(23/2020) Whenever I think of March, I think of Saint Patrick’s Day. I remember learning about his life as a teenager and there was one part of his story that has truly stuck with me through the years: He spent most of his life in a field.

As exemplified with the life of St. Patrick as told on page 13, there are many changes that happen each day that culminate into something beautiful. In this area of the country we are used to seeing all of these changes with the beautiful fruit blossoms that emerge in the spring. But that change truly starts weeks before with small gradual changes to a seemingly dead and lifeless tree. Miniscule changes that happen each day lead up to the explosion of beauty. The beginning of change doesn’t even seem that beautiful at all – just a small silver tip that begins to extend out from last year’s bud. Eventually that silver tip becomes green and bigger and, with patience and good weather, seemingly undergoes a miraculous transformation to a blossom. And that blossom will undergo a further transformation to become (with pollination and LOT more good weather) a fruit.

So religious or not, farmer or not, the life of St. Patrick and the life of a fruit tree (and indeed many things in nature) can teach us a lot about slow gradual transformation. As glorious as instantaneous life changing moments can appear, it is the slow and gradual change that is what makes it into the history books (or into the market in the form of a delicious fruit). As we come to this spring season with the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, take a deep fresh breath. Get outside and marvel at slow and gradual changes. And just as my parents reminded me, and I remind my children, enjoy the moment and accept gradual change as something that can be beautiful.

Traditional Irish Potato Cakes

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter, more if needed
• 2 cups cold mashed potatoes
• 1 egg
• a little flour if needed - a tablespoon or two up to 1/4 to 1/3 cup
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Cooking Directions: Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Add butter and melt. Using clean hands, mix mashed potatoes, egg, and enough flour to form a "batter" that is thick, not creamy, and "mounds." Add salt and pepper to taste and any optional ingredients as desired.

The amount of flour needed is going to be dependent on how creamy and how rich the original mashed potatoes are – the more butter, cheese, etc. in the original mashed potatoes, the more flour will be needed. Do try to add as little flour as possible, though. Better to have a potato cake that runs a bit when heated than one that tastes of a lot of flour.

Mix right before frying and keep the potato mixture cold. This will make sure that the outside is nicely browned and crunchy, and the inside will be heated through just right.

To cook, pick up about a quarter of the batter in one hand and form into a patty. Place it into one palm and press and turn into a uniform, round, flat shape. Add to the hot pan; brown very slowly in the hot butter, turning once. Best if eaten at once.

Colcannon

Ingredients:

• 8 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and halved
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ½ cup milk or light cream
• 1 small green cabbage, cored and sliced thin
• 1 -2 cups of kale, ribs removed and sliced thin
• 6-8 scallions finely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Directions: Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt and the potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain in a colander then return to the pot. Mash the potatoes until smooth then add the milk and 6 tablespoons of the butter. Salt and pepper the mixture and set aside to keep warm while preparing the cabbage.

Add the sliced kale and cabbage to a pot of boiling, salted water. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until soft. Drain well. You may also sauté the cabbage and kale in a large skillet with a little olive oil until wilted, if preferred.

Mix the potato and cabbage together and stir in the scallions. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve, scoop potatoes into a serving bowl and make a well in the center. Add the remaining butter and garnish with a few pieces of chopped scallion.

Irish Apple Cake

Ingredients

• 3 cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 4oz butter
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 3 or 4 large baking apples (Hollabaugh’s GoldRush or Golden Delicious)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar (to sprinkle on top of cake)

Cooking Directions: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 9-inch round baking pan by spraying with oil or coating with butter. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, salt, cloves and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the flour and rub it in using your fingers or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Toss in the sugar and combine it with the flour mixture. Peel and slice the apples into similar 1" to 2" sized pieces. Add the apples into the flour mixture and mix them thoroughly.

Beat the eggs and add a dash of milk. Add to the apples and flour and combine well with a large spoon. Add more milk as needed to fully moisten the flour. The result will be a pretty sticky mixture. Transfer the dough into the prepared cake pan and flatten the top surface using the back of a large spoon. Sprinkle two tablespoons of sugar over the top of the cake.

Bake the cake in the preheated 375 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Reuben Pizza Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pizza dough (store bought or homemade)
• 8 ounces corned beef
• 8 ounces Swiss cheese
• 8 ounce can sauerkraut
• Russian (or Thousand Island) dressing

Cooking Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 F. Roll the pizza dough out into a large oval/rectangle, about 16 inches long and 6 inches wide. Cover the pizza dough with the corned beef slices, keeping about 1/2 an inch away from the sides. Top the corned beef with a layer of Swiss cheese slices. Drain the sauerkraut. Then spread it over top of the cheese slices. Roll the pizza dough up length wise. Cut the long roll in half, and then in half again. You will have four more or less equal sized rolls, which you can cut into 3 slices each, for a total of 12 spirals, each about 3/4 of an inch to an inch thick. Put the spirals on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes until the tops just start to brown. Serve with Russian or Thousand Island dressing for dipping.