Something to Celebrate

Saturday was St. Patty's day and like most I was in the mood for corned beef and cabbage and some Guiness.  Unfortunately Minnesota has been in the high 70's and low 80's the last few days and I don't like Guiness when it is warm outside so I went with Irish whiskey instead.  The Big ginger is a drink created at one of the bars in Minneapolis and consists of Irish whiskey, ginger ale and a slice of lime.  They are refreshing and delicious and a great drink for the warm March days.  I had several before and during dinner and was feeling pretty good when the neighbors arrived for dinner. 

I had corned an antelope roast and was going to have that, colcannon, and cabbage.  To start, I made glazed beets with chopped eggs and smoke sea salt on sour dough bread.  They were a fantastic starter and I will be making them again very soon.  The beets are diced and tossed with a mustard vinagrette, then spooned onto the bread and placed under the broiler for 2-3 minutes.  I chopped some hard boiled egg and piled it  on top and sprinkle with a pinch of smoked sea salt.  They were earthy and sweet with just a hint of smoke and were fantastic. 

My corned antelope was a recipe out of Hunt Gather Cook, by Hank Shaw,  It has quickly become my go to book for all things wild game related.  I was having the neighbors over last night and wasn't sure how they would receive the corned antelope so I made a corned beef as well.  The only difference I could tell between the two was the antelope was leaner and a touch firmer than the beef.  The flavor was spot on and the neighbors enjoyed the antelope more than the beef. 

St. Patricks day wasn't the only reason to celebrate.  At the end of last summer I was contacted by an editor who was putting together a book on Ramps.  She had read one of my blog posts and wanted to include it in her book.  Well, yesterday I got my copy of the book in the mail and was very excited.  So I had multiple reasons to celebrate and got to do it with friends and family.  I finished the night off with one of my Irish coffee's.

The book is available now at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  I know that it is only one recipe but for a complete novice with no training I think its pretty cool.