Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
This weekend we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. My aunt is first generation Irish, and I grew up with her delicious cooking. Everything she made was simple but amazing. I learned from her my never-ending and true blue love for butter. When I was little, I didn’t realize that those yellow rectangles could range from glorious (butter) to dismal (margarine) so whenever we were having a meal away (my mom only bought margarine), it always turned into kind of a game of ” butter roulette”, was this the good stuff or the other stuff. When my aunt cooked, I knew that I loved to slather my bread with heaps of her rich Irish butter – she knew the difference real butter made!
Corned Beef and Cabbage!
Each year, we’d look forward to our annual St. Patrick’s Day Dinner and as always, it was followed with, as with all our celebratory meals, a perfect, creamy, Irish Coffee. This marks the first year she won’t be making her traditional St. Patrick’s dinner for all of her local family as she’s not up to that type of labor these days. I will miss it but, I certainly will never forget it! ” This St. Patrick’s Day, enjoy a thick slice of Irish Soda Bread slathered in real Irish butter and a decadent steaming glass of Irish Coffee, made in the traditional style of my favorite Irish lady. To all the Irish and the Irish at heart – “Sláinte”
Aunt Esther’s Irish Coffee
I love my Irish Coffee glasses so much! But, if you don’t have one like the one below, just use a glass coffee mug.
Add sugar cubes to your glass, add whiskey and give it a bit of a mix, breaking up the sugar and blending the whiskey. Turn the spoon so that the rounded back is facing up and slowly poor the coffee on top of the sugar and whisky. This will keep the glass from breaking from the heat of the coffee. Top with freshly whipped cream. Sip the drink slowly through the whipped cream – enjoy!
Irish Soda Bread
This recipe is super simple and it’s meant to be eaten on the same day. You can also make a fantastic bread pudding with the leftovers! Its 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 large egg. Then add 1 1/2 cups buttermilk and mix.
Directions:
heat oven to 425 Degrees. Brush a baking sheet with melted butter or non stick spray. Combine fist 3 ingredients. Slowly stir in buttermilk and the egg until the dough forms a ball. If too dry, add more buttermilk. On a floured surface, shape dough into a 8 inch flattened round loaf. Place on baking sheet and using a sharp knife, cut a 1/2 inch deep X into the top of the dough. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
Ingredients
- Aunt Esther's Irish Coffee
- 1 cup fresh brewed coffee
- 2-3 cubes of sugar
- 1 1/2 ounces Irish Whiskey (she only uses Bushmills)
- lightly whipped fresh cream
Instructions
- Add sugar cubes to your glass, add whiskey and give it a bit of a mix, breaking up the sugar and blending the whiskey. Turn the spoon so that the rounded back is facing up and slowly poor the coffee on top of the sugar and whisky. This will keep the glass from breaking from the heat of the coffee. Top with freshly whipped cream. Sip the drink slowly through the whipped cream - enjoy!
I just bought escarole at farmers market. How should I prepare it?
Hi Helene
Thanks for asking! Escarole is a fairly bitter green. It may be used mixed into a salad, but I actually prefer it to be cooked. It’s great sauted, like you would spinach. Add some olive oil, garlic and lemon. Soups made with beans and escarole are delicious, there are a lot of recipes for that on the internet. I really like Pasta e Fagioli with Escarole. Maybe I will add that dish to my upcoming blogs. Thanks for the idea! Let me know how you prepare yours.
Cheers!