Irish Bunco and Other Ideas for a St. Patrick's Day Celebration

This past weekend, I hosted our monthly Bunco party (if you're not familiar with Bunco, you can read about it in this post) and since it was March I made it into an Green/Irish Bunco theme; including all of the food. It was a fun time and everyone arrived at 7pm and the last one to leave left around 1am. Needless to say I was a little tired the next day, but I did manage to win $25 that night and we had a TON of laughs so it was all worth it! 

And now for the food...

First, I always try to have some healthier options for my guests and I to snack on and usually make a crudite, but I was at a loss as to what type of dressing to use. Then I remembered Green Goddess Dressing was green, but there are so many different ways to make it so I just purchased one pre-made from my grocery store and...IT WAS HORRIBLE!!! So I had to do the next best thing and pulled a Sandra Lee using ingredients I had at home to make this Semi-Homemade Green Goddess Dressing. You can use any buttermilk dressing you prefer, but I just happened to have the regular Hidden Valley Ranch at home. A healthier alternative would be to make the Low Fat Ranch Dressing I made several weeks ago or if you're short on time (like I was) you can opt for a light version of the same dressing. This was so easy to make and tasted great with our fresh vegetable platter. 

Crudite with Semi-Homemade Green Goddess Dressing

2c. Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing

1 Scallion, chopped

1 c. Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and pulse until creamy. 

2. Refrigerate until ready for use. Makes 2 cups 

Up next was this Pesto and Goat Cheese Crostini and makes a nice treat for a small get together like we had or an elegant passed hors d' oeuvre at a cocktail party. The only thing I'll note is that once the air hits the pesto, it will start to oxidize and turn a darker green and won't look as apetizing. So I recommend spreading the pesto on the toasted baguette right before you're ready to serve. I like to make my own pesto as it hardly takes any time at all, but in the winter months, when large quantities of basil might be harder to find, you can usually buy pre-made pesto at your local grocery store. 

Pesto and Goat Cheese Crostini

1 Baguette, sliced

3.5oz. Alouette Crumbled Goat Cheese

Prepared Pesto
Cooking Spray

Directions:

1. Line the sliced bread on a baking sheet, spray with cooking spray and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 5 minutes per side or until they are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool completely. 

2. Spread the prepared pesto (about 1 tbsp) on each toast round; then add the crumbled goat cheese. Makes 16-22 depending on the size of the bread. 

Pesto

2c. Fresh Basil

2 Garlic Cloves

1/2 c. Pine Nuts

2 tbsp. Pecorino Romano Cheese

1/4 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions: 

1. Add the basil, garlic, pine nuts, and cheese to your food processor or blender. Pulse until all ingredients have been mixed together. 

2. With the processor or blender running, gradually add the olive oil until it forms a thick paste. Makes approximately 1 cup. 

This next recipe for Hot Creamed Spinach Dip was a family favorite when I made this last March and I haven't made it since so it was time to bring it back. I made too much, as I doubled the batch, but it was delicious! Click on the name for the original post.

Next up, every "green" party has to have Guacamole.  My family and friends just LOVE it and it's no surprise no matter how much I make, it's usually the first thing to go. I served these with those new Hint of Lime tortilla chips from Tostitos and they even added to the zesty lime flavor of the guacamole!

Guacamole

5 Ripe Haas Avocados

2 Plum Tomatoes, chopped

1 Jalapeño Pepper, finely chopped

2 Tbsp. Red Onion, finely chopped

1 Lime, zest and juice

1 tbsp. Fresh Cilantro, chopped

1/4 tsp. Kosher Salt

Directions:

1. Cut each avocado in half lengthwise, remove the pit, make cross-marks in the pulp with a knife; then scoop out the inside and place in a bowl. 

2. Using the back tines of a fork, smash the avocado until it's smooth, but still chunky. 

3. Add the tomatoes, pepper, onion, lime zest and juice, cilantro and salt. Mix well and refrigerate. Makes approximately 2 cups. Serve with Tortilla Chips.

So far so good...now time for DESSERT!

For our healthy option, I made these fruit kabobs out of green fruit: honeydew melon, green grapes, kiwi and green apples. To keep the apples from turning brown I cored them, cut the apples into thick chunks; then placed them in a bowl with some cold water and the juice of one fresh lemon. I let them sit for about 5 minutes before placing them on the skewers. For the base, I cut the top of of the honeydew melon and stuck the sharp part of the skewers into the flesh. 

Photo Credit: Couponing and Cooking

I found this next recipe for Lucky Leprechaun Bark on Pinterest from Kaylee at Couponing and Cooking and knew I had to make them for my party! This photo is theirs; however, I made a few changes to her recipe as I like mint, but only in small doses and of course, I forgot to take a picture of mine and they're all gone..go figure! 

Change 1: Instead of layering the green chocolate on top of the chocolate, I dropped spoonfuls on top, then swirled it around with a butter knife to form a marbled look. 

Change 2: I didn't use Andes candy or the green sprinkles; only the mint M&M's. It was just enough mint for my taste. 

The last dessert I served were these special Irish Bunco Cookies that my sister in law Barbara made for us. I first saw something similar around Christmas time and showed them to her to see if she could make them. She couldn't wait to try them out, but since I wasn't hosting Bunco that month, I kept it on my back burner for when I was. She was able to use the same premise as the Christmas looking ones and make them a green-theme for my Irish party and they were FANTASTIC! If you live in the north Jersey area and are looking for specialty type desserts for your next party or get together, you can email her for pricing information. See, now you know why I don't make that many desserts at our family functions. With her as our pastry chef doing our "sweet" and me doing the "savory", we've got it all covered! 

I also made the Table Signs and Bunco Score Sheets a little more festive. You can download them to use at your next Bunco Get Together by clicking on the title in red!  

Irish Bunco Table Signs 

               

Irish Bunco Scoring Sheets 

If you're looking for more of a traditional St. Patrick's Day Menu, here are a few recipes you might want to give a try from some previous posts. There's only so much you can do with corned beef! 

Horseradish and Mustard Corned Beef

Crown Royal Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Gremolata Roasted Potatoes

Honey Mustard Carrots

Thyme and Butter Roasted Carrots

Sauteed Cabbage with Bacon

Irish Soda Bread

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

*I was not compensated by any products listed in this post. I purchased them on my own and use them in my home on a regular basis. All opinions are my own. 

2012 St. Patty's Day Menu & Blog Hop

Today, I'm honored to be part of my first BLOG HOP! Not only will you get to see my St. Patty's Day Feast, you will also get to see some other wonderful menu ideas from some of my blogging friends too!  Thank you to Joan from Chocolate, Chocolate and More for coordinating all of this, I'm sure it was quite an undertaking! 


The Irish have observed St. Patrick's Day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years on March 17th. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.

First, I am only part Irish, amongst many other nationalities. We don't have a huge celebration on St. Patrick's Day but I usually make corned beef and Irish Soda bread during the week of and in my younger years, could be seen drinking green beer at Mc Shanley's Pub in downtown Providence, but I digress. ;) When my eldest daughter was in pre-school they celebrated Nationality Day where parents brought in food from their own cultures and the children dressed in cultural garb. So when my then 4 year old asked what she could dress up as, I was at a loss and told her she'd have to pick one of the following: My side: 1/2 Italian-1/2 Mixture of French Canadian, Irish, Scottish and Iroquois Indian and my husband's side-1/2 Portugese-1/2 Mixture of German and Irish. As you can see, we clearly have what is commonly known in the US culture as "mutt" children! So, what I did was take a white shirt and painted the US flag on the front, then painted all of the other nationalities flags on the back of the shirt. Needles to say it was a hit with all of the teachers and parents alike, and my daughter was proud to show off her heritage. 

I don't particularly like boiled food so you won't find the traditional boiled dinner here at CEK, but I can assure you that you'll LOVE IT just the same!

St. Patty's Day Menu 

Horseradish & Mustard Baked Corned Beef

Roasted Baby Potatoes

Honey Mustard Baby Carrots

Irish Soda Bread

Horseradish & Mustard Baked Corned Beef

2 lb. Corned Beef, thin cut

1 Bottle Lager Beer (I used Sam Adams Winter Lager)

Water

1 tbsp. Spicy Kosciusko Mustard

1 tbsp. Prepared Horseradish

1 tbsp. Honey

Trim most of the visible fat from the meat and place in a large pot. Pour in the beer and add water so that it covers the meat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 2-2 1/2 hours. Remove from pot, place in a baking dish, and add some of the liquid to the bottom of the pan (about 1 cup). In a small bowl, mix together the mustard, horseradish and honey. Brush it evenly on top of the meat. Bake at 350 degrees for an additional 30-35 minutes. Let rest for about 5-10 minutes, then cut on a diagonal across the grain. Serves 4. 

Roasted Baby Potatoes

2 lbs. Red Baby Potatoes, skins washed and cut in half

2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp. Prepared Horseradish

1 tsp. Spicy Kosciusko Mustard

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix well. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45-50 minutes until potatoes have softened and are golden brown. Serves 4. 

Honey Mustard Carrots

1-10oz. Package Fresh Baby Carrots

1 tbsp. Butter

1 tsp. Honey

1 tsp. Dijon Mustard

Steam carrots over a double boiler until they are fork tender, but not mushy. Add the carrots to a saute pan along with the butter, honey and mustard. Mix well and cook for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Serves 4. 

And now here's my favorite! I posted this original recipe back in June 2011, but I didn't have a picture of it. I never liked Irish Soda Bread until about 20 years ago when my friend, Tracey, who also happened to be the Pastry Chef where I worked at the time, made her version. Her's was moist and not dry like the typical bread you get at the store. This recipe will make two loaves, more than enough for 4 people, however, I love this bread toasted for breakfast in the mornings as well. Good thing I usually only make it once a year! If you like caraway seeds in yours, by all means add it in. Her recipe did call for it, I just don't particularly like them. 

Irish Soda Bread

6 c. + 1 c. All-Purpose Flour

1/2 c. Granulated Sugar

2 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Salt

1 c. Raisins

1 Stick Salted Butter, softened

2 1/2 c.  Low Fat Buttermilk

Sift dry ingredients using only 6 cups of the flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the raisins and buttermilk. Mix with your hands until well incorporated and turn onto a lightly floured board; gradually using the remaining 1 cup of flour. Kneed 10-12 times. (The dough shouldn't be too sticky. If it is, gradually add a little more flour as needed). Split into 2 round loaves and cut a deep X into the top. Lightly spray a sheet pan with cooking spray and place the loaves. Bake at 350°F for approximately 50 minutes or until when you stick a knife in the center, it comes out clean. Makes 2 round loaves. 

I hope you like my St. Patty's Day Round Up. Click on the links below for some more great ideas! 

Debi over at Recipe for my Boys made Colcannon and Irish Stew

Kimiko at Beachside Baker made a Shamrock Shake 

Melissa at Chin Deep made Apple and Bramble Cake with Bushmill's Custard 

Lesa at Edesia's Notebook made Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup 

Michaela at Affair from the Heart made Irish Cream Cheesecake 

Joan at Chocolate, Chocolate and more made Grasshopper Pie

http://www.recipesformyboys.com/2012/03/st-patricks-day-blog-hop-colcannon-and.htmlhttp://anaffairfromtheheart.blogspot.com/2012/03/irish-cream-cheesecake.html

St. Patty's Day in June? Dijon Encrusted Corned Beef, Crown Royal Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Irish Soda Bread

I know what you're thinking. Who eats Corned Beef when it's not St. Patrick's Day? Well,  this year when purchasing my Corned Beef for our annual dinner on March 17th, I had forgotten that I had already bought one a week prior and wound up with two. So I froze one to use at a later date. I'm not a huge fan of the "boiled meal" and don't like cabbage, so a few years ago, I came up with this variation of the old standard and because it is one of my picky eaters favorite meals, we do tend to have it several times a year. 

Dijon Encrusted Corned Beef

5-6 lb. Corned Beef Brisket

¼ Cup Grey Poupon® Dijon Mustard

Rinse corned beef off and place fat side up in a large pot of water; making sure to completely cover the meat. Bring the water to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 3 hours; adding water as needed to cover the top of the brisket. Remove meat from the water, trim any visible fat and place fat side up in a baking dish. Add Dijon mustard to the top of the meat and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until the mustard is browned. Let cool 5-10 minutes, and then slice diagonally across the grain. 

I get tired of eating regular, plain old mashed potatoes. And..since I only had one potato in the house and several sweet potatoes, I figured I'd make mashed sweet potatoes instead. I have only made mashed sweet potatoes a few times but the recipe I use is more of a casserole style with heavy cream and pecans that I make for Thanksgiving and I wanted something a little less fattening. So I went searching for a new recipe online and came across one for Bourbon Sweet Potatoes; which coincidentally also had a ton of fattening ingredients in it. Then I decided that if Bourbon goes well with them, why not Crown Royal (and we always have Crown Royal!). So I tweaked the recipe I found, reducing the amount of butter, using 2% milk (which is a staple in this house over whole milk), and threw in some brown sugar and cinnamon for good measure. I love when my little kitchen experiments come together and they taste good. 

Crown Royal Mashed Sweet Potatoes

1 ½ lbs. Fresh Sweet Potatoes

3 Tbsp. Crown Royal Whiskey

2 Tbsp. Butter                                 

¼ Cup 2% Milk

2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Kosher Salt

Put cut potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender with a fork. Drain water. Add Crown Royal, butter, milk, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Blend together with an electric mixer until mixture is creamy. Serves 4.

Well, I didn't actually make the Irish Soda Bread on this day, but I have made it often enough that I DO have the correct measurements for everything. I just thought it might make a great addition to share with this meal in case anyone wanted to try it out for themselves. Growing up, I never used to like this bread. It always seemed dry whenever I had it out.  But about 20 years ago, when I was still working in the food business, our pastry chef made this Irish Soda Bread that was out of this world! It is so moist and I probably put on about 5 pounds the week of St. Patrick's Day every year because of it. I make these loaves of bread, slice them thick but yet thin enough to fit in my toaster, toast them until they're golden brown and add salted butter. (Not the healthiest breakfast but I do only make this once a year!). I did make some slight changes to the original recipe since I don't particularly like a lot of raisins or caraway seeds, but if you like them simply add another 1/2 Cup Raisins and 1 1/2 tsp. Caraway Seeds to this recipe. 

Irish Soda Bread

7 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar

2 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Salt

1 Cup Raisins

1 Stick Salted Butter, softened

2 1/2 Cups Low Fat Buttermilk

Sift dry ingredients using only 6 cups of the flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the raisins and buttermilk. Mix with your hands until well incorporated and turn onto a lightly floured board; gradually using the remaining 1 cup of flour. Kneed 10-12 times. (The dough shouldn't be too sticky. If it is, gradually add a little more flour as needed). Split into 2 round loaves and cut a deep X into the top. Lightly spray a sheet pan with cooking spray and place the loaves. Bake at 350°F for approximately 50 minutes or until when you stick a knife in the center, it comes out clean. 

Enjoy!