion/potato batter on top of the shredded potatoes.
Cut the bacon into 4 pieces and arrange the strips on top of the batter.
Cover, and cook over low heat until the batter begins to set – 10-15 minutes.
Raise the pan temperature and cook until the edges of the lower potato portion are beginning to brown and crisp.
Slide the pancake out of the pan and onto a small plate, using the plate to turn the pancake.
Return to the pan bacon/batter side down.
Cook until the batter side is firm, the cabbage cooked through, and the bacon has crisped slightly.
Turn out onto a plate, garnish with finely shredded cabbage, sliced green onions, and a crosshatch pattern of sour cream and brown sauce – you can use a plastic bag with the corner cut off in place of a piping bag.
Brown Sauce
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cornstarch plus 1 tbsp water
Add the Worcestershire, ketchup, sugar, and vinegar to a pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer
Whisk together the cornstarch and water.
Wisk the cornstarch and water into the other ingredients and cook until thickened and clear.
Cool to room temperature before using.
Champ with Irish Cheddar
Champ is essentially mashed potatoes mixed with leeks or green onions – and this version is the closest to actual Irish cuisine you’ll find in this newsletter. Even then I went and botched it up by adding cheese. Because improvi-ruining things by adding cheese is probably the most American culinary instinct there is. I cook the onions in butter first, then use that butter to mash the potatoes. This makes the butter taste deliciously onion-ey, makes the potatoes silky (always add your fat first – it’ll keep you mash from becoming gummy), and keeps the onions from being strange little stringy bits in your otherwise unstringy-bitted mash.
4 medium russet potatoes
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup shredded Irish Cheddar
4 tbsp unsalted butter
6 green onions
1 tsp kosher salt
Peel and trim the potato and cut into 1-2 inch pieces.
Place in a large pot with enough water to fully cover, and bring to a low boil
Cook until the potatoes are soft.
Peel, trim, and thinly slice the green onion.
Add the green onion and butter to another pan over low heat and cook until the onion is softened.
Strain the butter and set the onion aside.
Drain the potatoes and return to the pot over low heat.
Using a potato masher or a whisk, mash the potatoes with the butter reserved from cooking the onions.
Add the whipping cream and salt and gently work into a smooth mixture.
Fold in the cheese and the cooked onions.
Serve hot.
Snake Bitten Chicken
A “Snake Bite” is half lager and half cider. At least that’s what it is in the UK. I don’t actually know what it’s called in Ireland. In the States it’s either half stout and half cider, or some sort of monstrous concoction of bottled sour mix, salt, and extremely cheap tequila that someone hands you in a tiny plastic shot glass then tells you the price with their fingers because the bar is playing really, really, really, extremely very loud classic rock.
While I probably have -at some time - considered braising a chicken in neon green cheap tequila spiked corn syrup, that doesn’t really seem to fit the theme of this week’s menu. So – Stout and Cider it is.
It actually makes a really great braising liquid – the balance of dry dark malt and the bright acid and fruit from the cider … well, it just works. Also, I’m using those together with sauteed onion and mushrooms, so to be honest, there’s not much that wouldn’t work.
Normally, I break down a chicken to braise it – and you can certainly do so if you’re pot fitting needs require it – but if you have a Dutch oven, you can tackle it whole. It makes for a kind of great presentation.
1 whole small fryer chicken
2 tbsp butter
1 medium onion
8 oz white button mushrooms
1 pint Irish style stout
1 pint unflavored hard cider
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Peel, trim, and slice the onion into thin strips from end to end.
Clean and thinly slice the mushrooms.
Rinse the chicken and pat it dry with kitchen towels.
Add 2 tbsp butter to the bottom of a Dutch oven or other oven proof pan.
Once the butter has stopped foaming, add the whole chicken, and brown it lightly – turning it to brown all sides.
Remove the chicken and set aside.
Add the onions, mushrooms, salt, black pepper, and time to the rendered chicken fat and butter.
Cook until the onions are translucent.
Add the stout and the cider and bring to a simmer.
Nestle the chicken into the mixture, return to a simmer, then cover and transfer to the oven to cook.
Cook for 40 minutes covered.
Remove the lid and cook for an additional 20 minutes uncovered.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest 10 minutes before portioning.
Whisky Trifle
I admit, I bounced back and forth on what sort of cheaters dessert I would use with this week’s menu. I even considered simply leaving you with nothing more than a photo of a pint of Guinness and a glass of neat Irish. Maybe I should have.
This is a quick, messy, delicious, and overly rich play on some … something that would probably be called a pudding. I use a microwave to “bake” the cake because it’s fast, and the moist texture of the resulting cake is perfect for the sort of parfait/trifle/mess presentation that I very often fall back on because of my completely lack of pastry competence.
1 cup AP flour
½ cup light brown sugar
1 egg
4 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp baking powder
½ cup Irish whiskey (plus more for sprinkling)
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Pour the whiskey over the raisins and allow to soak for 1 hour.
Add the egg, brown sugar, and butter to a bowl and whisk until the mixture is light and well integrated.
Whisk together the flour and baking powder, and fold into the egg mixture just until no lumps remain.
Add the raisins and the whiskey and stir until smooth.
Grease a large microwave proof container or bowl, add the batter, and microwave on high for 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture has completely set in the center.
Remove from the microwave, allow to cool completely, then tear into small pieces.
Layer torn whiskey spice cake, sweetened whipped cream, and whiskey caramel sauce.
Sweetened Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp confectioners sugar
Whisk the whipping cream by hand, or with a whisk attachment of a mixer until soft peaks form.
Add the confectioners sugar.
Whip further until stiff peaks form.
Whiskey Caramel Sauce
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter
½ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp irish whiskey