Friday is St. Patrick's Day, and this weekend will be filled with all manner of celebrations for the Irish or Irish-at-heart.

What's always (to me) been the most annoying aspect of St. Pat's festivities has been the "Irishing" of ANY drink or foodstuff by the addition of copious amounts of green food coloring. A few years back, I was offered an "Irish" Corona beer at a party.

So, the first thing we're going to do this year is lock up all the green food coloring, icing, food dye or any other substances which might be used to turn otherwise innocent food green. Save the food coloring for Easter eggs.

The first thing you need to properly celebrate St. Patty's is some good corned beef. Corned beef is made from beef brisket, and there are two basic cuts: "flat" and "point." The flat cut is leaner and slices better, but the point cut is a bit more flavorful due to higher fat content. The point cut is usually cheaper, and I actually prefer it.

When you get your brisket at the grocer's, it's most likely going to come in a vacuum pack with brine and spices. These have done their job, and it's time for them to retire. Rinse the meat thoroughly before you do anything else.

There are as many ways to prepare corned beef as there are cooks, so I'm going to stick to the method I know best: my ex-wife's. She's been fixing St. Patrick's Day brisket for over many years now, and anyone who's ever tasted it has come back the next year asking for seconds.

Traditionally, corned beef is served with cabbage, and I wouldn't have it any other way. This recipe will take care of both and leave you more time for enjoying fine Irish drinkables.

Ingredients

3-pound point cut corned beef brisket, rinsed well

1 gallon water

5 allspice berries

2 bay leaves

4 whole cloves

3 cloves garlic, crushed

½ head cabbage, cut into wedges (about 2 pounds)

2 pounds new potatoes, washed

Preparation

Preheat oven to 300° F.

In large Dutch oven (which may be renamed an Irish oven just for today), place the corned beef, water, allspice, bay leaves, cloves and garlic. Bring to a boil, uncovered, and use a spider or skimmer to skim off any brown scum on top.

Put lid on pot tightly and transfer to the oven. Braise until tender (approx. 3 ½ hours).

Remove pot from oven and corned beef from pot. Cover meat with foil to keep warm. Add cabbage and potatoes to pot and bring back to a boil on stovetop. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20-25 minutes.

Serve with your favorite horseradish or mustard sauce.

Incidentally, if you're looking for some GREAT mustards to make your corned beef sandwiches with on the days after, check out my pal Barry Levenson at the Mustard Museum.

Something that is traditionally served with this dish is Irish soda bread, and thanks to faithful reader (and "Good Eats" fan) Susan Greene, here's a variation on the old traditional theme. Susan found the traditional recipe to be a bit salty for her palate, as many do, so she tinkered a bit. Enjoy!

Irish Soda Bread With Whole Wheat Flour And Raisins

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 ½ cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

½ cup sweet butter, cut into 8 pieces

1 cup raisins (light or dark, whichever you prefer)

1 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

6 tbsp. sugar

Beat together the flours, soda and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Beat in the raisins. Stir together the buttermilk, egg and sugar and add all at once to the flour and butter mixture. Beat until batter is well blended but do not overbeat.

Spread the batter in a greased 8 x 2-inch round baking pan. With a knife, cut a cross on the top. Bake in a 375° F oven for 30 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350° F and continue baking for about 20 minutes, or until the top is a deep golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. When the bread is done it should pull away slightly from the edge of the pan. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and then remove from the pan and continue cooling on a rack.

NOW you're ready for St. Patrick's Day! With the proper drinkables, of course.

Got a comment? Question? Recipe to share? Drop me a line anytime!