Molly Maguires Irish Beef Stew

Molly Maguires Irish Beef Stew has always been a favorite of mine during the annual Saint Patrick's Day celebration. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Ingredients

Irish Stew

• 2 lbs. beef chuck, cubed
• 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 6 med. potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 onion, cut into chunks
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups beef broth                                               
• 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
• 1 (12 oz.) can Irish stout beer
• 1 Tbs. corn starch
• 3 Tbs. cold water

Directions

1. heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat
2. dredge beef chunks in the all-purpose flour until they are well coated
3. fry in the hot oil until browned
4. put carrots, potatoes, onions and garlic in a large slow cooker
5. layer the browned meat on top of the vegetables
6. mix together the beef broth and tomato paste
7. pour into the slow cooker along with the beer
8. cover and cook on high for 6 hours or on low for 8 hours
9. during the last hour of cooking (before serving), dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water and stir it into the broth to thicken the stew.

Makes 6 - 8 servings.

Irish Punch

Irish Whiskey Punch  (borrowed from: (World's Best Bars)

This is the genuine Irish beverage. It is generally made with one-third pure whiskey, two-thirds boiling water, in which the sugar has been dissolved. If lemon punch, the rind is rubbed on the sugar, and a small proportion of juice added before the whiskey is poured in.

69th Regiment Punch

Recipe: (In earthen mug.)

1/2 wine-glass of Irish whiskey.
1/2 do. do. Scotch do.
1 tea-spoonful of sugar.
1 piece of lemon.
2 wine-glasses of hot water.

This is a capital punch for a cold night.

In his 1863 book, Cups and their Customs, George Edwin Roberts paid a loving tribute to Whiskey Punch when he wrote: “This is said to be the most fascinating tipple ever invented; and, to quote the words of Basil Hall, ‘It brightens a man's hopes, crumbles down his difficulties, softens the hostilities of his enemies, and, in fact, induces him for the time being to think generously of all mankind, at the tiptop of which it naturally and good-naturedly places his own dear self.’”

While virtually every recipe book that mentioned Irish whiskey contained Irish Whiskey Punch, during the early 1800s variations had already cropped up. Oxford Night Caps, first published in the 1820s, and considered the first book devoted entirely to drinks, included this Leander Punch:

And, for those of us who would like to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in style here are a couple ways to do it: Waterford Irish Lace 10-Inch Bowl  and Godinger Dublin 6-Piece Crystal Whiskey Decanter Set.

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Who remembers the 1970 film "The Molly Maguires" starring Sean Connery and Richard Harris? Here is the movie trailer.

How to Make Spicy-Hot Cajun Pork Sausage Links (Video)

To make a delicious and spicy homemade Cajun sausage with a hint of Italian, try this wonderful recipe.

Ingredients

• 12 lbs. pork (net) with 20% fat content, cut into pieces small enough for grinder
• 7 tsp. garlic salt with parsley
• 7 tsp. fennel seeds (cracked)
• 7 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 7 tsp. black pepper
• 3 tsp. pickling salt (regular will do in a pinch)
• 3 tsp. ground red pepper
• half can cold beer (cold water is fine)

Instructions

Cut the pork meat into manageable pieces and small enough to pass through your grinder. (We should not run grinders more than 10 minutes before letting the motor cool.) Grind all of the pork one small handful at the time and include a couple pieces of cut-up jalapeno pepper between each handful of meat that you grind to get an even distribution.

Next, place all of the ground pork and peppers into a larger container. Mix all of the seasonings in about 1/2 can of cold beer or ice-cold water (enough to pour out the seasoning mix evenly over the meat).

After distributing the seasoning over the ground pork begin mixing. This is the secret. The more you mix everything together -- the better your sausage will taste. Don't skimp on mixing. Mix thoroughly for at least 10 minutes.

Finally, pass the mixture through your machine once more using the largest cutting plate and sausage attachment and start forming your links. After awhile the length of the links will come to you naturally so don't worry if you get a few of them longer or shorter than the rest. The point is to have fun while you are working knowing you will be treating your family and friends to some of the best tasting homemade sausage links they have every had.

Enjoy! Ahheee!! (It don't get no better than this.)

Boudreaux and Dat Doggone Dog! (Cajun humor)

Boudreaux and his wife Clotille lived on a little farm just outside of the city of Mamou, Louisiana.

One day Clotille said, "Mais, Boudreaux, you have to get rid of dat dog. All he does is lie under de front porch and turn over da trash cans."

Boudreaux said, "Okay Cher. I'll get rid of him."

He put the dog in the pickup, drove down the road a couple of miles, and dumped him out. He drove home and in a few minutes the dog showed up. So he put him back in the truck, drove several more miles and dumped him out.

After Boudreaux got back home, the dog showed up again.

Clotille said, "You have to take him out and drive around and around a lot in circles, den dump him out. Dat way he won't know da way home."

Boudreaux said, "You some smart, Clotille, and dat's why I marry you."

Boudreaux again took the dog, and drove further out. Then he drove all around and zigzagged in and out the back roads a lot then dumped the dog out.

He started back home but pulled over and parked and called Clotille on his cell phone.

"Has dat dog come back yet?"

Clotille answered, "Yes, he just came in."

Boudreaux said, "Well, put him up to da phone - I'm lost."     ... Ahheee!!

Call of the Wild | Early Morning Ambushes and Cajun Duck Gumbo

Our home was situated about 100 feet from a public dirt road and about twice that distance from a large redwood barn my grandfather built to store corn, hay and farm equipment. Just behind the barn, about 20 yards away, was a small 50' x 100' pond which we dug to germinated the hundreds of sacks of rice seed prior to planting. Although the pond's main purpose was to germinate the seeds, it also served us in other ways—like raising fish and birds.

The pond was a playground for our domestic ducks and geese. About half of them were wild birds at one time before they became domesticated. You could tell which were wild and which were tamed by the color of their feet. The wild ones had green feet and the domesticated ones had yellow feet.

The lucky wild ones (the ones which were spared because only the tips of their wings were clipped by a shotgun blast during a hunt) in many cases went on to live a life of security and leisure on our farm pond.

There were times when my grandpa would nurse these 'fortunate' birds back to health and eventually release them with our domesticated birds. I gave them plenty to eat so they had no reason to leave our farm to find food elsewhere.

Many mornings, just after sunrise, (the domesticated wild ones I called them), would take flight and disappear into the horizon only to return a few moments later. Sometimes they would meet-up with a few stragglers in the sky and invite them back to our pond … and eventually to our dinner table. We had the best live decoys any duck hunter could hope for.

During the cold winter months, when we wanted to prepare duck gumbos or stews, my grandfather would walk inside the barn from the front entrance and quietly move to the back door which was purposely kept ajar a few inches—just wide enough to slide the barrel of a 12-gauge shotgun into position. He would then bag just enough wild birds to feed our family.

It was an ideal set-up. Pops didn't have to buy expensive hunting equipment or spend money on blinds and leases. I guess it was kind of like shooting fish in a barrel for him. The entire drama took less than 10 minutes and our farm birds (the live decoys) were content doing what they had always done best … quacking, flapping their wings, and playing in the water.

Have a great day. Bon Appetite!

Angel Magic | Holiday Greetings for 2015

I would like to wish you and your family a very Cajun Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Joyous 2016 New Year

Tick here to begin animation.

Je Vous Souhaite un Bon Noel! Ahheee!!
!