Recipe: Slainte

By Patricia Racine

March 2026

I know that I’m going to get berated for this, but there is nothing as basic as the same old corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day dinner. They don’t even eat it in Ireland; instead they eat bacon and cabbage or lamb or beef stew. We used to make Guiness Beef Stew, and it was always a hit with customers. This year I decided to turn those classic Irish flavors into a meatball dish, enter Stuffed Irish Meatballs and Guiness Gravy.

1½ lbs. meatloaf mix

1 med. Diced onion

3 minced garlic cloves

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2/3 cup Panko breadcrumbs

1 brick Irish Cheddar

Sauté the onions and garlic until soft and translucent, put them aside to cool before mixing them into the remaining ingredients with salt and pepper to taste. Form small disks, place a cube of cheese in the center of each and form them into balls. Bake them at 350º for 20-30 minutes.

1 lg diced onion

2 diced carrots

2 diced celery stalks

4 minced garlic

2 bay leaves

1 tsp thyme

2 tbsp tomato paste 

¼ cup cornstarch

2½ cups beef stock

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 can Guiness

2 tsp brown sugar

Whisk together the cornstarch and stock. Sauté the vegetables until soft, add the garlic, spices and tomato paste and cook for a few minutes. Add the broth mixture, Guinness and Worcestershire and simmer until it starts to thicken, then add the brown sugar and meatballs to heat through. Serve this over some mashed potatoes made with sour cream and shredded Irish cheddar, braised cabbage and a frothy glass of Guiness. 

Irish cuisine is known for being hearty, comforting and unpretentious and this dish has all those qualities in a nontraditional manner, blending Swedish meatballs with Irish Stew.