Day 17: Not Quite Corned Beef and Cabbage (Sandwich and Coleslaw)

Ha! Thought by the titled you'd be seeing a whole Irish feast didn't ya? Sadly no. Maybe someday I'll get around to making a real corned beef and cabbage dinner. Or soda bread. Or an Irish breakfast with beans and bacon and grilled tomatoes. Or not... Although I do like Irish afternoon tea... I was going to wish ya'll a Happy St. Patrick's Day! Except, well, it's not. But it's the 17th you say? Well, yes it is. And thanks to Amy of Nook and Pantry, and the Catholic News Agency, I found out that this year, the 17th falls on the second day of Holy Week. *Gasp* Now, since I'm neither Irish, nor Catholic, so those of you who are can clear this up, but I would imagine having a festive holiday where people tend to indulge in bouts of drinking might not be so good to have in the middle of Holy Week. Liturgical norms would require feast days be moved to after Easter, but then St. Paddy's Day wouldn't be celebrated until April 1. So Irish Bishops suggested March 15 so the holiday would still coincide with civic events. Apparently church authorities spent weeks debating this. Weeks! (I think they should have spent more time publicizing the date change instead.) The Vatican approved. And thus, St. Patrick's Day 2008 is officially March 15, not 17. As if you really cared. Because this conflict hasn't occurred since 1940, and it won't again until 2160. And well, by then, even your kids won't be around to care. But you know how I'm such a stickler for accuracy (ie. I love trivial details.), so I thought you'd want to know. It's a good thing I didn't make a truly authentic Irish anything after all. Or cook anything green. Although if you must have green food, you could try my recipes for Sinh To Bo (Vietnamese Avocado Shake), or Bissara (Moroccan Fava Bean Dip), or Pesto with Arugula and Walnuts. And gosh, wasn't this supposed to be a month where I talked less? So OK then, onto the sandwich already. It's not quite a corned beef and cabbage dinner but all the elements are there. I've got corned beef, granted it's the deli kind. Cabbage, in the form of coleslaw. And potatoes, in the form of potato bread. Now, if you need instructions on making a sandwich, I think you've been drinking one too many green beers today. So onto the coleslaw recipe then. Found a couple of real pretty cabbages at the farmers' market. Don't worry, I discarded a lot of the outer layers so it's the healthy inside leaves I'll be using. And since I've already gone on enough, you can click on the Wikipedia link to read all about coleslaw's origins. I like to thin out the mayonnaise-yness of the coleslaw with some rice vinegar. Since it's just raw cabbage and a carrot, go ahead and make a huge batch. It's salad. It's healthy for ya. Coleslaw For a really big bowl of coleslaw, you'll need: 1 cabbage as big as you'd like, or 1 small green and 1 small red cabbage, outer leaves removed, sliced thinly 1 carrot, peeled and grated on the large holes 1 shallot, minced 1/3 cup mayonnaise 2 tblsp rice vinegar 1 tsp dijon mustard 1 tsp celery salt 1/2 tsp sugar Remove the outer leaves of cabbage. Then cut off the big stem. Cut in half. Cut out a wedge of the center stem. Then slice thinly. Wash and let drain in colander. Peel 1 carrot. Grate on the largest holes in your grater. Mince 1 shallot. I just like a little bit for taste, but don't like using onions because I find them overpowering. In a small bowl, mix 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 2 tblsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp celery salt, and 1/2 tsp sugar. Mix thoroughly. Taste. Adjust if necessary. Add the sliced cabbage, grated carrot, and minced shallot into a large bowl. Pour in dressing and toss until thoroughly mixed. Serve immediately if you like crunchy salads. Top corned beef sandwiches with the coleslaw if you'd like. After a while, the dressing juices will run, I just scoop out the coleslaw into another bowl, sans juice. Store in fridge. Now, didn't I say this would be a pretty coleslaw? I didn't? Well, then you can say my how pretty my coleslaw looks. :) Enjoy! ***** 1 year ago today, celebrate your inner Japanese for St. Patrick's Day by making Okonomiyaki (Japanese Savory Pancake). There's a cute little travel anecdote to go with the story too.