St. Paddy's Day Meal!

Our Irish Inspired Meal tonight had some hits and a very big miss!
Our appetizer, while not really Irish inspired, involved us trying a new ingredient -Panko. Panko is Japanese bread crumbs and I had picked some up at the grocery recently for us to try. So, SB found an appetizer recipe for Panko coated risotto cakes. These cakes were delicious; they were crispy, creamy, cheesy and just yummy. I probably could have made a dinner from these alone - and actually I probably will combine these with a green salad for dinner soon.

Next, our main course was Vegetarian Irish Stew with Oatmeal Soda Bread. These dishes came together quickly and were easy to put together. They both cooked in the same amount of time - and the kitchen smelled great. The bread was moist and delicious - this recipe is a keeper! On the other hand - the stew was not a keeper. We tasted the dish before serving and found that as it cooked down, it developed a bitter taste. We tried a few remedies to mellow the flavor, but in the end - we found it to be uneditable. I guess all recipes can't be winners - but this one really isn't worth trying in our opinion.

But, we persevered onto dessert! SB made some great Flag cookies which resembled the Irish Tri-Color Flag. These were shortbread cookies with a light icing - very tasty and a nice way to wind out the evening.


All things considered the evening was a success, but the main dish was a disappointment- oh well, you can't win them all.