St. Patrick’s Day Dinner Party Menu

In my second book, HomeMade Memories, I included two features designed to help those who don’t feel comfortable in the kitchen: recipes are arranged in complete menus and each menu has a timeline.

I love the St. Patrick’s Day menu included in the book. However, over the years, I have new recipes that have worked their way into my meal plan—though I still do my corned beef exactly as is presented in the book (the way my mother and grandmother did it). In my childhood home, we always had corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day. We called it New England Boiled Dinner.

Since I just prepared the meal, here’s my plan—with notes, timeline, recipe links, and photos. This is the first time I am doing this here. In developing the Best-Life Project, I’d intended to include more recipes. Please let me know if you find this to be helpful.

To start with, here is my menu. Because I enjoy developing graphics, I do one for my party invitations—which are emailed. I use Canva.

The afternoon or night before there are two elements of the menu/recipes that can be done in advance and make the workload the day of the party easier. Of course, set the table the day before.

For the Beef and Guinness Pie, the beef-stew like part can be made ahead. In fact, I recommend it as its flavors are better the next day. I followed the recipe pretty closely. I couldn’t find the brined green peppercorns. I did have some green peppercorns on my shelf and I tossed in a teaspoon, or so, of those. The result was great, so I can’t imagine that the brined peppercorns were essential. I typically have fresh thyme in my herb garden. But it died back over the Winter and the new growth wasn’t out yet. I used about a teaspoon of dried thyme. My other change was to use smaller ramekins. I did this because I was offering my guests two entrees on one plate—so everyone got smaller portions of each. The recipe says it makes 4 main course servings. With my smaller portions, I got 8 servings. Knowing I was doing this, I purchased my meat in a little more generous package. Hint: Keep an eye on the liquids. I found it was a little dry toward the end. I added enough water to bring it to the right consistency. I think you could easily just use the whole bottle of beer. Later the day of the party, use frozen puff pastry (thawed) to make the crust for the pies. I didn’t freeze the dough as the filling was cool. It worked fine. I had the pies ready for the oven before my guests arrived and put them in the oven 30 minutes before I planned to serve them. I had the appetizer ready when the guests arrived: 6:00. At about 6:30 we sat down and enjoyed the salad and bread. About 7:00 we started on the main course. I put the pies in the oven about 6:30.

For the Pretzel Ring Beer Cheese Dip, the dip portion can be easily assembled in advance and refrigerated overnight. About an hour before serving, follow the directions for the “pretzeled biscuits.” The recipe says to cut an X in the dough balls. I don’t see that this does anything. After the balls are briefly boiled, I couldn’t find the X. Put the dough balls and the dip in the oven about 30 minutes before your guests arrive so that it is hot-out-of-the-oven when you serve it.

The day of the party, make the Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey’s Icing. Start with the cake. You do not want to serve it hot as it will melt the icing. This makes it a good choice for baking earlier in the day. One note on the recipe. It says to butter and line the springform pan (also known as a cheesecake pan), but the recipe doesn’t say what to line it with. I checked other similar recipes and they did not suggest lining the pan. I buttered it, but didn’t line it. It worked fine. I suggest making the cake in the morning and the frosting later, early afternoon. Once frosted, I put the cake in the refrigerator so the frosting sets up. As the recipe indicates, the frosting should look like the froth on a glass of Guinness. So, just spread it over the top. Bring it back to room temperature before serving.

Next, start on the Irish Pub Salad. Make the dressing first so all of the flavors meld. Refrigerate until ready to serve. You can wash and tear up the lettuce and boil the eggs. I prefer the steamed egg method for hard boiled eggs—but do whatever works for you. Just before your guests arrive, plate the salads, starting with the lettuce, then the quartered hard boiled eggs and the tomato wedges. Drape the green beans (I used pickled asparagus) across the center and add sliced onions and julienned cheddar cheese. Drizzle with the dressing. Serve the salads with extra dressing on the table for those who may want it.

Later in the day, about three hours before serving, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the little packet of seasoning that comes in the corned beef package and the corned beef. I rinse the corned beef first and trim off the excess fat. Basically, you are going to boil it for about 3 hours. Keep an eye on the water level and add more hot water as needed. Prepare the veggies to be added to the pot. Let the potatoes and turnips wait in a bowl of water so they do not discolor. Go take a shower and get dressed for the evening. Once back in the kitchen, put on an apron and make and bake the soda bread. I’ve used several different Soda Bread recipes. This year, my friend Dolley Carlson shared this one, from her book The Red Coat, with me. It was a big hit! I did not add the caraway seeds or the raisins. Instead of the sugar on top, I did a bit of pepper and some salt.

Then add all of the veggies—except the cabbage—to the pot with the corned beef. For a 6PM party start, you should be at about 5:30. The corned beef and veggies can stay in the hot water longer than planned, they will not be too done.

Put the appetizer in the oven. Plate the salads. Your bread should now be in the oven. Your meat and veggies are boiling. The cake is ready—take it out of the fridge and set it out so your guests can see it and ooh and aah.

Allow about 30 minutes for appetizer and drinks, then encourage guests to take their seat. Enlist a friend to help serve the salads. Assuming the bread is ready, serve it with the salads—and plenty of Irish butter. Now, add the cabbage edges to the top of the pot and cover it to steam the cabbage. After everyone has enjoyed the salad, clear the plates and serve the main course: sliced corned beef and veggies—plus the beef and Guinness pie. Top the veggies with butter and offer guests mustard for the corned beef.

End the evening with the Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake.

While St. Patrick’s Day is now behind us, it is a perfect time to purchase the ingredients on sale. It is a good dinner anytime!

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Marita has spent the majority of her adult life working with women—helping them improve relationships, achieve their speaking and writing dreams, and being the best version of themselves they can possibly be. The author of 20 books, this Living Our Best Life Project is her newest effort—through which she hopes to challenge women to be fulfilled where they are.