Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Okay, so I'm not exactly Irish nor am I Catholic but seeing how the Boyfriend had the day off, we could not resist the opportunity to have our friends over to hang out.  We thought up a menu, I went shopping with one of my dear girlfriends, and prepped late Saturday night.  I had already painted my nails a festive green with gold sparkles and got dolled up Sunday afternoon before everyone showed up.
Now I am fat and happy, cleaned up, and ready to share the details of the night!

I know it's tradition to feast on corned beef and cabbage but the Boyfriend and I weren't feeling very keen about it.  I love raw cabbage but cooked cabbage I tolerate.  We decided to stay geographically close with cuisine so we settled on Scotch eggs with maple beer mustard and mashed potatoes.  I bought a salad bag the night before so we would have some fresh veggies to eat with the meal but the next day, I had forgotten about them.  -.-... The Boyfriend cooked some corn to add on the side instead.  After the meal, my friend asked, "What happened to the salad?"  =O....

In the end, everything was delicious and we finished our night with some delicious creme brulee!  Which, yes, may not be exactly Irish either BUT... it is a custard-y dessert and seemed like something they would eat.  xD Not exactly a light meal which is why I'll be eating that huge salad bag sitting in the fridge for the remainder of the week.  =X

Hit the jump for the recipes!

For the Scotch eggs, you will need:

• 8 soft-boiled eggs
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 lb sausage meat
• 3 garlic cloves
• dried parsley
• flour
• bread brumbs
• 1 raw egg

1. Peel the boiled eggs and set aside.  This can be done the night before.
2. Mix up the pork and sausage with grated garlic and some parsley.  This can also be done the night before.  Let it the mixture sit for about an hour or so.
3. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and dampen your peeled eggs with water.
4. Roll each egg in the flour.
5. Flatten out a ball of meat and place an egg on it.  Proceed to wrap and cover up the egg with meat.  Now you have your uncooked Scotch egg.
6. Roll the Scotch egg in a beaten egg, followed by the bread crumbs.
7. Arrange your Scotch eggs on a sprayed baking sheet.
8. Pop your eggs into the oven for 30-40 minutes.

It's better to have extra meat when making these because when the egg is cooking, the meat shrinks back.  I barely had enough to cover all of my eggs so when I pulled them out of the oven, the boiled egg showed in patches. =(  Next time, I will be more prepared!!

For the maple beer mustard, you will need:

• 1 jar of dijon mustard
• half a bottle of beer (I used light beer but dark beer seems to be the standard)
• maple syrup

1. Pour some beer into a small sauce pan and let it simmer to evaporate some of the alcohol.
2. Add the entire jar of dijon mustard and stir, mixing well.
3. Drizzle in some maple syrup according to taste.
4. Let the mustard cool and it is ready to use.  I poured mine back into the jar.  :)

Beer mustard in generally made by soaking mustard seeds or powder in beer.  The process seems a little inconvenient and complicated for me so my girlfriend and I decided to make it with our own spin on it.  The end product ended up being delicious!  The beer really changed the tang of the mustard.  The Boyfriend loves it and can't wait to put the leftover mustard on sandwiches.

That's the face of my happy man!

I won't be putting up the mashed potatoes recipe because I didn't cook it.  That's the Boyfriend's territory and he has perfected it to the tee.  I still have some leftover creme brulee custard so I'll throw up the picture and recipe later this week!