Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day With A Good Movie And Good Food!

“Top O’ the Mornin’ to yee”….and your response back might be….”And the rest O’ the day to yourself”! 

We all have Irish accents and sayings when it gets close to St. Patrick’s Day, don’t we?

I have a dear friend who lives in Dublin  and I call her The Irish Lass. 

Years ago, she gave me a beautiful Claddagh pin, that I will treasure always) 🙂

I love the hands signifying friendship, the crown loyalty…. along with the heart which represents love. 

Simply beautiful and when one has a friendship, it should encompass all of these. 

I am fortunate to have several of these friendships and I love them all dearly.

And speaking of loving dearly…what about the food that is customary for St. Patrick’s Day?

The Captain and I usually prefer a quiet celebration of St. Patrick’s Day at home with a good movie and good food.

Sometimes we invite another couple or two, …and, we have our corned beef and cabbage dinner and then we settle down to watch the movie “The Quiet Man”.  (A must have for everyone’s video library) 😉

And yes, it is a romantic movie.

What else did you expect from me? 😉

This movie is one of the most Romantic and charming movies of all time and it is set in Ireland….

…..and for those of us of Irish heritage, this movie epitomizes all the “magic” of Ireland, including the Emerald Green door of the little white cottage (called White O’ Morn) that sits in the midst of rolling green hills and pastures. 

There are rambling pink roses on cobblestone walls and flowers in the flower boxes under the windows.

Sigh!

There is tweed, plaid and Irish customs like matchmaking in the charming little village of Innisfree, where Catholics and Protestants interact politely, tolerant of their differences.

And of course there is …Love….between an American man, (who could be more American than John Wayne?)…..

……and the beautiful Irish lass, played by Maureen O’Hara.

I also love the character Michaeleen Oge Flynn played by Barry Fitzgerald!

There is a statue in Ireland representing a scene from the movie with John Wayne carrying Maureen O’Hara.  

This statue stands on a street corner in Cong, County Mayo, not far from many of the locations used for “The Quiet Man” .

Of course there is  Ashford Castle….where you can stay in beautifully appointed rooms while touring many of the same shops seen in the movie in this quaint little village.

Yes, this movie is a tradition in our home on St. Patrick’s Day.

As is corned beef and cabbage and the recipe below is just a bit different than most recipes.

You see, I changed it up a bit.

I made my corned beef in the crock pot, but I used the juices to make a wonderful glaze for the top of the corned beef, which I served in a gravy boat at the table.

Yummy!

Something else I did a little differently, I did not put the cabbage in the crock pot…I “fried” it on top of the stove. 

I placed wedges of cabbage seasoned with a little salt and lots of fresh ground black pepper in a non stick skillet with no oil…just the natural water from the cabbage and a glass lid to allow steaming. I removed the lid and “fried” the cabbage by browning a bit….such a scrumptious flavor, completely different than boiled cabbage.

You can also add bits of bacon for added flavor.

I made the Irish Soda Bread (click here for the recipe) from my Grandmother Alice’s recipe…

…..the Cucumber/Tomato Salad that my Mother made a lot while we were growing up. Recipe here.

If you truly want a good beer.. a cold bottle of Guinness Beer or perhaps Irish coffee is your preference.

Below is the printable recipe for Corned Beef with Brown Sugar Glaze.

Remember, corned beef is not just for St. Patrick’s Day! 😉

Blessings on however you spend your St. Patrick’s Day.

Corned Beef with Brown Sugar Glaze

2015-03-18 07:37:49

Make this corned beef in a crock pot and serve the brown sugar glaze separately or on top of the corned beef. Really good and yummy!.

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Ingredients

1. 1 medium sized corned beef brisket (about 4-5 pounds)
2. 1 bottle of Guinness Beer
3. 1 medium sliced onion
4. 1 minced clove of garlic

The Brown Sugar Glaze

1. 1/4 cup brown sugar
2. 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
3. 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4. salt and fresh ground black pepper

Instructions

1. To your crockpot, add corned beef (fat side up), pickling spices, onion, garlic and the pickling liquid. Pour the 12 ounce bottle of Guinness Beer over the top, cover with the lid and cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
2. When the corned beef is done, remove from juices and let set while preparing your glaze.
3. At this point, you can strain the solids from the juices to make a clearer glaze or you can just work with the juices as they are.
4. Add the juices/liquid to a large sauce pan and add the brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper
5. Once the glaze has reached the boiling point, reduce the heat and let the glaze simmer until reduced to about half (about 10-15 minutes)
6. Now it is time to cut off the top layer of fat on your corned beef that has been sitting....and the time to make a decision about how you want to work the glaze.
7. First option is to pour the glaze over the corned beef and place the corned beef brisket in a 400 degree oven to caramelize the glaze (about 15 minutes) OR you can do what I like to do... and that is to make a little thickener by adding a tablespoon of cornstarch to about 1/4 cup of beer (or water) and adding it to the boiling liquid to thicken the glaze just a bit. I then serve this in a gravy boat to give my guests the option to glaze or not to glaze....that is their question! 🙂

Notes

1. When I purchase a corned beef, I prefer the package with the pickling liquid and spices
2. I steam/fried my cabbage by cooking separately in a non stick skillet...adding a bit of water when needed to the lidded skillet. Then when the cabbage is cooked/steamed through, lightly brown in the skillet with the lid off.

Me and My Captain https://meandmycaptain.com/