bit o irish food

last night was our second foodie club night! this time the theme was irish food so we could all get in the spirit for st. pattys day... this was much more difficult than oranges. we ended up having quite the potato feast. but with my girlfriends, a couple glasses of wine and lots of laughs we had a great night.

i decided to make guinness poutine (actually a canadian recipe but with guinness i thought it could pass for irish). i tried poutine for the first time last summer at the great minnesota get-together (the state fair in minnesota is the best) and it was amazing. well i didn't quite know how it was going to turn out because i have never made gravy before, but why not try now? it was fabulous!!!

the recipe started with sauteing white onion with butter... i love the smell of onions sauteing! 

after the onions are sauteed it was time for the mustard, guinness and all the rest! 

 i bought french fries right out of the freezer (why not?) and after baking those to a crisp i took them out and added the cold cheese curds right on top. they start to get a little melty from the hot fries.. oh yeah that's the best!

and the final product... guinness poutine! yum! i highly recommend trying this out for st pattys day this year!

recipe

guinness gravy:
2 tablespoons butter (i also added a splash of olive oil)
1/4 cup minced white onion
1 1/2 T dijon mustard
4 teaspoons corn starch
1 1/4 cup chicken stock
1 cup guinness
2 teaspoons pepper
salt to taste
other:
1-2 packages of french fries (i prefer the thin restaurant style- extra crispy)
1 package white cheese curds

In a large saucepan, saute the onion and butter over low/medium heat for about 5 minutes. stir in the mustard. slowly stir in 3/4 cup chicken stock and 1 cup guinness. in a separate shaker mix the corn starch with remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock. slowly pour in corn starch mix while stirring frequently. bring the gravy to a boil. reduce heat and stir until it thickens.add more corn starch if it is still too thin. once gravy is the thickness you prefer, stir in pepper & season with salt to taste.

put hot fries on a platter, top with cold cheese curds and lastly pour the guinness gravy on top. enjoy!



besides the guinness poutine we enjoyed reuben rolls (yum!!), potato casserole, irish tacos, irish potato cookies and bailey cream dessert. all was delicious and fun to try new things!!

^^ these are actually the irish potato cookies.. kinda look like acorns, but were very good!

 ^^these were the reuben rolls in the making... they were so tastey!! ^^