St. Patrick's Day Recipe Ideas

Top o' the mornin' to ya!  St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, and we have a saying down here that at least on St. Patrick's Day, everybody's got a little Irish in them. For pete's sake though, wear your green, and wear it out in the open and obvious {because green undergarments don't count}, or else I guarantee that you will most definitely get yourself pinched, if you aren't showing your green!

Now, I know a lot of folks make all kinds of crazy dyed food on St. Paddy's Day, but I'm not big on green colored foods - unless they were intended that way by nature of course - and I'm not much crazy about green beer either, though I suppose I drank my share of them on St. Patrick's Day at places like Mary Mahoney's and the Fiesta... back in the day.

Well, the Fiesta nightclub is long gone, and while Mahoney's restaurant is alive and well, they sadly do not have the big SPD party anymore. But, just a few years ago, on the heels of That Storm That Shall Not be Named, the City of Biloxi, started an event that now draws in locals and visitors alike. It's called "Grillin' on the Green Spring Fling" and is held from March 12th through 14th, at the Biloxi Towne Green on (Highway 90) Beach Boulevard, right across from the Hard Rock Casino. The event attracts upwards of 7000 people with the usual southern, coastal and, of course, traditional fair foods, vendor booths where you can happily part with your paycheck, and of course, live entertainment! There's even a grilling competition and that means there's also BBQ!

Photo Credit

On March 13th, there will be an Irish Derby/5K Run held in the morning, followed by a St. Patrick's parade in the afternoon. There's the Grand Marshal and Colleen, bands, antique cars, leprechauns, marchers and bagpipers and of course nicely decorated floats and revelers who throw not only the usual doubloons and green beads, but also wooden nickles, beer steins and other favors.  You might even catch the makings of a good ole Irish stew, because they also throw potatoes, cabbage and onions! That's how we roll Down South y'all.

Why don't you c'mon down and join us for the fun?!

As far as food goes for St. Patrick's Day, a lot of folks like to go with any number of cabbage dishes and of course any potato dish, would be good, but I have a few other recipes I like to share especially for St. Patrick's Day - like Irish Soda Bread, Potato Soup and Irish Stew, made with lamb shanks - just in case you'd like to try them. I also included my cabbage hash and shortcut corned beef and cabbage, and even though it's not really a traditional Irish dish, it is for us in this part of the world, so I say, enjoy it!

Check back - I'm liable to add to the list between now and next Wednesday.


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Irish Soda Bread




Creamy Potato Soup




Corned Beef & Cabbage Hash



Southern Style Shortcut Corned Beef & Cabbage




Irish Stew



And last, I have heard that apples are a good choice for an Irish dessert so how about an Apple Upside Down Cornmeal Cake? If that doesn't seem to suit you I've got a few more apple recipes right here that might appeal to you more.

Apple Upside Down Cornmeal Cake

Or ... maybe a key lime pie? Why not? Limes are green, right?

Key Lime Pie

Instead of that green beer, I could probably go for one of these instead!

Perfect Mojito

May love and laughter light your days,

and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

with joy that long endures.

May all life's passing seasons

bring the best to you and yours!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

7-Can Taco Soup

We're {finally} looking like this long hanging, southern winter is gonna give way to springtime soon, but apparently not before some early, pre-April showers move through, since thunderstorms are in the forecast for the next few days.  I had thawed some baby back ribs for dinner, but then decided that I was in the mood for soup, and specifically, for taco soup. {For which I totally blame Heidi over at Tried and True Cooking with Heidi, who created the craving to begin with} Not a problem since I had everything I needed on hand!

While this may not be a classic "southern" recipe, it is certainly a popular recipe in the south, no doubt because it is just delicious.  It's also another one of those recipes that's been around forever.  Called 7-Can Taco Soup, because it uses 7 cans of some combination of beans, tomatoes and veggies - my cans of choice are diced tomatoes, Rotel tomatoes, canned green chilies, chili beans, kidney beans, pinto beans and a can of corn.  What you put in it varies from recipe to recipe, so settle on your own favorites and use whatever number of cans you like.  This version just happens to be the way I like mine.

Vary the beans - some people use black beans or northern beans, or several cans of kidney beans. Go for it! Some use salsa or picante instead of Rotel tomatoes.  Some like to use cream corn instead of whole kernel corn and I've even seen a recipe using mixed vegetables. Some people use water, some chicken broth. I prefer beef broth myself. Some people even like to add small shell or macaroni pasta.  If you don't like the selection of "cans" here, mix it up and make it your own.

A lot of people also simmer this in the crockpot all day while they tend to the rest of life, but this comes together so quick and really only needs a 30 minutes simmer so I do mine on the stovetop. I like to let it low simmer about an hour though, just to let all the flavors sort of marry and meld together, though it can also be held over low for quite awhile, perfect for those times the family seems to be eating in shifts.

With the exception of the chili beans {because they are packed in a chili sauce}, I drain and rinse the beans I use since most canned beans are extremely high in sodium, and draining and rinsing them supposedly gets rid of nearly half of the sodium level. And, just so you know, it apparently also helps to reduce some of those troublesome gas-causing sugars as well. Even still, we're talking canned goods and packaged goods here, so there is plenty of sodium present despite that, and it's unlikely you will need any additional salt, or even pepper. You can, of course, make your own homemade ranch dressing mix and taco seasoning, instead of using the packets, if you like.

My favorite garnishes include finely shredded cheese, chopped tomato, diced avocado, homemade tortilla strips, sour cream and sliced green onion. A yummy delicious soup, great for a rainy day, and especially good when you find yourself with a herd of kids running thorough your kitchen, all on different eating schedules. Makes plenty, holds well, and is even better leftover.

Don't forget to recycle those cans!

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7-Can Taco Soup
From the Kitchen of http://www.deepsouthdish.com

1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
1 pound of lean ground beef
1 cup of chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 envelope of ranch dressing mix
1 envelope of taco seasoning mix
1 can of diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can of Rotel tomatoes, undrained
1 can of green chilies, undrained
4 cups of beef broth or stock
1 can of chili beans, undrained
1 can of kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 can of pinto beans, drained & rinsed
1 can of whole kernel corn, drained
Finely shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese, for garnish, optional
Chopped fresh tomato, for garnish, optional
Diced avocado, for garnish, optional
Shredded lettuce, for garnish, optional
Homemade tortilla strips, for garnish, optional
Sour cream, for garnish, optional

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat, add the ground beef and onion and cook until beef is browned, breaking it up as it cooks.  Add the garlic and cook another minute. Stir in the ranch dressing and taco seasoning packets and cook and stir for another minute. Add the un-drained, diced tomatoes, Rotel tomatoes, and green chilies; cook and stir for 5 minutes.  Stir in the beef broth and the undrained chili beans.  Drain and rinse the kidney beans and pinto beans; drain the corn and add all to the pot and bring up to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Can hold over low heat.

Serve with a sprinkle of cheese, chopped tomato, diced avocado, tortilla chips, green onion and a dollop of sour cream, or your own favorite toppings, if desired.

You Might Also Like:

Mary's Favorite Hamburger Soup
Cabbage Soup with Turkey
Spicy Cajun Sausage & Corn Soup

Around a Year Ago:

Shrimp Stuffed Pistolettes

Creole Stuffed Bell Peppers

I absolutely adore stuffed bell peppers. The Cajun? Not so much. Remember his aversion to veggies?  Well, the poor bell pepper falls right into that category of any other whole veggie that is stuffed - even though most often the very veggie he is rejecting whole, is mixed in the stuffing anyway! So, as with any stuffed vegetable, he will just eat the stuffing from a stuffed bell pepper, and throw away the pepper. Silly man. I mean, he eats green bell pepper a lot. How many recipes do y'all see here that contain The Trinity - onion, celery, and ... hello ... green bell pepper?  Lots. Sigh.

Needless to say I don't make these nearly as often as I'd like to, simply because when I do, I actually have to make a whole separate dish for The Cajun - sort of a deconstructed version. I'll put that recipe up soon also, just in case any of y'all have that same veggie issue as my husband.  The thing is, all veggie hatred aside, I don't think a lot of people make stuffed peppers much anymore. Sad, because as far as I'm concerned, they really are good and not at all hard to make.

You'll notice that I like to cut my peppers in half lengthwise, rather than loping off the top of a whole pepper and stuffing it that way.  I also prefer using a blend of ground beef with just a taste of Italian sausage, seasoned with a tiny bit of onion. Sometimes I'll even toss some bacon in.  To that I add creole tomato sauce - which is basically tomato sauce cooked down with onion, celery and green bell pepper.  Mix in some rice, most often leftover rice, some seasonings, and to punch it up a tad, I top them off with the rest of the tomato sauce mixed with some Rotel tomatoes.  Add a light sprinkling of bread crumbs - I like the Italian seasoned kind - and then at the end, a light sprinkle of cheese on top and back to the oven just long enough to melt. Thin slices of Velveeta cheese are yummy, or else finely grate some cheddar cheese on top, as I have in the picture above.

By the way, these freeze well, so those extra baked peppers above, went into the freezer for a quick flash freeze, after which they were bagged up and will become a quick lunch or dinner for those occasions that I am dining alone in the near future.  Defrost and then heat up in the microwave and you've got one speedy meal!  You can also prepare these in advance unbaked and freeze them. Thaw in the microwave overnight, or in the microwave on defrost, first before baking.


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Creole Stuffed Bell Peppers
From the kitchen of http://www.deepsouthdish.com

4 large sweet bell peppers, green, red or yellow
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoons finely minced onion
1 pound of ground beef
1 or 2 links of Italian sausage
2 cloves of garlic
2 cups of creole tomato sauce*, divided
1 cup of cooked rice
Pinch of kosher salt, or to taste
5 turns of the pepper grinder, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon of Slap Ya Mama, or your favorite
   Cajun or Creole seasoning
1/2 cup of water
1 can of Rotel tomatoes 
1-2 tablespoons of fresh, dry or panko bread crumbs
Grated cheddar cheese or thin slices of Velveeta

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the peppers lengthwise and scrape out seeds and ribs. Bring a large pot of water to boil and drop the pepper halves in allowing to parboil for only 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet, saute the onion in olive oil until tender. Remove the sausage from the casing and add it and the ground beef to the skillet; cook until browned, breaking up into small pieces. Drain well if needed. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce, reserve the remaining sauce. Cook and stir 5 minutes or until sauce is heated through. Stir in rice, salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Pour 1/2 cup of water into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish and place peppers in the dish. Scoop the beef and rice mixture evenly into each pepper half, topping each off until you use all of the filling.

Mix the Rotel tomatoes with the remaining tomato sauce, and spoon evenly over the tops of each pepper and sprinkle each with bread crumbs. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until peppers are tender and filling is heated through. Remove, add cheese to top, and return to oven until cheese melts.

*Can substitute 2 (8 ounce) regular tomato sauce if needed. If you would like to add the Trinity vegetable seasonings, simply saute 1/4 cup of onion, celery and bell pepper in olive oil and stir in tomato sauce. Cook for 15 minutes. Set aside until needed.

Can also assemble peppers and freeze or freeze leftovers.

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Ground Beef Casserole
Ground Beef Casserole II
Hamburger Hot Dish

One Year Ago: Cranberry Chicken Bake

Dirty Fried Eggs

Okay, yeah, it's just fried eggs, but indulge me for a bit would ya? I love eggs. I love all kinds of eggs. Deviled eggs, scrambled eggs, omelets, poached eggs, just plain old boiled eggs, egg salad with shrimp, with ham, and with tuna, eggs on huevos, in quiche, in a hash, as migas, in a breakfast casserole, a quesadilla, on a BLT, and yeah, even on a po'boy! Yep. I do love eggs.

But, this post here - this is just about fried eggs and specifically Dirty Fried Eggs. Aw, heck. Might as well make this post a minor 101 about fried eggs, and then show y'all how we do a proper dirty fried egg down here in The Deep South! After all there are folks who pass through here that are just learnin' to cook, right?

A fried egg is an egg that has been cooked in a skillet using butter or a bit of fat, but with the yolk left intact, unlike a scrambled egg, which while also fried in a pan with fat, is beat, or scrambled, either before or after being put in the skillet. I prefer to use butter only when scrambling eggs, but not when frying, since butter doesn't have a very high flash point for frying. I cook my fried eggs in some kind of oil, but you can then top it with just a bit of butter after cooking it to get the flavor, which is much more appealing to me.

An egg that is simply cracked in the pan and cooked only on one side is called "Sunny Side Up" since the yolk is predominant and looks a bit like the sun. When I do a sunny side up egg, I use an egg turner to splash some of the hot oil over the top of the egg to make sure that the whites are cooked through. When cooking an egg sunny side up, it does take a bit of practice not to burn the underside of your egg, or the outside edges,  but practice makes perfect, so I say, just eat more eggs! They are a nutritional powerhouse, afterall. You can also add a splash of water to the skillet and cover it, but that produces a different sort of texture to me and is just not the same, though that step does come in handy when I do a fully stuffed omelet - and I'm not talking about the speed demon omelets that Julia Child whipped up in her day. I like thick fluffy omelets, almost a souffle type of omelet, not thin crepe like omelets, and as many omelets as I've made in my life, I've never been about to get a thick, fluffy, perfect and not browned omelet in only split seconds. Guess we like things a bit sloooower in The South.



I do love omelets and I love scrambled eggs, but most of the time when I eat fried eggs, I do what is called an "over" egg and depending on how long you prefer the egg yolk cooked, would be "Over Easy," sometimes called eggs up, where the yolks are runny, "Over Medium" where the yolk is partially cooked through but with some runny yolk, or "Over Hard" or over well, where the yolks are cooked completely through. The Cajun will only eat an egg that is over hard, with the yolk fully cooked.

I have learned that if you order fried eggs Sunny Side Up in a restaurant, you might receive those eggs with the whites also not fully cooked. That to me is gross and not at all a proper Sunny Side Up egg, so I always ask for over easy eggs when eating out.

I love over easy eggs, despite the fact that people get all freaked out about eating eggs with runny yolks. I've been eating them this way all of my life and well, I'm still here, and I can say that I have never (knock on wood yet) gotten sick from eating fried eggs this way. Your mileage may vary. When I eat them on a sandwich or a homemade egg muffin, I tend to like the yolks a little more cooked, mostly because it makes it much easier to eat without yolk running down your hands!

Another favorite fried egg I love is known by many names around the world, but I call it Birds in a Nest. Birds in a Nest are made by cutting a hole into a slice of bread, then placing the bread into a hot skillet with either butter or fat and dropping the egg into the hole. Once the egg is slightly set, you flip it over to cook the whites on the other side.

Fried eggs are great as a BLT (one of my favorite sandwiches), on a homemade Egg McMuffin sandwich (another favorite that I love), and on fresh, made from scratch biscuits, but my favorite way to eat fried eggs is to make 'em DIRTY. Even better. It absolutely, positively must involve bacon! So, first you gotta fry up a bit of bacon and for, cooking eggs, I prefer to use a non-stick skillet. Feel free to grab your cast iron skillet instead though, I am just fond of my non-stick skillet in this case. Once that bacon reaches the level of crispness you like, remove it and let it drain on some paper towels. Leave the bacon fat in the pan, because that is going to be our fat to cook the eggs in.

See those yummy yum yums in the bottom of the pan left from the bacon? Oh yeah... On top of that I add just a splash of canola oil.

And then crack your eggs into the skillet. I also prefer to salt and pepper my eggs while they are cooking instead of afterward. When the outside of the egg is cooked like this, but the yolk and the center of the whites are still raw, I turn the eggs.

And look at that! This is why I call them "Dirty Eggs."  the underside of the egg picks up the bacon yum yums from the skillet. Okay it's not the healthiest thing to do with fried eggs, and no I don't eat them this way all the time, but oh my goodness is it good. Once I turn the eggs, I cook them only just enough to cook the whites, but not the yolk.

Plate those beauties with that side of bacon and, of course...

... some kind of toasted bread vessel, why, for dipping in those yolks, of course!  Breakfast, brunch or even breakfast for dinner, oh yeah - that my friends is a Dirty Fried Egg!  Helloooooooo lover.

Cajun Courtbouillon

Here's a great recipe to use some of that microwave roux from yesterday's post.

A court bouillon is a French poaching stock made from water and typical stock veggies - onion, carrots, celery - in which generally fish is cooked. But that's the French.

Down here in The Deep South, Courtbouillon {pronounced COO-bee-YON} is a sort of roux-based, creole tomato sauce, stewed down and reduced, and most commonly used to poach redfish, though red snapper or catfish are fairly traditional also. If you enjoy fish, this is a great dish for Lent, that is somewhat similar to Bouillabaisse, though I side with Marcelle Bienvenu, Times Picayune contributor, and author of the fantastic Cajun/Creole cookbook Who's Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make a Roux? a top favorite in my personal collection.

She and I both agree that in most Cajun Courtbouillon, the fish is added in the last minutes of cooking, and only right on the top, then covered over and gently poached, where in a Bouillabaisse {we'll get to that recipe next}, the fish is laid between layers of sauce, and slow simmered for a much longer time. Very often other seasonal seafood, such as oysters, crawfish and shrimp are also added to both Bouillabaisse and Courtbouillon.

For Courtbouillon, since the fish is poached right on top of the creole sauce, many types will work, so substitute your favorite fairly firm, white fish, such as grouper, trout, cod, or tilapia.

Once the fish is poached through, carefully ladle it into a deep soup bowl, over steaming rice.  Add a nice, mixed garden salad, a wedge of lemon, some fresh, hot French bread and always, hot sauce to pass at the table.

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Cajun Courtbouillon
From the kitchen of http://www.deepsouthdish.com

1 (32 ounce) container of Kitchen Basics Seafood stock*
2/3 cup of microwave roux
1 cup of onion, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (1 pound 12 ounce) can of whole tomatoes
1 can of Rotel tomatoes
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
6 turns of the pepper grinder
1/4 teaspoon of Slap Ya Mama or your favorite
   Cajun seasoning, or to taste
2-3 pounds of fish, cleaned
Salt and pepper, to taste
Green onion, to garnish
Fresh parsley, to garnish
Hot, steamed rice
Hot sauce, for the table
Lemon wedges

Warm the seafood stock and set aside.  In a large, heavy, lidded pot, warm up the roux over medium heat, stirring constantly.  If you haven't already, add the onion, celery and bell pepper to the roux and cook for about 3-4 minutes or until vegetables have softened.  Add the garlic and cook another minute.

Using kitchen shears, chop the tomatoes in the can, and add to the roux and veggies.  Add the Rotel tomatoes.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes.  Stir in the warmed seafood stock and add the salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, and bring up to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about one hour, or until nicely reduced and thickened.  Taste and adjust seasonings.

Add the fish to the top of the sauce, sprinkle it with a bit of salt and pepper, cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until fish is poached and cooked through. Don't stir!

Once the fish is poached through, carefully ladle the courtbouillon into a deep soup bowl, over steaming rice.  Add a nice, mixed garden salad, a wedge of lemon, some fresh, hot French bread and always, hot sauce to pass at the table.

*can substitute vegetable broth or plain water

You may also like:

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Pan Seared Salmon with Honey Wasabi Sauce
Southern Fried Catfish