Thursday, March 19, 2009

Irish Meets American- My St. Paddy's Day Meal

Happy belated St. Patrick's Day to all of you. I hope it was a good one filled with corned beef, green beer or whatever floats your boat.

I don't usually do anything especially Irish on St. Patrick's Day. It's pathetic I know. Maybe because I only have a wee amount of Irish in me (hear my strong Irish Brogue?). In reality the the holiday is to honor St. Patrick, think about the start of spring and get a much welcome reprieve from Lenten resolutions. Now it is just an excuse to party! I remember one year, in my younger, single days, in which my friend and I got to an Irish pub a little before 5pm. After over an hour and a half of standing in line with no real signs of promise that we would EVER get in, we hightailed it out of there and had a glass of wine at some "non-Irish" and probably classier bar. That line thing was NOT up our alley. Nor is getting there and beginning to drink in the "wee" hours of the morning. Some people have to work! I'll go to an Irish pub another day of the year.

This year, however, I was in the mood to make the infamous corned beef! But my husband didn't think he would like it or eat it. Soooo picky! ;( So I came up with the idea of corned beef and pastrami sandwiches with cold slaw! At the last minute we invited a couple neighbors over too. I made green malts for the kids. The guys had beer and the women, wine. So you see... it wasn't quite corned beef and cabbage nor was it exactly hamburgers and fries. But very Irish-American wouldn't you say?

I didn't get a great picture of the cold slaw but I made it with my grandmother's ultra simple recipe with a little modification. She used just the cabbage, mayonnaise, a splash of white wine vinegar and a teeny teeny bit of sugar plus salt and pepper. We don't measure much in my family. My changes were, adding green onions, green bell pepper sliced very very thin and I used Julia Child's recipe for homemade mayonnaise. This was a GOOD cold slaw! I am picky about cold slaw but this was good!

I purchased the deli meat and amazing Gruyere cheese at this awesome German Deli near here. Mattern Deli has THE best sausage, meats, roast beef, pastrami and more. I love their sandwiches! And the bread... so different from that you find in most any other market. If you are in Orange, go check them out!

I thought the kids, as well as the adults might like a little pot of gold to go with their meal.
May the luck of the Irish be with you this year. We could all use a little pot of gold about now!

For a little more depth on the holiday and it's traditions, check out this video.


10 comments:

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

Oh Nicole, pass me a plate of THAT please - it looks amazing!

Nicole said...

MamaGeek- I would do so gladly! :)

AMI said...

Hey - LOVE THE NEW LOOK!!! It is fabulous!!
Happy saint Patricks day from Ireland!! I've never seen it as St Patty??!!! We do say Paddys day sometimes but that is a new one!!

AMI said...

Also, just reading again, you would much prefer St Patricks Day here in ireland, which is much more of a family day than it seems in the USA. Our parades are less ticker tape and more local businesses, clubs and charities saying hello! Most people will pin shamrock to their coats but wearing green isn't a huge thing, maybe more for children. There is no speak of leprechauns and other such stereotypes because of course we are us! It is a nice peaceful day off work, with a nice dinner and maybe a "wee dram"!! No queues at all (at all!)

Melissa said...

Mattern!

I've had them bookmarked on Yelp forever. They're very popular. I know right where they are too, it's just a matter of having time on a weekend to get over there. Yummy stuff.

Thanks for the link to the mayo too. I need that.

Dewi said...

Oh Nicole, that copper bowl you use for the fries is so beautiful, where did you get it?
Happy St. Patrick to you and your family. Love the dishes that you prepared for your family here. Those radish, lettuce and onions look so good. I love radish.
Cheers,
elra

Anonymous said...

I love it all, but especially the pot of gold. Very clever :)

Nicole said...

Lisa- Thank you so much!!!! You know I have always heard the St. Patty's but don't know if I have seen it written... it probably is PADDY's here too! Green here is mostly for kids but a lot of adults do it too... Usually moms or the type of lady who wears Jack-O-Lantern earings in October. But St. Paddy's day sounds nice over there in Eire!

Melissa- Yes, try out Matterns. FYI though, they are closed on Sunday! Let me know how the mayo comes out. I will email you about lunch.

Nicole said...

Elra- Thank you for visiting! The copper bowl is a small colander actually. I got it from my mom who always brings things she no longer wants over to my house. Funny. Some I keep, some I toss. I don't know where you live but Sur la Table has a lot of copper things.

Kristen- Thanks. I thought of the pot of gold as I was serving it actually.

annechovie said...

Looks SO good, Nicole! You are so creative.