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Eat Like an Irishman With Tips From Stewart's

We’re already into March, which means St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner. It’s a day when everyone’s Irish, and many dinner tables will feature corned beef, a dish that’s often trotted out for the holiday and then forgotten. That’s perhaps understandable, because the main course of many St. Paddy’s Day dinners is less than memorable. But it needn’t be that way, according to some of the experts at Walter Stewart’s Market.

“You have to remember that corned beef needs to be boiled until it’s fork tender,” says Joe Carriera, the New Canaan market’s chief butcher. “That can take a good four hours. Less than that, and the meat will be tough and chewy.” Halfway through that time, toss in a batch of carrots and potatoes, and you’ll have yourself a perfect Irish dinner.

All that cooking means corned beef will shrink more than many meats, so be sure to allow more when selecting a cut and buy about three-quarters of a pound per person, says Carriera. And Jamie Mezes chimes in with a secret he learned from a chef. “Use half club soda in the liquid,” he says. “I don’t know why, but it makes the meat extra tender.”

Don’t want to spend all that time cooking? Carriera suggests going to the deli department and buying corned beef sliced for sandwiches. “Steam it for five minutes, and it’s ready to eat,” he says, adding that a “nice hearty mustard” is a necessary accompaniment.

Stewart’s will also have corned beef alternatives in its prepared foods department, which is led by Ireland native Lilly McAlinden. “We’ll have vegetarian shepherd’s pie which is just delicious, and bangers and mash [sausage and potatoes for the uninitiated]. We’ll have them for lunch on St. Paddy’s Day, and in the prepared foods department all that week.”

So whether you’re Irish born and bred or Irish just for a day, you can eat like a True Son of Erin's at Stewart’s.

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