(Error in scheduling, should have posted early this morning)

In light of yesterday’s post, I should apologize heartily, and perhaps with a tinge or two of guilt… but today’s recipes really were meant in a traditional Irish way.

As we’re pagan, we celebrate Imbolc. I’m not going to go into it here, but if you want more info, I’ve written an entire little ebook on it: Creating New Pagan Family Traditions – Imbolc. <|;^)
For our Imbolc dinner, we had the following except I didn’t make the upside down cake. Instead, because it was my brother’s birthday dinner as well, we cheaped out and bought L’il Debbie cakes. Valentine hearts. When he was a kid, he ate King Dons (I think they’re DingDongs in the US) like crazy. These were the closest I could get…LOL.

Venison Roast

Marinade

Ingredients
2 c cheap, dry red wine
1 c water
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp rosemary, lightly crushed
garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Mix the marinade in a bowl. Place the roast in a large, heavy-duty resealable bag, and cover with the marinade; remove as much air as possible and seal. Set it in the fridge for at least 8 hours, but 12 is best (I have marinated meat for 36 hours for best results!). Roll it over a few times while it soaks in the liquid.

Vegetables

Ingredients
1 lb baby potatoes*
1 lb baby carrots*
8 small onions
3 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic

6-9 strips of fatty bacon

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 325*F.

Place vegetables in the bottom of the roasting pan, sprinkle with seasoning if you wish. Remove the roast from the marinade and place on top of the veggies and cover with the bacon strips. Pour a small amount of the marinade over all, and cover with the lid and set in the oven.

After one hour, turn the heat down to 275*, and continue cooking for at least 20 minutes per pound (so a 3 lb roast would need an hour). For safety, use a meat thermometer stuck in the thickest part of the roast. When the meat is done, it should read 160*F.

Set the roast on a carving tray and cover to rest.

Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside. To de-glaze, set the roaster on an element at nearly-high heat. Use a 1/2 cup of the red wine, and 1 cup of beef broth. Once the pan is de-glazed, pour the stock into a small pot and add more broth if you wish. Create a thickening for the gravy as you would for beef.

Carve the roast, and pour a small amount of the gravy across the slices on the serving platter.

Enjoy!

* If you are serving Clapshot and Cabbage, you may not want to include these veggies in the roaster.

Clapshot **

Ingredients
2 lbs potatoes, peeled & prepped
2 lbs swede turnips (rutabaga), peeled & cubed
3 lg carrots, peeled & prepped
2 lg parsnips, peeled & prepped
pinch salt for water
pinch salt & pepper for seasoning
1/4 c butter, cubed
1/3 c heavy cream
1/4 c chopped chives

Directions
Place all vegetables in a large pot, fill with water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to mid-high. Cook for approximately 20 minutes (’til a fork test shows each kind is tender). Drain and mash with butter and cream. Place in serving dish and garnish with chives.

Boiled Cabbage **

Ingredients
1 med head cabbage
3 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Remove the first few leaves to get to the fresh below. Trim the stalk end, but don’t remove the core. Cut into six wedges, and place in a large pot. Barely cover with water, and bring to a boil. Turn it down to half heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Fork test the core, if it’s tender but still a bit firm, the cabbage is cooked. Drain and place on serving plate.

Serve with butter and salt and pepper.

** Leftover Clapshot and cabbage (chopped up) can be combined and fried the next day, a form of Bubble and Squeak.

Gram’s Upside Down Apple Spice Cake

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans, chopped – if desired
2 large Granny Smith apples, cored & chopped

1 box Spice Cake mix
2 lg eggs
water & oil as called for

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350*F.

Melt the butter and spread on bottom of an 8×8 pan (spray the pan well first, trust me!).
Sprinkle with brown sugar and nuts.

Mix the batter for the cake, divide in half. Pour half of the cake over the butter, sugar and nuts. Use the remaining half for cupcakes, muffins or another cake.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the top springs back when pressed, or a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for five minutes on a rack, then run a knife around the edges. Turn the cake out onto a serving platter, letting the gooey apple topping run down along the sides. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!