Beannachtaí na hÉireann do gach mo chairde!

Which translates to something like...Irish Blessings to all my friends!

I hope that each and every one of you had a fabulous day today. 

Here in New York, the weather was superb, perfect for the wonderful parade through New York City and I am certain many bar crawls! Ahhh, the wonders of Green Beer...lol!
This month marks a year that I have been blogging.
Last St. Patrick's Day I gave you a recipe for a cabbage dish that my mother loved to make. This year isn't going to be any different. We have more cabbage, this time stuffed and baked. Absolutely delicious!
I also made some fabulous Irish Soda Bread, and wasn't distracted today so they didn't burn.  You can find the recipe for the Irish Soda Bread here. Doesn't it look so yummy?

This one is not hard to make. It's easy, and pretty fast. You'll want to make this every year!

I knew that this year I wanted to make stuffed cabbage to go with our St. Patrick's Day celebration.  It's something I always loved when my mom made it, and as luck will have it, my family loves it when I make it too. I'm positive that there are a bazillion recipes for stuffed cabbage however, if you have ever had a cabbage roll that had no flavor, with no seasoning, you would be wondering what's up with that? Trust me, these rolls are packed with flavor!

I bought the largest head of cabbage I could find. I took out the core and covered the head of cabbage in a huge pot of water and brought the water to a boil with the cabbage submerged. After 10 - 15 minutes of the water boiling I started removing layers of the cabbage. Just a few at a time and let them cool off so you can handle them without getting burned.
For the stuffing you will need the following

Ground Beef - 2 pounds
1 large onion, chopped fine
5 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 head of parsley, stems removed, and chopped fine
1/2 cup grated cheese, any cheese you want! I used Italian Grated cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 grated whole nutmeg
2 - 3 handfuls of  uncooked rice

It's very easy!  Mix everything together.
With a spoon take a nice amount of the meat mixture and put it in the cabbage leaf.

Starting at the bottom, roll up or down depending on how you like to work!

Now fold in the sides and roll up and place on a tray with the seam down.

Line the bottom of your baking pan with cabbage leaves. Place the stuffed cabbage rolls on top.
Cover the cabbage rolls with crushed tomatoes. I made 20 large cabbage rolls, and used 2 large cans of crushed tomatoes and then added 2 cans of water.

At this time you can also add 1/2 cup of vinegar. I used red wine because it's what I had handy. It really makes the taste and flavors pop!
Cover the rolls with more cabbage leaves.

Cover with foil and bake in a preheated 375 degree  oven for an hour. Uncover and let the cabbage rolls cook for an additional 1/2 hour.

The tomatoes cook nicely and the top layers of cabbage protect the rolls from getting dried out.
If you have the time, let the pan rest for 20 minutes before serving.The cabbage will be tender and the rice will be cooked perfectly without being over done.

I like to serve the roll on top of one of the baked leaves.  These are so delicious and satisfying that they could be served on their own!

There are 4 things you must never do: lie, steal, cheat, or drink.
But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love.
If you must steal, steal away from bad company.
If you must cheat, cheat death.
And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away... 


Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Buon Appetito
Enjoy!
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Happy St. Patrick's Day

So today is St. Patrick's Day. A day when everyone is Irish. I come from a mostly Italian background, I'm only 1/4 Irish on my father's side.  My mother embraced the St. Patrick's holiday. She loved corn beef and would make more than we could possibly eat just so that she could have left overs the next day.  She made the most wonderful Corn Beef.  Sometimes she would just throw the carrots,  cabbage and potatoes into the huge pot that held the corn beef, but on special occasions she would make the most wonderful cabbage, sauteed with bacon or pancetta, onion, garlic and the boiled potatoes. Talk about yum! When I have a little extra time I love to make this dish. Today our food crawl is all about the cabbage with a twist.  I even have a recipe for a delicious Soda Bread that I'll share with you.
This cabbage recipe is from  Lanterna, a restaurant that my family used to love to eat in Astoria, New York. The owners were Yugoslavian/Italian. Their food combinations were just incredible.  Everything was fabulous! Sadly, the restaurant is not there anymore. But I can remember my last meal there almost 20 years ago, that's how good it was! Here's my homage to Lanterna and my mother...

I start off by cutting the cabbage into quarters, taking the core out and then just slicing the cabbage. There is no wrong way, just slice it, long pieces, short pieces it really doesn't matter.  I put these in a bowl and set them aside. In my frying pan I start cooking 3 slices of bacon(if you have pancetta, use it!) which I have cut into little pieces and let the fat render, once that starts going I add one chopped onion and a few cloves of smashed and sliced garlic, you don't want the onions or garlic to brown, just let them sweat and add the cabbage and season with salt and pepper to taste. When the cabbage wilts and it's tender, it's done.  Add some of the boiled red potatoes ( i cut them in 1/4's) to the cabbage and give it a little time to cook with the cabbage.  The flavors will marry and will get a little creamy or thick from the starch in the potato.

Unfortunately, I burnt my soda bread. I was on the phone with the vet, no good news and I forgot the breads were baking. We're still going to eat it, I'm just not showing it to you!  And I am having a tough time with the picture placement on these posts..growing pains...please stick with me.

Irish Soda Bread (Recipe from the Journal News)

3 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons softened sweet butter

2 tablespoons of caraway seeds

1 cup raisins

2 eggs, divided....one for the dough and one for brushing the breads

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of buttermilk 

a pinch or two of sugar to dust the breads

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter two 9 or 10 inch pie dishes or cake pans. In a mixing bowl combine first 5 ingredients just until combined and starts to get crumbly. Add caraway seeds and raisins. Add one egg and slightly beat with the buttermilk adding to the flour mixture. Mix until all ingredients are moistened and just combined. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Divide the dough in half, shape into rounds and place in buttered baking pans. cut an X on top to score each bread. Brush tops with beaten egg and sprinkle with a few pinches of sugar.

Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 15- 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Do not over bake. It will be moist and delicious!

before going into the oven...

I hope you had a fabulous St. Patrick's Day! 

Here's a little Irish Blessing for you!

For each petal on the shamrock.
This brings a wish your way
Good health, good luck, and happiness
For today and every day.

xoxoxo
Lorraine