Claire Phelan is a chef, caterer, cooking instructor and writer. She loves produce deals, NYC history and hosting pop-up dinners in various places! She is also an organizer for Girl Party, which connects extraordinary women through unconventional gatherings. Follow her cooking and events on Instagram @cookingwithclaire and @girlpartybk.
Hearty beef & Guinness stew with carrots and mushrooms, over mashed potatoes
My mother is born-and-raised solid country stock from County Westmeath, Ireland. She remembers St. Patrick’s Day celebrations as chiefly religious, with the country going to mass with freshly-picked clovers pinned to buttonholes to honor their patron saint. Then there would be a shared family meal with special-occasion ingredients like beef or lamb, usually presented in roasts or stews.
Regardless of how you choose to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (or whether you want to avoid all related shenanigans entirely), this traditional Irish dish is straight-forward, nourishing, rich, and perfect for spooning out among any group of friends and family (though with all due respect to my grandmother and her preferred method of just dumping everything in a big pot and leaving it, I’ve added and tweaked some steps to improve texture and flavor).
Finished carrot salad plated at one of my recent pop-up dinners!
Is anyone else getting to the point with their winter CSA where they’re drowning in carrots? To keep dinner fun (instead of “again??”), I’ve been dipping into other cuisines for inspiration.
Spanish tortilla with cubed potatoes, onions, garlic and winter greens!
The McGoldrick Park Winter Market started at the end of last month! Its now-indoor location is Lutheran Church of the Messiah, at 129 Russell Street. The market will also be open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on February 21st and March 20th.
Its produce-focused vendors are D&J Farm, Garden of Eve Farm and Jersey Farm Produce. I definitely recommend checking out the Down to Earth Markets website if you wanna see what’s fresh and likely available from these farms ahead of time! Or else just feel safe knowing this is a totally delicious recipe that is totally adaptable to pretty much whatever fresh veg you find.Continue reading →
Delicious and different red quinoa risotto! With baby beets, chives, parmesan & lots of white pepper.
Looking for a Valentine’s Day recipe?
This recipe is a true labor of love. It’s perfect if you’re working from home or inside on a rainy weekend afternoon, but I really don’t recommend attempting it on a regular work night like I did, unless you’re already a fan of the 11:00 pm dinner.
This salad features some seasonal, seedless citrus: blood oranges and Cara Cara oranges. Both types of oranges are usually expensive, and so can be substituted as needed with grapefruits, clementines or similarly juicy citrus of your choice.
This past week (and hopefully in the weeks to come), Mr. Berry at 872 Manhattan Avenue has been selling Cara Cara oranges for a dollar each, and blood oranges for 79 cents. Pomegranates can be found at a number of neighborhood groceries, including C-Town and The Garden, though they are always cheaper when spotted at the smaller fruit and veg shops.
This weekend’s weather might keep you inside, but that’s a great excuse to cook. My husband and I are signed up for the Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA, which drops off boxes of organic eggs and produce at Manhattan Avenue’s Eastern District each week. The CSA winter session just started, and I was excited to open my box this week to a variety of root vegetables.
Today’s soup stars two of those CSA gems, carrots and sweet potatoes, both rich in potassium — an important mineral most Americans underconsume. So stock up on this hearty deliciousness to SOUP UP your healthy muscle, heart and kidney function! What else are you going to do tomorrow while you’re inside Netflixing and chilling?
