Jersey Bites

We know you’ve got the Corned Beef and Soda Bread pretty much covered, so how about some fresh ideas like Guinness Brownies or Irish Toast with Pesto Syrup? Now that’s a party. We asked our writers to dig deep into their files and dish out something different for your St. Patrick’s Day menu. (Don’t worry there are some traditional items in there too for the faint of heart.) And if you missed our Spotted Dog recipe from 2011 or the Irish Mashed Potato rolls from 2012, well, now you have ’em.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Irish Potatoes Kerry Brown

Neither Irish nor potatoes, these coconut cream confections are a perennial St. Paddy’s day favorite nevertheless. Thought to have originated in Philadelphia, their roundish shape and dusty cinnamon coating lend the appearance of a freshly picked, leprechaun-sized spud.

Ingredients:

¼ cup butter, softened

4 oz. regular cream cheese (not reduced fat, whipped or in a tub)

1 tsp vanilla

1 16-oz box of powdered sugar

2½ cups coconut (7 oz. bag)

2 TBSP cinnamon

Directions:

Use a mixer to blend butter, cream cheese and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth

Gradually add powdered sugar and beat after each addition. Mixture will form a ball

Fold in coconut

Roll the mixture into small rounded shapes about the size of a large marble

Roll the “potatoes” in ground cinnamon

Refrigerate on a cookie sheet for about an hour, until firm

Roll each ball in cinnamon again, if desired, for a ‘dirtier’ look

Makes 4-5 dozen depending on size

Guiness Brownies with Irish Buttercream Frosting Melissa Baratta

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups butter

2 cups Guinness

8 oz. semisweet baking chocolate

3 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 1/4 cups flour

1 batch Irish Buttercream (recipe below)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring the Guinness to a boil on medium-high heat; once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer about 25 minutes, or until the beer has reduced by a little more than half.

Meanwhile, melt butter and chocolate together in a pan over low heat, stirring constantly (make sure the heat is low so the chocolate doesn’t get too hot). In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. When chocolate is melted, remove from heat and add sugar. Then add the eggs and stir well with a wire whisk. Add the flour and stir well. Finally, add the reduced Guinness.

Pour batter into a greased 13×9 inch metal pan. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out mostly clean. They are moist and chewy, so the toothpick will not be completely clean. Cool completely before cutting or frosting.

Once brownies are cool, frost with Irish Buttercream.

Irish Buttercream

Ingredients

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

3 tablespoons Irish Cream

20 drops green food coloring

Directions

Cream together powdered sugar and butter. Add the Irish Cream and blend until smooth. Add the food coloring and continue blending until the frosting is green.

Orange Bourbon Marmalade (goes great with Irish Soda Bread!) Melissa Baratta

Makes 6 cups

Ingredients

3 large oranges

2 lemons

1 pouch liquid pectin*

1 1/2 cups water

1/8 tsp. baking soda

5 cups sugar (you can use less sugar if you get the Low Sugar Pectin, but it’s hard to find it during the winter months)

1/4 cup bourbon (I used Maker’s Mark)

*Check the sugar amounts listed on your pectin package, as the required amount of sugar may change based on the brand of pectin you buy.

Directions

Remove the zest from the oranges and lemons with a vegetable peeler; chop and set aside. Peel and discard the white part of the peel from the fruit, and then cut the segments away from the membranes (the goal is to have citrus segments with very little white pith and no seeds). Chop the fruit, reserving any juice that leaks out; set aside.

Place the peels, water and baking soda in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the fruit and fruit juice; simmer 10 minutes. Add the sugar all at once and stir to combine, and then add the bourbon. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in the pectin quickly, return to a full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with a metal spoon and ladle into storing containers. Marmalade may take up to two weeks to fully set, but it is edible right away.

Jameson Ganache (would go great with Melissa’s cupcakes on top of the buttercream) Colleen Wood

Ingredients

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate chopped

⅔ cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon Jameson

Directions

Heat cream slowly over medium heat. Pour over chocolate in glass bowl and stir until melted. Whisk in butter and Jameson. Let cool until thickened but still soft. Can be used to coat cakes or dip frosted cupcakes in.

Irish Potato Cinnamon Rolls Colleen Wood

Ingredients

Rolls

4 to 4 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 ½ cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 packages active dry yeast

1 cup milk

⅓ cup butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Icing

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

¼ cup butter softened

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 ½ teaspoons milk

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups coconut flakes

green food coloring

Directions 

In large mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups of flour, ½ cup sugar, salt, and dry yeast. In saucepan, heat milk and 1/3 cup butter until milk is warm (butter does not need to melt). Add eggs and warm milk to flour mixture. Blend until moistened, then beat 3 minutes. By hand, stir in remaining flour to form stiff dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and elastic, 2 to 3 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover, let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough; divide in half. Roll our each half on floured surface to a 15 x 10 inch rectangle. Spread each with butter; sprinkle with mixture of remaining sugar and cinnamon. Roll up each, turning along 15 inch side. Cut each into 8 rolls. Place within 1 inch of each other on a baking sheet and press down a bit to round out. Cover; let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, about 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees F, for 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown. meanwhile, prepare the icing by blending the cream cheese and butter. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, followed by the milk and vanilla. Using a plastic freezer bag, work about 3 drops of food coloring into the coconut, adding more as needed to achieve preferred shade of green. Allow the buns to cool before icing. Sprinkle with green coconut.

Irish Toast – this is a savory riff on French Toast served in my father’s family for years. While living abroad in Dublin I had a version with a pesto maple syrup. This is my recreation of that dish.

Ingredients

12 slices potato bread

4 eggs

1 ⅓ cups milk

13 oz. can of baked beans (preferrably Heinz without brown sugar)

Pesto Syrup

½ cup olive oil

2 cups fresh basil

½ cup walnuts

3 cloves garlic

2 cups maple syrup

dash of salt and pepper

Directions

In a food processor pulse basil, walnuts, and garlic while slowly adding olive oil to form pesto. Stir in maple syrup and season as desired with salt and pepper. Can be made ahead. While preparing toast, slowly heat beans over medium heat, stirring ocasionally.

Preheat griddle or nonstick frying pan over med-high heat and grease with non-stick spray. Whisk together eggs and milk in a bowl. Dredge each piece of bread in mixture and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Portion two pieces of toast per plate, top with a scoop of baked beans, and drizzle with pesto syrup.

Colcannon, Irish Mashed Potatoes with Kale Michele Errichetti

Serves 4 ( as side dish)

Ingredients

5 baking potatoes (organic), cut and peeled

3 cups chopped, cooked kale

4 Tbsp. Irish butter or regular butter, 1 tbsp. for finish

1 cup cream

1 bunch of chives or 3 to 4 scallions (greens and all) chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Cut and peel potatoes and cook in salted water as you would for mashed potatoes until fork tender. 20 to 25 min. Then drain.

Rough chop chives or onions, kale and steam in about an inch of salted water for 3 to 4 min. Drain and then add to the butter and cream and gently cook till cream starts to bubble on medium heat. 2 to 3 min. Do not boil.

Combine mixture with potatoes and mash together roughly, leaving some small chunks of potato.

Salt and pepper to taste. Top with 1 tbsp. butter when plating. A great Irish staple. And a wonderful way to add powerhouse veggies to your family meal on St. Patty’s Day and after! And that’s no Blarney!!

Herb Grilled Rack of Lamb over Minted Pea Purée Veronique Deblois

Ingredients:

2 – 3/4 pound each racks of lamb, frenched and silver skin removed

½ cup olive oil

1 tsp. each fresh rosemary, mint, salt and pepper

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Minted Pea Purée

Mint oil (combine ¼ cup of olive oil and 1 Tbsp. fresh mint in food processor and pulse for 1 minute).

Directions:

Place the lamb in a large resealable bag and add the olive oil, herbs and garlic. Seal the bag and massage the olive oil mixture into the meat. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Thirty minutes before grilling, take the lamb out of the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature. Coat grill grates with cooking spray then light and warm to medium-high heat.

Place lamb on grill and cook for approximately 10 minutes, turning once, until a meat thermometer registers 145 degrees for medium-rare or 160 degrees for medium. If the bones begin burning while grilling, wrap them in aluminum foil. Let the lamb stand, covered in aluminum foil, 10 minutes before slicing into chops.

Serve lamb over pea purée with a drizzle of mint oil.

6 servings.

What are your favorite recipes for St. Patrick’s Day? Please share with us on Jersey Bites’ Facebook page.