Recipe Of The Month: An Irish Feast

Happy March everyone!!

March is perhaps the luckiest month of the year, especially if you’re Irish! With St. Patrick’s Day coming, it’s only appropriate that we show you all how to properly celebrate the special holiday! So today, we’ll be teaching you how to make an Irish feast of Shepards Pie and Irish Soda Bread. Growing up with my Irish great grandfather, we learned several stories about how our family immigrated over to the U.S. from Ireland during the potato famine. Every St. Patrick’s Day, we ate corn beef and cabbage, and we learned the history of the holiday. This year I decided to try something different. But what, I thought? Instantly, Irish Soda Bread came to mind!

Soda bread was very popular in Ireland during the potato famine due to the fact that the ingredients were cheap and easy to come by. Instead of yeast, they used baking soda, giving it the name, “soda bread.” Shepards Pie is another classic Irish dish that defines comfort food! With several layers, this dish is sure to delight everyone.

With that in mind, let’s start with the Shepards Pie!

Ingredients

3 large russet potatoes
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon garlic powder

MEAT LAYER

2 pounds ground turkey
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup beef broth
1/2 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 cups frozen peas and carrots (fresh veggies are also welcomed)
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Steps To A Delicious Shepards Pie

Step 1: Make your mashed potatoes! This step is completely up to you. Make your potatoes the way you always make them!

Step 2: Preheat your oven to 375° F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with non-stick spray

Step 3: Over medium-high heat, add ground beef, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook and crumble meat until browned. Drain grease

Step 4: Sprinkle flour evenly over the meat mixture. Stir and cook 1 minute. Stir in tomato paste, broth, Worcestershire sauce and oregano. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in frozen peas, carrots and corn. Stir until combined and veggies are thawed

Step 5: Pour meat mixture into prepared pan. Spread mashed potatoes evenly over the top. Top potatoes with cheddar cheese (cheese is optional, as the dish would taste great without it).

Step 6: Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes until casserole is hot and bubbly (you can also make this up to two days in advance as long as you refrigerate the dish!).

Step 7: Enjoy!!

Ingredients/Steps To A Delicious Irish Soda Bread

4 cups of flour
1 and 1/4 cups buttermilk (I made my own by combining milk and vinegar, then letting it sit for 5 minutes)
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup softened butter (one stick)
1 egg

Glaze

1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup buttermilk

Step 1: Mix together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Use a whisk to make sure it is well combined (It will look nice and powdery).

Step 2: Add in the wet ingredients: buttermilk, butter, egg and use a hand mixer to help combine everything.

Step 3: If your butter creates clumps, use your hand to make a more firm dough.

Step 4: Turn out the dough on a floured surface and kneed it for about 10 minutes (it will feel a bit like play dough).

Step 5: Form dough into a loaf and put it on a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a baking sheet (this is super important because it will help the bottom not burn. Then cut an X on the top.

Step 6: Add the dough to the oven for 15 minutes. While the bread is cooking, make the glaze by melting butter, then mixing it with the remaining buttermilk.

Step 7: When the 15 minutes are done, take the bread out of the oven and brush the glaze over the top of it. Then put it back into the oven for another 15 minutes. Repeat this step one more time.