Thirsty Thursday: Irish Channel Coffee

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, we'll be totally cliche and have an Irish Coffee.  BUT...because this is a Cajun Food blog [in theory], we'll put a NOLA spin on it.

Photo courtesy of cresentcityliving.com

Those not from NOLA may not be aware, but the Irish have strong historic ties to Louisiana; in fact, by 1850 one in five New Orleans residents was an Irish immigrant, forming the largest Irish population in the South.  The neighborhood just south of the Garden District is known as The Irish Channel for those who settled there in the 19th century, while another large community of Irish immigrants populated the Irish Bayou area in current East New Orleans.

Sadly, these 1800's immigrants likely never had an "Irish Coffee", as the drink was invented in the 1940s.  It was brought back to the U.S. in 1952, and much like the traditions of shamrocks, leprechauns and pots o'gold, wedged itself into our perception of our ginger-haired neighbors across the pond.

HOWEVER, if Irish Channel dwellers HAD ever made themselves an Irish Coffee, I'd like to imagine it was made with good New Orleans Style chicory coffee... and perhaps this tasty pecan praline liqueur I found recently.

Proudly made in New Orleans!

NOTE: I am fully aware that this is a very foofy version of an Irish Coffee, and that the traditional version is made with whiskey and brown sugar, with heavy cream floated on top.  However, I'm not much for whiskey, I had Cool Whip in the house, and this is MY blog.  So suck it. :)

INGREDIENTS:

4-6 oz strong chicory coffee

2 oz Irish Cream

2 oz Pecan Praline liqueur

whipped cream to top 

INGREDIENTS:
In a tall coffee mug, combine the Irish cream and praline liqueur.  Pour hot coffee over, and then top with whipped cream (I used a ziploc bag to pipe the Cool Whip on top).  Add a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg for garnish.

St. Paddy’s Day Recipe: Irish Egg Rolls!

At my office, I’m the head of our Potluck Planning Committee (I know, it’s SO “The Office”, right?)

(Angela: “I'm just trying to figure out why you're trying to sabotage things.”)

 

Although our meetings are much more succinct and less catty.  It’s more like, “there’s a holiday coming up, let’s do a potluck.” “Okay!”

Anyway…our potluck is today, and we did an Irish food theme (or green food, since every office has at least one person who’s going to bring a veggie tray because, “hey, it’s green”).  I asked the hubs what I should make, he did some research, and threw down the gauntlet: Irish Egg Rolls.

Irish Egg Rolls?

…okay, sure, why not?

Apparently he saw it as an appetizer at an Irish pub, and hey, I like egg rolls (Chili’s Southwest Eggrolls?  Hex yeah!), and I like a challenge, so that’s what we did.

The original recipe (shown here) calls for frying them, but we didn’t want all that extra grease, so we baked them instead, and they still turned out crisp and delicious.

Since I have a big office, we also doubled the size of the recipe to use up the full package of egg roll wrappers (15).

Ingredients:

8 ounces chopped corned beef (I recommend getting it freshly sliced from your grocer’s Deli)

1 tbsp bacon grease (aside from a little Pam and whatever’s in the corned beef, this is your only fat, so like I always say—might as well get as much flavor from your fat as you can.  If you’re anti- bacon grease, you can totally just use a pat of butter or a tbsp of olive oil)

2 cups shredded cabbage

2 cups diced cooked potatoes (about two large russet potatoes, diced, seasoned w/salt & pepper), peeled & boiled)

2 cups shredded carrot (took about 5-6 whole carrots, washed, peeled, & then shredded)

1/2 cup thinly sliced onion

1/2 cup sliced green onion

salt and pepper (or Cajun seasoning—it’s my go-to season-all), to taste

15 (7 inch square) egg roll wrappers

 

Directions:

Boil the potatoes, then drain. Set aside for the moment.

Heat the bacon grease in a large skillet (we used a wok, ironically) and add the cabbage, onions, carrot, and seasoning, and sauté over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes.

(I do so love colorful food!)

Then add in the corned beef & potatoes and toss, sautéing for another 5 minutes until the cabbage starts to wilt a bit.  Check for flavor & season again if needed.

Next, set up an “egg roll wrapping station”.  I did my rolling on a plate, with a small condiment bowl of water next to it. 

Scoop 1/2 cup of filling onto the first wrapper:

And then wrap the egg rolls according the instructions on the package—it’s pretty easy.  Just fold the bottom corner up snugly:

 

Then fold in the sides, then wet the top bit of the triangle with the water:

 

(Please ignore the fact that I’m flipping off the camera—it was accidental, I promise.)

And then roll the rest of the way up, and place on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet.

P.S. Heat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Once all your rolls are wrapped, lightly spritz the rolls with cooking spray—this will help them brown & get crispy & brown like as if they were fried.

 

Then bake on the middle rack for 18-20 minutes, flipping them halfway through—(I forgot to do the flip, but they still look pretty good, although the bottom looks SO perfect):

(Tops, without flip halfway through baking)

 

Serve with a Dijon or spicy brown mustard for dipping (we’re using Tabasco spicy brown mustard, because hey, this is a “Cajun” food blog, so it’s gotta be in there somewhere!)

(This shows the bottom.  Look how gorgeous & perfect that is!  So please remember to flip them.)

 

NutriFacts: (1 serving = 1 egg roll)

(Please note that in the original recipe, calorie count for one of these fried was 278 calories)

Calories 158.2

  Total Fat 3.4 g

  Saturated Fat 1.0 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 1.4 g

  Cholesterol 19.8 mg

  Sodium 516.1 mg

  Potassium 120.2 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 25.4 g

  Dietary Fiber 2.0 g

  Sugars 0.6 g

  Protein 6.5 g

 

Have a great St. Paddy’s weekend, everyone!!!

Shared on 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesday