I'll drink to that! My first Irish feast.

I have always loved to participate in St. Patty's day festivities but the traditional food have never been on the menu. It has always been much more a  liquid-based holiday f0r me. But as per the request from my Irish-blooded fiance I was willing to give it all a shot.

My family never cooked corn beef and cabbage. I actually have never had it before-I know, crazy! I mean I was not even sure what corn beef was-thank you google for clearing things up. So since this was going to be my first time making this traditional dish, I decided to take a side step away from the norm and do it Anna's way.

I started by cooked my corn beef in a crock pot. First I rubbed the corn beef in brown sugar and the spice packet that came with the beef on all sides and then poured in a beer (after all it is St. Patrick's Day).  The recipe I saw called for Guinness, which would be good but I was not going out of my way to buy a Guinness, so I used a Narraganset. Now just let this cook for 5-6 hours on high or 10-12 on low and when it pulls apart it is ready to go.

Potatoes are traditional Irish fare but boiled is not my style. I roasted my yukon gold potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper and adobo seasoning. Then Iput them in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes and I flipped the potatoes. Then baked the potatoes for another 15 to 20 minutes until brown and crispy.

And of course I needed to bake some Irish soda bread to finish off this feast. I used Ina Garter's recipe from Food Network. For some reason I feel like I have heard that soda bread is hard to make. This could not be farther from the truth-it is a quick bread (super simple.)  

Here is Ina's recipe:

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for currants
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk, shaken
• 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 cup dried currants

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is mixed into the flour.

With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest together in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Combine the currants with 1 tablespoon of flour and mix into the dough. It will be very wet.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.

Cool on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Side Notes: I swapped the currants for dried cranberries-I just think that the cranberries go wonderfully with the orange zest. I also did not have any parchment paper in the house, so I sprayed the baking sheet and covered with corn meal. This seemed to work very well and I enjoyed the corn meal on the bottom of the bread.

This feast went over very well with my red head who was craving a St. Patty's feast. I hope your St. Patrick's Day was wonderful!