Because I'm Still Irish the Other 364 Days

Medallions of Beef with Port Sauce & Cashel Blue Cheese

Everyone was making their colcannon & stew & lamb for St. Patrick's day...only my second-favorite holiday of the year (go ahead, guess what took the #1 spot?).

Meanwhile...everyone in our house was sick. So, no celebrations on the 17th for us.

But seriously, I don't need a special day to celebrate Ireland or my Irish-ness. I'm about half-Irish, thought honestly I'm not sure which parts...

So, I went ahead & made something a week or so later. And because Ireland is not about green beer, I decided to celebrate the amazing culinary strides being made across the country.

For Matt, a gorgeous piece of beef, seared on both sides, put into a baking dish, topped with minced shallots, a Port reduction sauce, pine nuts, S&P, lemon juice & crumbled Cashel blue; place under the broiler till the cheese is bubbly, 1 to 2 minutes.

(We also did this using Morningstar Farms 'steak' strips for the vegetarians, & it worked just as well.)

Was it good? Matt could barely talk; he practically inhaled that thing. So yeah, it was good. The Port reduction was amazing, even the non-meat version.

Boxy Potato Cake

Grated potatoes, mixed with some chopped & cooked bacon & scallions, an egg yolk, a little flour & S&P; mix till combined.

Using a biscuit cutter or crumpet mold, portion the mix & make rounds. Cover with plastic, chill at least an hour.

Heat first oil, then butter as well, in a frying pan, cook potatoes on each side till golden & warmed through. Top with slice of crisp pancetta.

What's there to say? Potatoes! Fried! Of course it was delicious. Stereotype or no, the Irish know their potatoes.