I’m always looking for some excuse for a party! We are planning a trip to Ireland, and our little travel group was going to get together to talk about our itinerary when I mentioned I had never seen “The Quiet Man”. We were trying to decide between going to Cong (where “The Quiet Man” was filmed) or another tour. Mr. T mentioned this to our Mystery Movie Monday crew, and the next thing you know, we are having a full-blown Irish-themed party!
I love these kind of parties! The food and cocktails were all Irish-themed for the most part (except the wine – I am not sure about Irish wine).
The main dish was Bangers and Mash. Susan and I drove out to Jones Boys Market in Ashland to get the bangers. You can usually find these fine people at the Downtown Springfield Farmer’s Market on Saturdays, but if you want to make the quick drive to Ashland I highly recommend it. I ended up putting the bangers on the grill since I was cooking so many. Many thanks to John for taking over the grilling – they ended up perfectly cooked!
I also purchased a couple of plant-based sausages for our friend Tom, and they looked very tasty on the grill! I’m planning on giving them a try sometime.
For the mashed potatoes I used a secret family recipe. I made the gravy vegan-friendly by sautéing some onions, using Better Than Bouillon Sautéed Onion Base, and thickening with a slurry of cornstarch and water. I think it turned out okay!
I also tried my hand at making the traditional Irish Brown Bread that you see everywhere when you are in Ireland. I found a recipe from The Irish Cookbook that I wanted to try – the author and chef, JP McMahon, is the owner of Aniar, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Galway. The Brown Soda Bread with Stout and Treacle is served everyday at this restaurant. It was really easy to stir together, no kneading, no waiting, and it turned out delicious! I will definitely be making this again.
We had so many delicious things to eat! Susan and Sarah brought Irish and English cheeses (my favorite).
Karla and John brought a “green and orange” salad – the colors of Ireland. The salad was filled with mandarins and pistachios, and lightly dressed just like I like it.
Patty and Chuck brought carrots with a whiskey sauce – the carrots were from their garden and picked that morning.
Tom brought vegan meat, potatoes, and green bean soup – if I could make dishes like this I might try to be vegan (maybe one day a week to start).
Pat brought Shepherd’s Pie – another one of my favorite dishes!
Deb brought a delicious Chocolate Guinness Cake from one of my go-to cookbook authors, Nigella Lawson. The cream cheese frosting on the cake is supposed to look like the pale head of foam you get in a pint of Guinness. You can always count on Nigella (and Deb) – yum!
And Laura and Dave brought some Green Spot Irish Whiskey – definitely a crowd favorite!
After filling our bellies we got settled in for the movie. I love watching movies with this crew – the commentary is always enlightening! I also found some “fun facts” about the film that we talked about before hand – did you know Maureen O’Hara broke her hand when she slapped John Wayne in the scene where they first kiss?
I loved the movie, but dragging a woman through rough terrain and all of that dowery talk probably wouldn’t pass in a modern movie.
It was so much fun and I can’t wait to do it again! Sláinte!
Tales From The Wine Store 