The high-Irish Holiday, as I like to call St Patrick’s Day, is almost upon us. It’s a special time where drinking in the morning is perfectly acceptable and sitting in a bar for 12 hours is not frowned upon (even in the middle of the week!)

However, St. Patrick’s Day for me conjures up memories of making Irish Soda Bread with my Nana and helping my mother make corned beef and cabbage with boiled potatoes. Real comfort food made simply with the best, freshest ingredients. As the years passed by, St. Patrick’s Day became more about a guilt-free excuse to drink as much as possible from the moment I awoke from bed to the moment I passed out, than cooking for friends and family. I find myself returning to the comfort food of this Irish holiday. As I own a wine store I would be remiss if I didn’t pair a wine with this most glorious meal.

My great grandmother Anna Dalton, who emigrated from Dungarvan, County Waterford at the turn of the 20th century must be spinning in her grave at the notion that her great grandson will not be drinking beer and downing shots of Irish whiskey on this holiday. Alas she can rest soundly in knowing that the Irish whiskey bottle will be sitting on the dinner table, and not that stuff made by the Protestants either! The only difference will be wine with dinner instead of beer.

Now I know that when the topic of Irish cooking is broached there will invariably be snickers and clichéd jokes that have been handed down from generation to generation like “when in doubt boil it,” or “what is an Irish seven course meal? A bag of potatoes and a six pack of beer.” That thinking couldn’t be further from the truth these days with Irish fine cuisine exploding in the mother country. Alas, this meal is old school and we will be boiling potatoes and yes, we will be boiling a big hunk of beef for many hours until it is fork tender. No laughing in the back of the class. After a long day of drinking, you want to cook a meal that is pretty much fool-proof, and that my friends are why we boil. You will receive no recipe for corned beef because the directions are on the packaging and it is impossible to screw them up. I will however tell you to go see my good friend and local butcher Bob at Atlantic Meat Market 110 Wall Street in Norwalk CT., he’ll take good care to make sure your corned beef boils perfectly.

Alright, we need bottles of wine for this dinner and lots of them. A good bottle of Irish whiskey for the table will also be needed. As far as wine goes, I tend to lean toward a California Chardonnay for this meal. You can go the route of a Pinot Noir which is completely acceptable but the buttery-toastiness of a chardonnay will work more in unison with the easy flavor profiles of corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes. I would not go with high-acid varietals like Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc because the acid will get in the way of the soft flavors of the food and overpower the palate. Riesling with its petrol like flavors and minerality and Sauvignon Blanc with its notes of grapefruit and citrus will provide too much contrast to the food. Two chardonnays that I would recommend for this meal are Robin K from Napa Valley for $16.99 and Double T  from Napa Valley for $17.99. robin K has a bit more buttery-toastiness and has a more weight in the mouth than does the Double T, which show’s more balance and restraint with the butterry/toasty flavors, opting more for a Crème Brule taste mixed with some lime-oil and oak. Both are winners.

Now on to the Irish whiskey, a real favorite of mine is Feckin, $19.99 which we will be tasting at the store on St. Patrick’s Day. For a single malt Irish whiskey you can’t go wrong with Michael Collins Single Malt $35.99, a nice strong peaty whiskey that will keep you warm on a cold winter’s night, also great for teething babies. Look how well adjusted I turned out!

We have wine, we have whiskey…ah yes we need a recipe. I have two closely guarded recipes that have been perfected by three generations of Irish women in my family. It took a great deal of convincing to get my mother to give permission to disseminate this recipe to the general public. Enjoy, and don’t skimp on the ingredients.

Corned Beef hint:
Don’t forget to skim off the fat that floats to the top of the pot while the corned beef is cooking, use a spoon. Also make sure to cut one inch slices into the meat on the fatty side and stuff with slivers of garlic. Add as little or as much as you like.

Cabbage:
Believe it or not the most important part of the corned beef meal is cooking the cabbage, almost everyone over-cooks the cabbage, there is no excuse for this and I am providing my Nana’s tried and true cabbage recipe as interpreted and perfected by me own sweet Irish mum. I’m not a cabbage lover and I love this recipe. The secret as with many recipes is that wondrous flavor enhancer bacon fat, do not skimp on it for fear of heart failure. This recipe and this holiday are not for the faint of heart. Using soy bacon fat or tofu bacon just ain’t gonna cut it.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and then turn down to Medium High

Cut and core one head of cabbage and soak in cold water

Place cabbage and 3 slices of thick bacon into the pot of water and cook until tender crisp. (That’s what my mom said, she does it by feel) just keep an eye on it. I imagine around 5 minutes.

Drain cabbage and return to the pot with bacon and chop the cabbage and bacon with a wooden spoon.

Add 1Tblsp of BACON FAT and sauté over medium high heat until everything is incorporated and smells great. 2-4 minutes

Add some fresh pepper and serve.

Irish Soda Bread:
3 ½ Cups of flour

1/3 Cup of sugar

1 ½ tsp of salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 Tblsp caraway seeds

1 Cup raisins

3 Tbsp Butter or Shortening

2 Cups Buttermilk

2 Eggs

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees

Sift all dry ingredients together. Rub in butter until like cornmeal. Add raisins and caraway seeds. Gradually add buttermilk and eggs which have been beaten together. The dough should be fairly moist. Turn out on floured board and knead 1 minute. Sprinkle flour in an ungreased 8 inch cast iron frying pan and place dough in pan. Dip knife in flour and make the sign of the cross in the dough (optional). Sprinkle a little bit of flour all over bread.

Bake in 425 degree oven for 35-40 minutes.

I was talking with a wine colleague recently at a tasting (of course) and after sniffing, swirling and occasionally spitting the wine into a bucket filled with other people’s wine spittle, (boy do we look professional throughout that whole process) we talked about how to get our customers to not fear the Riesling. That got me to thinking.

Riesling is the white grape that has always been revered by sommeliers and the like for decades. But it never quite made the jump to the American dinner table. How could this be? How could one of the greatest white varietals in the world be treated like its sports equivalent American soccer?

Now I’m not saying it’s the only white you should ever drink. I just want the Off the Vine wine-loving community to understand this majestic grape that is grown all over the world. It can be grown in warmer climates where it tends to ripen too quickly which creates a forgettable wine; however it seems to thrive in colder climates where it can reach peek ripeness.

Riesling can range from bone-dry to a lush, sweet and very expensive dessert wine which can be cellared for decades. Riesling is not always sweet. In fact if you buy a Riesling from Alsace, France it will almost always be dry. The nose and taste profile can range from petrol, peach and mineral. When you buy Riesling from Germany all you need to know for now is Kabinett and Trocken (four to five years bottle age, and the driest of German Riesling, respectively) and Spatlese and Halbtrocken (five to seven years of bottle age, and slightly sweet or off-dry, respectively). Now I know you’re probably thinking how the heck am I going to remember German? You don’t have to, just come down and see me at the store and I’ll guide you through these wines.

As far as food pairing goes Riesling is excellent with spicy foods, from Mexican to Thai and Chinese. The high acid in Riesling cleanses the palate without over-powering the flavor of the food. Another classic pairing for Riesling is roast chicken and my personal favorite… Turkey. Acid with a touch of sweetness my wine and food loving friends is why Riesling works so well cutting through the cornucopia of flavors on your plate. It works with the Turkey, sweet potatoes, the green bean casserole that someone always brings, creamed onions, and of course gravy, not against it. Riesling really is one of the more perfect wines to have with Thanksgiving dinner.

So Chef Repp of Splash restaurant in Westport and I were discussing what recipe’s would be great for this column and we decided to upon two classic sides–mashed potatoes and gravy. That’s right folks, you’ll get no turkey roasting recipe here. We figured that your mother-in-law would provide you with instruction on cooking a turkey while she stands over your shoulder micro-managing you to make sure it’s done right. (Just kidding.) The two “Super Sides” that Chef Repp has set forth before you are sure to be instant family classics.

Some Riesling’s I would recommend are Seven Hills, Columbia Valley, Washington, 2007 $15.99. Dr. F. Weins-Prum, Mosel Valley, Germany 2007 $15.99. Cuvee Emile Willm Reserve, Alsace, France, 2005 $20.99. Belle Pente, Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2005 $22.99

Restaurant Style Mashed potatoes

8 russet potatoes peeled and cut into 3rds

1.5 cups heavy cream

¼ cup unsalted butter

Note: The secret to great restaurant mashed potatoes is working with the potatoes while they’re hot and using a food mill or potato ricer. These are the mashed potatoes and gravy we will be serving on our thanksgiving buffet

Boil the potatoes until very soft , almost overcooked

If you want to make garlic mashed potatoes just take:

½ TBL Minced garlic and heat over medium-low heat with a pad of butter to sweat for about one minute.

Add, and melt ¼ cup of the butter with the cream in the pot with the garlic and keep warm until the potatoes are ready

Check the potatoes by sticking one with a knife. It should go right through

Strain the potatoes and place in a food mill. Grind the potatoes into a large bowl

Add the hot cream butter mixture and gently mix in with a rubber spachula

Season with kosher salt to taste ,do not over mix or the potatoes will become gummy

The gravy

1 Tbls tomato paste

½ cup red wine

3 cups low sodium turkey stock including the pan drippings. (Measure the pan drippings then add canned or fresh turkey stock to equal 3 cups)

3 Tbls flour

2 Tbls unsalted butter

2 Tbls heavy cream

Assuming the turkey has been cooked and now you have a pan of roasted vegetables (carrots, onions, celery) and drippings. If you do not have the roasted vegetables sauté 1 cup of each in canola oil until caramelized and add to the roasting pan

1) Strain the liquid into a container and skim off any fat. then return the vegetables to the roasting pan and place on a stove top burner on medium heat

2) Add the tomato paste and sauté until it starts to brown, then add the red wine and reduce

3) Add the turkey stock and simmer for 5 minutes then strain through a fine mesh strainer into a container and reserve warm

4) In a medium size sauce pan on medium heat melt the butter then slowly whisk in the flour to form a roux.

5) When the roux is lightly brown slowly whisk in the hot turkey stock and simmer until you reach your desired thickness.

6) Stir in the cream and check the seasoning