Saint Patrick's Day Coming Up Shortly

How March is flying by (happy Friday the 13th), and Saint Patrick's Day is almost upon us next Tuesday. Having had the great fun of visiting Ireland last spring, I'm viewing it through a different lens this year, but that probably won't change much from my standard menu based on the extraordinary corned beef brined in-house at the Pearl Street Whole Foods. You can't do better than a beef brined with the most basic of ingredients like peppercorns and mustard seeds clinging to it. If you need a degree in chemistry to decipher what you are cooking, you probably shouldn't be eating it. In any case, if you are looking for some ideas for the menu, here are a few guides to help you out: St. Patrick's Day Menu Inspiration from Whole Foods, Best Irish-Inspired Recipes from Epicurious, and St. Patrick's Day from Food and Wine magazine. It runs a tad counter to the Americanized Saint Patrick's Day customs, but my experience last spring was that the Irish have the finest dairy products, bacon (rashers), ham (bacon there), and the freshest fish in the world (maybe excluding New England for that fish). And potatoes. Everything I'd ever heard about the prevalence of potatoes was correct. So however you plan to do it, enjoy the wearing of the green.