Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I want to wish you all a happy St. Patrick's Day!

     I hope you all had a good day today and celebrated with friends and/or family.  I didn't do much but I did celebrate my usual tradition by having steak, potatoes, and a Guinness.  I started this tradition many years ago in memory of a dear friend of mine, he passed away and this was one of his favorite meals.

     I seasoned my steak with Montreal steak seasoning yesterday and let it sit in the fridge for about 24 hrs, seasoning should be done at least 40 minutes prior to cooking up to overnight.  For the potatoes, I did something different and tried a recipe for crispy smashed potatoes.  After boiling, you smash them with something flat and brush olive oil on them, then season with salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme.  Once they are seasoned, you bake them at 450° for about 20 minutes or until they are brown and crispy on top.  As you can see in the picture, I followed this up with a nice cold pint of Guinness.  I hope you all enjoy your St. Patrick Day meals and try not to get into too much trouble today.

Beer Brats & Whiskey Glazed Cabbage

     Top o' the morning, err, evening to you all!  With St. Patrick's Day coming up, I was inspired to cook up an Irish-inspired dish prior to the holiday.  So I slightly modified a recipe from Alton Brown's own cookbook for the cabbage part of this dish. This dish has a wonderful taste that speaks of an Irish-American background and one I will be cooking again in the future.  I enjoyed this meal with a nice pint of Guinness draught and was pleasantly full after eating a bowl of it.

Beer Brats & Whiskey Glazed Cabbage

By

The Pirate Chef (inspired by Alton Brown)

Ingredients:

     1 Package of Beer Bratwursts

     3 Tbls Unsalted Butter

     1 Lb Green Cabbage (cored & shredded)

     1 Tsp Fine Kosher Salt

     1/2 Tsp Ground Black Pepper

     2 Minis Irish Whiskey

Directions:

     1) Melt butter in a 12-inch saute pan with high sides over med-high heat until butter begins to brown.

     2) To shallow pan, add 2-3 pats of butter and melt over medium heat.

     3) Add beer brats to shallow pan and cook for 6-8 mins, turning every few minutes to make sure no side gets burnt.

     4) Add cabbage, salt, & pepper to pan with browned butter and saute 7-10 mins, stirring occasionally until tender & lightly browned.

     5) Turn off heat for pan with cabbage & deglaze the pan with whiskey, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom, stirring everything together thoroughly.

     6) Slice brats on the diagonal and spread over the cabbage in each plate.

     7) Serves 4-6 people.

     I added more whiskey to the original recipe, which only used 2oz and added the sliced beer brats for a nice light meal. I used a link and a half of the beer brats for my own bowl as is pictured above, but you can use as little as one link if you want to stretch it out a bit more. I will be adding pictures and another recipe next week, after St. Patrick's Day for you all as well.