Pota Phadraig & the origin of Irish Coffee

St. Patrick

Pota Phadraig

The custom of imbibing alcohol on St. Patrick's Day comes from an old Irish legend.  As the story goes, St. Patrick was served a measure of whiskey that was considerabley less than full.  St. Patrick took this as an opportunity to teach a lesson of generosity to the innkeeper.  He told the innkeeper that in his cellar resided a monstrous devil who fed on the dishonesty of the innkeeper.  In order to banish the devil, the man must change his ways.  When St. Patrick returned to the inn some time later, he found the owner generously filling the patrons' glasses to overflowing.  He returned to the cellar with the innkeeper and found the devil emaciated from the landlord's generosity, and promptly banished the demon, proclaiming thereafter everyone should have a drop of the "hard stuff" on his feast day.  This custom is know as Pota Phadraig or Patrick's Pot.  The custom is know as "drowning the shamrock" because it is customary to float a leaf of the plant in the whiskey before downing the shot.

Irish Coffee

The Irish Coffee was created by Irish chef Joe Sheridan in 1942 at the Foynes airbase (replace by today's nearby Shannon International Airport) near Co. Limerick, Ireland.  The story goes that a flight returned to the airport after attempting to reach New York during a winter storm one evening.  Sheridan ran the airport's new restaurant and mixed up the first round of Irish Coffee for the stranded passengers and the name came about with the following exchange...

"Hey Buddy," said a surprised American passenger, "is the Brazillian coffee?"  "No," said Joe, "that's Irish Coffee." 

The Irish Coffee was a huge success and became a regular drink to have at the airport.  In 1953 a travel writer by the name of Stanton Delaplane brought the recipe to the United States, drawing it's attention to a bartender of the Buena Vista Hotel in San Francisco by the name of Jack Koeppler.  The cream kept sinking when Koeppler tried to make the drink so he traveled to the source to learn the correct way to make this new coffee drink.  As the story goes, he ended up offering Joe Sheridan a position in the American Buena Vista Cafe where you can still get a great Irish Cofee.  As witty as the Irish tend to be, this is how Joe Sheridan explained how to make a true Irish Coffee...

                  Cream - rich as an Irish brogue

                  Coffee - strong as a friendly hand

                  Sugar - sweet as the tongue of a rogue

                  Whiskey - smooth as the wit of the land

 Irish Coffee

4 oz. strong, rich hot coffee
1 oz. Irish whiskey
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 oz. lightly whipped cream

Pour the sugar then the coffee into a warmed Irish coffee glass, mug, or other heat-proof stemmed glass.  Stir until dissolved.  Add the Irish whiskey and stir again.  Float the cream on top by pouring it over the back of a spoon.  Do not stir again, instead drink the coffee through the cream.

I use Jameson Irish Whiskey

A wee taste o' the Irish

You will come to find that I am quite fond of my Celtic heritage, including some Irish.  I am on a mission to find a tasty Guinness stew recipe and thought I'd try a desert recipe as well.  Here is my version:

Linda's Guinness Stout Beef Stew

2 1/2 lbs stew meat, cut into cubes

1 tsp. Celtic sea salt (you may substitute regular salt)

1 tsp. freshly-cracked black pepper

3/4 cup flour, divided

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion 

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 12 oz. bottle Guinness Extra Stout, divided

3 large carrots, peeled and sliced

1 1/2 lbs. potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1-in pieces

4 cups beef broth

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

3/4 cup pitted prunes*

Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. In a shallow dish, combine the flour, salt and pepper.  Dredge the meat in the flour, shaking off any excess.  Add the meat to the pan and  cook approx 6 minutes, turning to brown all sides.  Remove beef from pan.

Add the onion to the pan, then saute for 4 minute.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.  Add 1 cup of Guinness and stir for 1 minute, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add remaining ingredients and cooked meat.  Bring to a boil, then cover.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 1/2 hrs, stirring occasionally.

Combine remaining Guinness with 1/4 cup flour until dissolved.  Stir into stew until thickened. Remove bay leaf and prunes.  Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.   

Makes 4-6 servings

* the purpose of adding the prunes is to reduce the bitterness of the stout

The Guinness Brownies recipe I tried is from Abby at Confabulation in the Kitchen and they are quite yummy! 

Guinness Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt*

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ounces dark bittersweet chocolate (chopped or measured chips)

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups Guinness Extra Stout beer, room temperature, no foam

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease 9x13 pan. (I used glass.)

2. In medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder and salt until evenly combined. Set aside.

3. In double boiler over low heat, melt butter, bittersweet chocolate and white chocolate chips. Stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat.

4. In large bowl, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy; about 3 minutes. Add spoonful of egg mixture to chocolate mixture to cool it off (you don't want to cook your eggs.) Add chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat well.

5. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and beat until just combined. Whisk in beer. Pour in chocolate chips and stir to combine. Pour into prepared pan.

6. Bake 25 to 30 minutes (checking for doneness starting at 25 minutes). Brownies are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let brownies cool to room temperature before cutting.

Pictured below is one of my first attempts at tablescaping, so be gentle.  I picked up the faux cabbage leaves at a local shop (thinking of using at Easter as well).  And I just love those PartyLite sheep!  The ceramic cabbage fits in nicely, I think (again, could double for Easter).  

 

The bowls are from "The Friendly Village, England 1883" by Johnson Bros.  The pattern was adapted from an original hand engraving.  They remind me of an Irish countryside cottage. I have been eyeing them at the local consignment mall and then they went on sale.  Who could resist?

Hubby pronounced the stew a success and judging by the way the brownies keep disappearing from the pan, I'd wager they were a hit as well.  

In the beginning...

there was a middle-aged woman who moved back "whence she came" with her retired military husband, two older teenage boys and a big dog.  We had always known we wanted to move back to this area.  

Northeast Iowa is so beautiful with it's rolling fields, wooded hills, limestone bluffs, rivers and creeks.  So we built a house next to his parents, on their rural property, and settled in.  The back of our house meets up with a sloped, wooded hillside.  Our talented excavator was able to produce a gentler incline near the house so that a dreaded retaining wall (cost + appearance = UGH!) wasn't necessary.  Then it occurred to me...what WAS I going to put on that hillside?  I am not-so-very talented in the original creativity department.  I will readily admit, however, that I can and do draw inspiration from others.  An internet search turned up oodles of free garden plans on the Better Homes and Gardens site. www.bhg.com/gardening/plans

I especially seemed drawn to the ones geared toward attracting birds and butterflies.  And that, dear readers, is when the nature bug bit me, clamped down and refused to let go.  I tend to procrastinate, take on way more than I can accomplish in a specific amount of time and obsess.  I'm also easily distracted...oh look, a Junco!

  So this should be fun!