St. Patrick's Day

Surprise your family this year on St. Patrick's Day with a traditional corned beef brisket! Serve it with a horseradish cream. (Whip some heavy whipping cream and fold in a tablespoon or two of horseradish.) I love this dish. My Mom made it for us almost every year on St. Patrick's Day. She would serve it with cabbage, boiled potatoes, and sometimes even Irish soda bread. (Incidentally I never really cared for Irish soda bread. I always serve rolls.)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (5 1/2 pound) corned beef brisket
• 2 tablespoons pickling spice
• 1 large orange, sliced in rounds
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 6 tablespoons margarine, divided (except I used butter. I hate margarine. YUCK!)
  
• 1 large head cabbage, cored and sliced
• 1 cup Golden Delicious apples, cored and quartered with peel
• 1/4 cup cold water

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a 9x13 inch roasting pan with aluminum foil, leaving enough extra extending over the sides to cover and seal in the roast.
2. Rinse the brisket, and pat dry. Rub with pickling spice, and place in the prepared roasting pan. Arrange celery, orange and onion slices on and around the roast. Pour in 1/2 cup of water, and wrap aluminum foil up over the roast tightly, making sure the ends are sealed.
3. Bake for about 4 hours in the preheated oven, or until meat is tender.
4. About 45 minutes before the roasts time is up, heat 3 tablespoons of margarine and 1/4 cup of water in a large pot. Add cabbage and apples, cover, and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes. Occasionally shake the pot so that nothing sticks to the bottom. Serve with remaining margarine and sliced corned beef.

I was in the mood for something way more naughty that boiled potatoes, so we had Ina's parmesan smashed potatoes instead:

3 pounds red new potatoes, unpeeled
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus 2 teaspoons
1 cup half and half
1/4 pound unsalted unsalted butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepperPlace the potatoes and 1 tablespoon of salt in a 4-quart saucepan and add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer covered for 30 to 45 minutes, until completely tender. Drain.

In an electric mixer with paddle attachment, mix the potatoes for a few seconds to break them up. In a small saucepan, heat the half-and-half and butter. Add them slowly to the potatoes, mixing on the lowest speed. The last quarter of the cream should be folded in by hand. Fold in the sour cream, Parmesan, 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper and serve immediately.

I always love to serve a dessert that to me is the epitome of comfort food. Desserts that fall into this category for me are as follows: rice pudding (Lion House recipe), bread pudding with vanilla sauce, and Magleby's buttermilk pie. I am such a dessert tease. You suckers are going to have to be satisfied just looking at this pie because I can't give out the recipe! I got it from a member of the Magleby family and I don't feel like it's mine to give out. It's delicious. A homemade pie crust filled with a cake-like buttermilk filling, topped with a lot of raspberries and whipped cream.