A Wee Bit of Irish

 

May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and a smooth road all the way to your door.

Add a wee bit of Irish to your cooking-recipes to kick start March.

Corned Beef Puff Pastry 

Cook's notes: The filling is enough for 12 puffs so you will need 1 pastry sheet plus half of another sheet. The puff pastries can be served as an appetizer or as a side with soup. Ham could be substituted for corned beef.
Recipe inspired by pamperedchef.com

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 puff pastry sheets
• 6 oz. deli corned beef chopped
• 3 tablespoons diced green onion
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
• 3 tablespoons pickle relish, drained
• 1 tablspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 egg and 1 teaspoon water
• Sesame seeds
• optional 1/3 cup drained sauerkraut

Directions:

• With a pastry wheel cut one sheet into 9 equal squares and 3 squares from another sheet.
• Use a food processor to combine filling ingredients.
  
  
  
• Add 1-1/2 tablespoons filling into each pastry square. Fold pastry over filling by bringing up corners diagonally. Press corners together to meet in center.
• Preheat over to 400 degrees. Beat egg with water in a small bowl. Brush pastry with egg wash (this will give the pastry a nice sheen). Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  
  
  
• Place in medium sized muffin pans. Bake until pastry is golden brown and puffed, about 14 minutes. Note: I did not have a medium sized pan (wish I did) and had to use a large muffin pan that really was too big for this recipe but I made it work.
• Let pastry puffs cool in pan for 5 minutes. Run a sharp paring knife around pan edges to loosen; turn out puffs onto rack to cool slightly before serving.

Reuben Quesadillas

Cook's notes: A simple twist to the traditional reuben sandwich. 
Cooking Tips: To prevent quesadillas from getting soggy make sure you press the sauerkraut dry on a paper towel. So the cheese melts and the corned beef gets heated through cover the quesadillas with a baking sheet on the griddle. Cook one side of quesadillas, uncover, flip sandwich over and recover with the baking sheet.
Use a prepared lite Thousand Island Dressing.
And yes one more thing- Don't forget the Guinness! Who needs dessert anyway.
Recipe makes 4 sandwiches and was adapted from cuisineathome April 2017.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
• 8 oz. deli Corned beef, sliced thin
• 1 cup sauerkraut, drained
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 4 whole wheat flour tortillas
• 4 tablespoons lite Thousand Island Island Dressing

Directions:

• Heat griddle or fry pan to 400 degrees and lightly grease.
• On one half of each tortilla arrange in the following order: 1/2 cup cheese, 1/4 cup sauerkraut, 2 oz. corned beef, 1/4 teaspoon sp. caraway seeds, and 1 tablespoon dressing.
• Fold in half and transfer to griddle. Cook until quesadillas are golden on each side and cheese is melted about 5 minutes per side.
• Slice into wedges.

MARCH 2 READ ACROSS AMERICA 2021