IRELAND-Dinner is Ready! Plus Fun and Interesting Facts

Our Irish Dinner is complete! We cooked our fresh Jumbo Sea Scallops in our sherry wine, mushrooms, and herbs. Then made our scratch mashed potatoes with butter and voila! The finished product was a rich and savory delight. While the flavors were subtle and balanced, they allowed the sweetness of the scallops to come through. I think this will be a new family favorite.

                                                                          

This is what the dishes looked like before we topped our seafood with the mashed potatoes and baked it off in the oven. The cost of this meal was only $22.50 and generously serves 4.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb Fresh Scallops
1 Cup Milk
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 Tablespoon All Purpose Flour
1/4 lb mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup Sherry
3 cups cold mashed potatoes
Salt and Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Cut scallops in half if large and simmer in milk, salt, and pepper for 15 minutes. Strain, but reserve the milk. Melt butter in saucepan, add flour, then mix well. Gradually stir in the warmed milk, seeing that it is free of lumps. Add mushrooms, sherry, and scallops.  Put into an ovenproof dish and cover the top with mashed potatoes. It might help to mix potatoes with a bit of milk to make spreading over scallops easier. Dot with additional butter and bake in a 350 degree oven until the top is gently browned, about 20 to 30 minutes. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Recipe Courtesy of http://www.all-fish-seafood-recipes.com/index.cfm/recipe/Irish_Scallop_and_Mushroom_Pie#.UvahoUbnbIU


Fun Facts about Ireland

1. Halloween was derived from an Irish festival called Samhain.
2. Irishman James Hoban  designed The White House.
3. St. Patrick’s clearing of the Emerald Isle of snakes is not true. There have never been any snakes in Ireland, just as their have never been moles or weasels.
4. St. Patrick was not actually Irish, he was Roman
5. There are more mobile phones in Ireland than there are people.
6. All teachers in the Republic must pass an oral examination in Irish in order to be able to teach. The Ceard Teastas is a requirement for teachers in all subjects and not just those teaching Irish.
7. Gaelic is the commonly spoken language in Ireland, next to Irish and English.
8. There are nearly 8 times more Polish speakers in Ireland than Gaelic speakers.
9. According to the Irish birthday traditions, people hold the birthday child upside down and bump the head slightly on the floor. The bumps correspond to the age of the child. It is believed that this tradition brings good luck.
10. The average Irish  consumes 34.6 gallons of beer per year. The second highest per-capita consumption in the world, behind Czechoslovakia.
11. The Titanic, the unsinkable ship, which sunk in its maiden voyage, was made in Ireland.
12. There is no nuclear power in Ireland, only Peat and Oil.
13. Until the 2009 Financial Crisis, The Republic of Ireland had the 2nd Highest GDP per capita in the EU. As of 2013 they are 5th.
14. 25% of Europe's computers are manufactured in Ireland. Ireland is the world's Largest Exporter of Software.
15. Many Irish Surnames start with "Mac" or "O" which respectively means "son of" and "grandson of" in Gaelic.
Sources: http://www.eupedia.com/ireland/trivia.shtml, http://www.hidden-dublin.com/facts/facts03.html