Oak Lawn's Secret Family St. Patrick's Day Recipes

When it comes to the perfect meal for celebrating St. Paddy’s day, it doesn’t get much more traditional than a boiled corned beef and cabbage dinner. But before you dig the big stockpot out of the pantry, there’s something you should know…. Seems we’ve been fed a wee bit o’ Blarney as a side dish to our green beer all these years. The truth is that the rather smelly (and yet oddly tasty) boiled dinner we associate with St. Patrick’s Day is rarely ever eaten in Ireland these days. But before you go and drown your disillusionment in your Guinness, know this: Such was not always the case! Corned beef and cabbage was once a fairly popular dish in Ireland and was eaten in celebration of an important event (although not the one you might think!).

In the days before Frigidaire, beef was preserved over the winter by rubbing it with pellets of salt the size of kernels of corn (hence the name “corned beef”). On Easter Sunday this corned beef would be boiled with the first spring cabbage and served to mark the end of the long, meatless Lenten fast. Irish immigrants who fled their homeland during the potato famine brought the dish with them to America’s shores where it has become as closely linked to the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day as the wearin’ of the green.

A look through community cookbooks from days gone by reveals that here in Oak Lawn, the dish didn’t begin to appear on St. Patrick’s Day dining tables until the 1960s and beyond, presumably because that’s when the population began to shift away from its predominantly German-Protestant roots toward a decidedly more Irish and Catholic demographic. But even then, recipes for traditional corned beef and cabbage were in short supply probably because, let’s face it, a boiled dinner isn’t exactly rocket science. That’s not to say, however, that there weren’t plenty of variations on the Irish theme to keep Irish eyes smilin’, including such ingredients as Jell-o, Velveeta and Coffee Rich. Patch is pleased to share a few of them with you today, along with our blessing (an Irish one, of course!): 

May this food restore your strength, giving new energy to tired limbs and new thoughts to weary minds. May this drink restore your souls, giving new vision to dry spirits, new warmth to cold hearts.

Slainte!

Irish Cream

Nancy McDonald

Park Lawn Association Cookbook 1999

1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

10 oz Coffee Rich

3 eggs

2 drops of coconut extract

1 c brandy

1 ½ tbsp Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup

Blend sweetened condensed milk, Coffee Rich, eggs, coconut extract, brandy and Hershey syrup until thick. Serve cold.

Corned Beef Salad

Margaret Rickman

Pilgrim Faith Church Cookbook

1 sm pkg lemon Jello

3 tbsp chopped onion

1 1/3 c. hot water

1 c. chopped celery

1 can corn beef (12 oz.)

1 c. salad dressing

3 hard-boiled eggs

3 tbsp chopped green pepper

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until set.

Potato Soup

Louise McKee

Pilgrim Faith Church Cookbook

6 lg or 8 med. potatoes, peeled and cut up

1 lg onion, diced

1/3 stick margarine or butter

Milk

Salt and pepper

Cook potatoes and onion together in a large pan with just enough water to cover. If necessary add water while cooking. Do not drain when done. Whip with hand beater until it resembles mashed potatoes. Add butter or margarine. Beat until it is melted. Add milk a little at a time, until desired thickness. Salt and pepper to taste.

Irish Soda Bread (My Specialty)

Marge Flaherty

St. Linus Church Cookbook 1984

3 ½ c. flour

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1 tbsp cream of tartar

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp caraway seeds

1 c raisins

1 ½ c buttermilk

½ c sour cream

Mix together. Knead. Put in greased pie plate. Make cross on top with a knife and bake in 400-degree oven for 40 minutes. Substitution for buttermilk: 1 tablespoon vinegar added to 1 cup milk.

Corned Beef Casserole

Hope Shrine and Friends Cookbook 1979

1 c corned beef, cubed

1 10-oz. pkg. bread

noodles, cooked

1 6-oz pkg. Velveeta cheese

1 can cream of mush room soup 

1 can cream chicken soup

1 small can peas

2 Tbsp onions, diced

1/2 c sour cream

Crushed potato chips

Mix all except chips and put into large casserole. Add potato chips to top and bake

in 375-degree oven for 45 minutes.

Cabbage Delight

Monica Kato

What’s Cooking at Sward 1978

 3 c coarsely chopped cabbage

1 ½ c cubed carrots

½ c shopped onion

1 ½ c chopped celery

2 c hot water

1 tbsp honey

 1 ¼ tsp salt

¼ c oil

Combine vegetables, if using canned carrots, add later. Add remaining ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Cook gently until just tender, 12-15 min.

Boiled Raisin Cake

Oak Lawn P.T.A. Cookbook 1940

1 c sugar

½ c shortening

1 ½ eggs (save one white for icing)

2 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp soda

1 c seedless raisins

1 tsp cloves

½ c chopped nuts

¼ tsp salt

Boil the raisins for 20 minutes in 2 cups water. There should be 1 cup juice when done. Mix other ingredients in order given, only dissolve the soda in the raisin juice. Bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes.