Simple and delicious recipes for St. Patrick’s Day

WhenMarch rolls around it gets me thinking about the traditional Irish dish: corned beef and cabbage. The first time I had this traditional dish I was in my early 20s. I’m not Irish, so this wasn’t something my mom made for us growing up. But ever since, I look forward to making it for my family in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

So, when it was my turn to make the March issue’s Recipe Remake, naturally I thought of making corned beef and cabbage, but what other Irish foods were out there that I hadn’t tried making yet? After spinning the wheel of Pinterest I landed on Reuben Nachos. These sounded yummy and easy! So easy that I decided to make a dessert too: Bailey’s Irish Cream Cake. Both recipes were simple to make and satisfying.

The Rueben Nachos are perfect for game day or a St. Patrick’s Day appetizer. My initial thought was, “Won’t the bagel chips get soggy?” But they turned out perfect with just enough softness in the centers, while the edges stayed crisp. The horseradish gave it that nice bite. I had never had Russian dressing before. It’s very similar to Thousand Island dressing, so if you are unable to find it, Thousand Island would be a perfect substitute. As a cheese lover, I would add more Swiss cheese to the Reuben Nachos.

If you’re looking for a super simple, moist cake, I encourage you to give this Bailey’s Irish Cream Bundt Cake a try! It’s best served warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped topping. Yum!! Who can’t resist a warm sweet dessert? I included a recipe for Irish coffee, which is very good with this cake too!

Taste Tester Comments

Reuben Nachos: “A good substitute/change from traditional nachos.” “Like a mini Rueben in every bite.”

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cake: “It’s 'terrible.' I should eat it all for you!” “I like how the cake is moist on the inside with crisp edges and little bit of crunch from the pecans.” “This would be good for breakfast.”

Reuben Nachos

Serves 8

Ready in 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 large bag bagel chips

1/2 lb. deli corned beef, chopped into bite-size pieces

1/2 cup sauerkraut

1 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese (7 oz. brick)

1 Tbsp. horseradish

Russian dressing, for serving

2 Tbsp. chives, finely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Scatter an even layer of bagel chips on a large rimmed baking sheet. (I used two 7 oz. bags of Stacy’s simply naked bagel chips, one for each layer.) Top with about half of the corned beef, sauerkraut, cheese and horseradish. Add a second layer of bagel chips. Top with remaining corned beef, sauerkraut, cheese and horseradish.

Bake until cheese is melted and the bagel chips are slightly golden, about 10-15 minutes. Drizzle nachos with Russian dressing and garnish with chives. Serve warm.

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped pecans

1 box yellow cake mix

1 3.4-oz. package vanilla instant pudding

4 eggs

¼ cup water*

½ cup vegetable oil

¾ cup Irish cream liqueur*

For the glaze:

1 stick butter

¼ cup water

1 cup sugar

¼ cup Irish cream liqueur

Cake Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease/flour bundt pan, then sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan.

In large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding, eggs, water, oil, Irish cream. Beat for 5 minutes on high, then pour batter over nuts in pan.

Bake in oven for about 60 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven, let cool for 10 minutes, then invert on serving platter. Poke holes over cake (I didn’t have skewers so I used a meat thermometer). Spoon glaze over cake and let it absorb into cake.

Glaze Instructions:

While cake is cooling, make the

Continued on page 56 glaze by melting butter in a saucepan. Add water and sugar and bring to boil. Continue to boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in Irish cream. Be careful, it will steam when adding the Irish cream!

* To make this a rum cake, increase the water to ½ cup and replace the Irish cream with ½ cup of rum. For the glaze, replace the Irish cream with rum.

Also, instead of making the glaze, you could always just top the cake with a mixture of powdered sugar and Irish cream for a glaze. Using a ratio of 2:1 powdered sugar to liquid.

Bailey’s Irish Coffee

Ingredients:

1 cup coffee

1 shot Irish whisky

1 shot Bailey’s Irish Cream

1 Tbsp. whipped cream

Pour shots of Irish whiskey and Bailey’s Irish Cream into coffee. Top with whipped cream and enjoy! D