Two lucky pins for an Irish win

Yep, I’m Irish. What gave it away? The pale skin or the red hair?

My nickname for the last gazillion years has been Big Red (6 feet tall plus red hair). I may or may not have gone to Deadwood, S.D., once with my cousin and spent an entire night talking in an Irish accent, convincing everyone I was visiting from County Cork in Ireland. My brother had one of those DNA ancestry tests done recently and discovered we descend from ancient Irish royalty. True story! To be clear, I’m only putting that in here to prove a point to my husband, who claims to be a descendant of Odin or Beowulf or whatever fictional/theoretical Nordic character is kicking more butt that day. From henceforth, I think he needs to call me Queen Red.

But I digress. One of the most quintessentially Irish things, besides potatoes, red hair and freckles, is Guinness beer. In 1759, Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease for the property that he built his brewery upon – the stuff has been around forever. There’s Jameson Whiskey and Bailey’s Irish Cream, but in my mind, Guinness beats them both for its pure “Irishness.”

For those of you who aren’t familiar, the original Guinness is a stout, dark beer that has a very strong, malty flavor, and in my experience, I’ve found people either love it or hate it. There’s really no in between. Odin/Beowulf is not a fan. In fact, when I bought a six pack for my article, he asked me why that “wood beer” was in our house. I admit, I will enjoy a pint if I’m in the right place (a pub) that knows how to pour it perfectly. There’s an art to it, and it truly is better by the pint. Yet I admittedly don’t go for the stout as my first choice in beer or booze consumption.

Then I discovered cooking with the stuff. Pinterest unearthed another gem for me in a pin titled “34 Ways to Eat Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day” from www.buzzfeed.com. Perfect! I love St. Patrick’s Day. I’m required per the natural redhead contract. This pin was like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. (See what I did there?) Honestly, there were too many yummy choices from this pin (and some that sounded completely disgusting), but I managed to narrow it down to two.

First off, a traditional Irish meal of Bangers with Colcannon and Guinness Onion Gravy from the website www. closetcooking.com. Did I lose you already? Here’s a translation: Bangers = Irish or English sausage and colcannon = mashed potatoes with “stuff” in them. Traditionally, it’s kale or cabbage, but for this, it’s bacon, green onions and cabbage. Odin/Beowulf likes man food (translation: meat and potatoes) so this fit the bill perfectly. The gravy was a combination of Guinness, thyme, mustard, garlic, brown sugar and the drippings from the fried sausage. So. Dang. Good. The Guinness gives it a really interesting, full flavor, and my hubby didn’t even notice that the despised “wood beer” was one of the main ingredients. Big Pinterest win!

It seems a little weird to add beer to a dessert, doesn’t it? Yet the pin had a ton of desserts to choose from: brownies and ice cream floats and cheesecake to name a few.

Then I saw it. Beeramisu. Yep, let that settle for a minute. I’m sure if you’ve read my column before, you have realized I have been known to imbibe from time to time, but I saw the word Beeramisu and almost died and went to boozy Irish dessert heaven. Just as you would expect, this is a take on the classic Italian tiramisu, except instead of soaking the lady fingers in espresso, they are dipped in the malty goodness of the Guinness. This also calls for Irish Cream (also alcoholic, in case you aren’t familiar) and of course mascarpone, and once you get the layers all put together, it is best to refrigerate it overnight to allow all the flavors to mix, and so it’s easier to cut. Of course the flavor is different, so don’t go into that first bite expecting the same ol’ tiramisu. Beeramisu has got a kick for sure. One piece isn’t going to do you in, but if you binge eat the whole dessert you might end up a little swervy. The flavor combination was surprisingly good, and I know I’ll make it again. The recipe can be found on www.seriouseats.com. To you I say, “Sláinte (slan-cha) – Cheers! Erin Go Bragh – Ireland Forever!” Enjoy being Irish, even if just for a meal.