Mashed Potato and Picadillo Pie

At first glance this looks like a Shepherd’s Pie and maybe it is…but with a twist. The traditional Shepherd’s Pie consists of ground lamb. This one is made with ground beef. I guess you could call it the Poor Man’s Shepherd’s Pie. The ground beef is cooked with diced onion, diced tomatoes, garlic, green chile, and spices to your heart’s content.

Of course it is still topped with a thick layer of mashed potatoes flavored with butter, cream, salt and pepper. On top of the potatoes sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese, or whichever cheese suits your fancy.

After layering the picadillo (ground meat mixture), the potatoes and the shredded cheese, bake in a 350-degree oven for about 35 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are slightly browned and the cheese is melted. Make some Pico de Gallo and top it off when it comes out of the oven. This is not a heavy dish, but rather a hardy one and inexpensive. Enjoy.

Pico de Gallo

4 medium tomatoes, chopped
6 green onions, chopped with some of the tops
2 to 3 jalapeños, seeded and chopped
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients and stir well. Chill before serving. Makes 2 cups.

Simple Picadillo

1-pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced
½ cup diced tomatoes
½ cup green chile, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
half a packet of taco seasoning
Salt, pepper, garlic, cumin to taste

Brown ground beef until no longer pink. Add remaining ingredients and continue cooking until onion and celery are soft.

May Your Blessings Outnumber

The shamrocks that grow.
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.

Saint Patrick's Day Toasts

May your fire be as warm as the weather is cold.

As you slide down the banisters of life may the splinters never point the wrong way.

May you get all your wishes but one,
So you always have something to strive for.

May your neighbors respect you,
Troubles neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And Heaven accept you

May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future.

An old Irish recipe for longevity:
Leave the table hungry. Leave the bed sleepy. Leave the bar thirsty.

May you have the hindsight to know where you've been,
The insight to know where you are,
and the foresight to know when you've gone too far.

May you have warm words on a cold evening,
A full moon on a dark night,
And the road downhill all the way to your door.

May God bring good health to your enemies enemies.

Irish Coffee or Tea

Brew a strong cup of your favorite coffee or tea and instead of adding cream and sugar to your cup, add a half jigger (about 1/2 ounce) of Bailey's Irish Cream. It's smooth and tasty. Sip, don't gulp. Enjoy the flavor of Ireland...even if you're not Irish.

Corned Beef Brisket

Corned Beef Brisket with Warm Tomato Salsa

1 (3 pound) corned beef brisket
1 (8 ounce) can diced tomato1
4 ounce can chopped green chile
1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1 small onion, cut into thin slices
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, sliced thin
salt, pepper, garlic powder
2 tablespoons olive oil

Put brisket in Dutch oven and cover with water. Sprinkle the pickling spices included in the corned beef package over the brisket. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 60 minutes per pound, in this case, 3 hours for a 3 pound brisket.

In the meantime, heat olive oil in large skillet. Saute onion, celery, jalapenos, carrot slices, and green chile until vegetables wilt. Add diced tomato. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.

Over low heat, cook the tomato mixture for 15 to 20 minutes. If mixture begins to dry out, add a couple of tablespoons of the liquid cooking the brisket.

When brisket is done and tender, allow to rest, covered with foil, for 15 minutes. Slice thinly and serve with warm tomato salsa.

Corned Beef

Each year, thousands of Irish Americans gather with their loved ones on St. Patrick's Day to share a "traditional" meal of corned beef and cabbage.
Though cabbage has long been an Irish food, corned beef only began to be associated with St. Patrick's Day at the turn of the century.
Irish immigrants living on New York City's Lower East Side substituted corned beef for their traditional dish of Irish bacon to save money. They learned about the cheaper alternative from their Jewish neighbors.
http://www.history.com/content/stpatricksday/symbols-and-traditions

Shamrock Cookies

No, I'm not Irish, but I once had a wonderful friend who was Irish through and through. His name is Patrick Bresnan. He now works in New York. But in the years that our lives were connected, we never once neglected to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day.

His day would start off by going to early morning mass. He would arrive at our place of employment where he knew his friends and co-workers would be ready to celebrate his birthday. Yes, his birthday is March 17th, being Irish, he was named after his patron saint.



The rest of us would be sporting green hair, clothing, shamrocks, you name it. A wonderful luncheon of corned beef and cabbage, a huge birthday cake, Irish coffee and Celtic music playing in every corner of the building would permeate the day. Those were wonderful times. I miss them and my friend dearly.

So, even though I'm not Irish, I still celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. My love of history and anthropology have given me an appreciation of the gifts all cultures have to offer.



So for today, enjoy these delicious butter cookies made with my Mother's "Galletas de Mantequilla" recipe.

Butter Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 to 2½ cups flour

Cream butter and sugar together. Add vanilla. Slowly, add flour and knead to combine well.
Chill dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes for easier handling. Roll out a small portion of the dough between two pieces of wax paper to ¼ inch thickness.
Dip cookie cutter in flour and cut out desired shapes.
Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 10 to 12 minutes (middle of oven) at 325°. If desired, before chilling dough, add food coloring during the mixing process. Also, after cutting with cookie cutters, you may sprinkle shapes with colored decorating sugars.
Makes about 1 ½ to 2 dozen, depending on size of shapes cut.
For the rainbow cookies, I used a round cookie cutter and then cut each in half before baking. The shamrock cookies, I sprinkled green sugar srinkles before baking. I used royal frosting to decorate the cookies. White as a base for the rainbow cookies and green tinted frosting for the shamrocks. Use M & M minis for the rainbow bands.

Royal Frosting
1 pound (1 box) confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
6 tablespoons Wiltons Meringue powder
6 tablespoons (about 1/3 cup) water
paste food coloring, if desired

Mix all ingredients in electric mixer for 7 minutes.


The Shamrock

The shamrock, which was also called the "seamroy" by the Celts, was a sacred plant in ancient Ireland because it symbolized the rebirth of spring. By the seventeenth century, the shamrock had become a symbol of emerging Irish nationalism. As the English began to seize Irish land and make laws against the use of the Irish language and the practice of Catholicism, many Irish began to wear the shamrock as a symbol of their pride in their heritage and their displeasure with English rule.
http://www.history.com/content/stpatricksday/symbols-and-traditions