St. Patrick’s Day Recipes from Michael Collins

St. Patrick’s Day is just a month away, are you ready to celebrate? For me St. Patrick’s Day is always a celebration of spring coming, because by mid March I know it’s just around the corner. If you’re planning to celebrate the green this year I have a couple recipes from Michael Collins to help your St. Patrick’s Day party planning along. The recipes aren’t all for cocktails. I also have a recipe couple delicious recipes to help you with the dinner portion of your party. It’s a traditional St. Patrick’s Day corned beef and cabbage recipe with a few interesting twists.

Did you know that just over 200 years ago, there were over 1,200 Irish whiskey distilleries? Today, there are 3. Despite the decline, Irish Whiskey is making a comeback and the resurgence of Irish Whiskey is leading to innovative cocktails beyond the Irish Car Bomb and Irish Coffee.

Richard Blais, the Top Chef and Culinary Designer known for his Molecular Gastronomy and red hair is turning up the heat this St. Patrick’s Day combining Ireland’s best – Corned Beef, Cabbage and Michael Collins Irish Whiskey to make some very interesting cocktails for St. Patrick’s Day this year. Check it out…

Corned Beef and Cabbage Cocktail – The “Corned Beef Collins”

What do you think? Sound like something you’d drink? I’m not sure, but it might be fun to serve at a party just to see how people react.

Chef Blais didn’t stop there, he prepared a gourmet meal using molecular gastronomy: Corned beef cooked in Michael Collins Whiskey, brown sugar and mustard with cabbage and oak smoked potato cannelloni, now that sounds like something I could enjoy!

Corned Beef Collins

• 1 ½ oz Michael Collins blended whiskey
• 2 oz Fresh sour mix
• 2 oz Club soda
• 1 eye droplet of Corned beef extract (corned beef drippings from pan)
• 1 splash Cabbage water
• Corned beef spices and cabbage oak, aroma

1. Shake whiskey, corned beef extract and sour mix with ice.
2. Pour into Collins glass and top with club soda.
3. Smoke corned beef spice blend (bay leaf, black pepper, coriander, salt, mustard seed) with oak chips and present smoke suspended in covered, inverted glass.
4. To serve, remove glass to infuse the air with the smell of corned beef and enjoy!

Corned beef cooked in Michael Collins Whiskey, brown sugar and mustard with cabbage and oak smoked potato cannelloni

Corned Beef:

1. Take a fat piece of corned beef and lather it in equal parts light brown sugar, corning spices, a few splashes of Michael Collins Irish Whiskey and a mild mustard.
2. Cover in 2 layers of aluminum foil and Cook in a 275 degree oven over night, or for 8-10 hours.

Potato and Cabbage Cannelloni:

1. Cut off the bottom core of your cabbage and simmer in water with corning spices and a touch of butter
2. When just cooked to tender, remove cabbage and chill. Reserve cabbage water for cocktails!
3. Remove the individual cabbage leaves as “sheets” . What isn’t a nice sheet, chop up with some parsley and mix into your mashed potato.
4. In each sheet, place a line of mashed potato and roll up to form “cannelloni”
5. To serve the cannelloni, mix some instant potato flakes with grated Irish cheddar and room temperature butter. Top the cannelloni with this mixture and broil or torch to desired crispness.

Slice the corned beef and serve with the whiskey drippings alongside one of the cabbage and potato cannelloni.

Thirsty for more? Try these Michael Collins Irish Whiskey Cocktails created by top mixologists:

Irish Blond (from Dale DeGroff)

• 2 ounces Michael Collins Irish Whiskey
• 3/4 ounce Orange Curacao
• 1/4 ounce Fino sherry
• Dash of Orange Bitters

Stir all the ingredients in a bar glass with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a flamed orange peel.

Frisky Whisky (Allen Katz)

• 1 part Michael Collins
• 1 part Bärenjäger Honey Liqueur
• 1 part fresh orange juice
• 1/4 part simple syrup
• 2 Dashes angostura bitters

As always please remind your guests to drink responsibly.

Cocktail Recipes and Images courtesy of: Michael Collins