Ireland Archives - The Candid Appetite

St. Paddy’s Day is right around the corner, so you know what that means…it’s time to share my annual St. Patrick’s Day recipe. Let’s get excited because there’s still time to switch up those plans you’ve already made. Ditch those boring recipes you make year in and year out and try something new for a change. Last year I teamed up with Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board aka Wisconsin Cheese to bring you Irish Colcannon Mac and Cheese. It was a huge hit, but when isn’t cheesy mac and cheese with bacon and potatoes a good thing? It’s a dream team made in heaven. This year I teamed up with Wisconsin Cheese once again to bring you another classic Irish dish but with a twist. Potatoes and bacon and cheese happen to be involved again so I’d say we’re already off to a great start. I know that bacon isn’t a traditional Irish ingredient, but something about potatoes and cheese just scream bacon to me.

I wanted to switch things up a bit this year by making something new to me, Steak and Guinness Pot Pies. It’s like a traditional Irish beef stew all wrapped up in a flaky pie crust. The thing though is that this flaky crust is studded with crispy bacon and lots of Cheddar cheese, the way it always should’ve been. It’s a new take on a classic dish. So let’s all get in the spirit and be Irish for the day. This is our one free pass to let loose and get as wild as we’d like. So let’s all wear our green and start pinching those that forgot or just didn’t care enough to. Let’s make all of our favorite festive recipes and make everyone around us happy by getting into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit. Remember that no holiday is complete without lots of cheese and lots of fun.

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Nothing in this world is more terrifying than the thought of a bread-free existence. When an ingredient such as this, has taken over your entire life, and has been a part of you for as long as you can remember, how can one possibly think of living without it? Bread has been such an important staple, ever since we were children. All those endless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, growing up. Opening our lunch bags and seeing those two heavenly slices of white bread with globs and globs of pb&j in the middle. Bless our parents for packing us lunch. We loved them so much, we ate them everyday. But that was just the beginning. As we got older and evolved, so did our sophistication for bread. Gone are the days of peanut butter and jelly, and here are the days of roast beef, oven roasted turkey, caramelized onions and dijon mustard sandwiches. We welcome them. We embrace them with open arms.

Bread is no longer just a vehicle for sliced meats, cheese and vegetables. It is now also a utensil for dips, spreads and flavored oils. It is something we snack on to get us through the day. It is toasted and chunked to make salads taste better and soups heartier and more substantial. Bread is made into crumbs and used as a coating to make things crispy. It is used as a side dish to numerous dinners and lunches. Big events like Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete with our bread, in the forms of rolls. So why is bread so undeniably irresistible?

Well the answer lies in its ability to change and adapt. The beauty of bread is that it is unique and versatile. It is the one thing that ties so many countries together. A common thread, we all share. Whether it be croissants, pita, scones, tortillas, naan or fry breads, we each have a bread that is a specialty in our homes and in our hearts. Ireland, for instance has soda bread. A hearty and rustic loaf made of white flour, buttermilk and often flavored with ingredients, such as currants. Whatever language we speak in and outside of our homes, there is one language we all understand, and that is bread. Fresh out of the oven, warm with delight, bread. So let’s lift a slice to all those bread makers out there. And to all who think that making bread is just too difficult, why don’t you try this one? It’ll make you look like a rock star.

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Steak & Guinness Pot Pies

Irish Soda Bread

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