Around our domicile, we'll look for just about any reason for festivities. "It's Thursday!" or "I think it's the dog's birthday!" being the most common. Our dog must be at least 145 by now...
We're not a picky lot. If we can muster a few friends and I can cook for more than one other person regardless of the reason, bring it on. Mass quantity is my specialty.
Some celebrations are more obvious than others, of course, with St. Patrick's Day being no exception. Somebody somewhere in our diluted European gene pools must have at least had a second-cousin who was Irish, right? As they say, we're all Irish on St. Paddy's Day. Hopefully the Irish whiskey in my blood counts...
My foray into corned beef began many years ago. I'd never made it, yet always wanted to try... I figured it couldn't be that difficult, right? Throw some brisket into a pot with some spices and let it go. And I was right...it's dead easy. With a few caveats.
Before undertaking any new culinary venture, I research the heck out of it. It's in my nature. I'm a virgo -- if I can't get it perfect the first time, I don't even want to attempt it. So I poked around here and there, compiling several scraps of paper filled with mystic scratchings of spice combinations and whatnot. I was certain I had it. The formula.
I procured my virgin slab of kosher brisket from the local market and hauled it home... All 12 pounds of it. For 2 people.
Did I mention I was an army cook in a past life?
I then hand assembled my magical repertoire of spices and seasonings (I'm not sharing!). This was getting exciting. The sheer volume and variety of flavors simmering in a pot of water with a giant slab of meat would be divine. Earth-shattering, even!
I carefully monitored my cauldron all day. I do believe this first corned beef experiment was the beginning of the end for my husband's olfactory sanity — the smells filling the house were beyond imagination.
After bubbling away all day in its magic elixr, it was finally time to taste the fruits of this labor. The maiden taste voyage was nigh. We carefully peeled strands of luxuriously red muscle fibers and sampled.
MEH.
Are you kidding me? What went wrong? With the sheer volume of spices and seasonings and strong, assertive flavors, I was mystified. I expected perfection and I got "Hmmm...it's okay" from my brain. Don't get me wrong...it was delicious. Better than average. Yet it wasn't what I had anticipated — I wanted the Irish dancing a jig on my tongue. (Noo, scratch that completely.) I wanted spicy fireworks exploding from my taste buds. (Much better.) It wasn't happening. So I chalked it up to live and learn. More spices next time? Maybe. Less/more/different cooking time/technique/lunar position next time? It's possible.
So we had our lovely Americanized boiled dinner with all the trimmings, plenty of Guinness and it was a lovely, lovely time. But that meat lingered in my brain. Strangely enough, I was not disheartened by this experiment, but in fact, inspired to re-examine my arsenal and formulate a new plan of attack. But first I needed another taste to see what I felt was missing.
The next day, I poked my head in the overflowing fridge and yanked off a chunk of the gorgeous meat.
And it hit me. Every single seasoning rammed into my brain with such force I was nearly bowled over. Well, not really — but the meat was that good. I tore off another chunk and threw it in the microwave — the congealed fat melted into a divine pool and the meat gently warmed up released an exotic spice 1-2 punch of monumental proportions. And it was like the meat angels were singing. I realized I had stumbled upon something.
Cooking for leftovers.
So now, I don't even bother tasting my corned beef the day it's cooked. Just kidding. Actually, I do. We still have our not-quite-Irish fare with all the trimmings (and did I mention plenty of Guinness?), but the real highlight is what happens with the delicious meat the next day. And the day after that...
One mean corned beef sandwich.
And the Colcannon? It was great. But it's even better the next day smothered in butter and baked until golden and sinful.
Lesson learned. Some things are just better the second time around.
(Promoted from the diaries - K)
Being that my husband is from sunny..hatch that... rainy Donegal Ireland, I have been schooled on what is authentic Irish food and what is not. Case and point is the "traditional St Patrick's meal" of corn beef and cabbage. My husband had never even heard of corned beef until he moved to the USA. Ham and cabbage sure, but not corned beef and cabbage. Let's not get started on the green beer ;)
For a more authentic Irish meal I would go with my husbands favorite mince and potatoes. You and I would call it an Irish stew. disclaimer: I am not a chef by profession, I just love to cook for my family!!
Irish Stew
Ingredients
2 lbs mince meat or cubed lamb
1 medium onion chopped
3-4 carrots coined
3 parsnips coined or chopped
1 small turnip sliced
(you can get the vegetables in a “stew pack” )
12-14 potatoes scrubbed and chopped.. put aside in a different pot (my husband is from ireland so he likes his potatoes.. we boil them all half for dinner tonight & half we mash for the left over conversion)
1 pkg beef gravy mix (we use Bisto which is what they use in Ireland I use that for my honey’s sake, but American brands work well as well)
1 dark beer (optional.. don’t substitute with a light beer, but you can substitute with red wine or even the equivalent oz in water.. just loses the irish mood but is yummy)
1 cup ½ water which you have mixed your gravy in.. other wise if you add the mix directly to the stew.. you get globby lumps.
Olive oil to “wet your stew pot”
Salt
Pepper
2 large stew pots..
1. if you are doing mince (ground beef) fry that up first. When it is done I rinse out my meat in a colander . otherwise this will turn out to greasy. If you are using lamb start with step 2 and then add the meat.
2 heat up olive oil til it spits. Add onions and let them brown.
3. once meat is fully browned add your vegetable minus potatoes start those boiling to the side
4. add your liquids
5 salt and pepper to taste
6. bring mix to boil and then lower temp to simmer and cover.
7.let it simmer for about an hour. Stirring every once in a while
8.serve with boiled potatoes, salt pepper and a bit of butter.
Now, as a bonus for those of you hungry for more irish yumminess, for the convertible left over recipe
Shepherd’s pie
8x8 pan
1 – 2 c cheddar cheese
1 can corn
2 -3 handful frozen peas
butter
1. fill the bottom of the pan with Irish stew..
2. top with the (drained) corn and peas
3. I like cheddar cheese.. but that is optional
4. top with your mashed potatoes you made with the extra potatoes
5. I like to add a few pats of butter to the top
6. put in the fridge to heat up tomorrow in the oven
7. next day you have no mess to clean up, just put in the oven 375 for about 40 minutes… and a no fuss meal is here.
My family loves both incarnations of this meal. I hope that this blesses you as it blesses them
Dublin Coddle was a dish that I was completely unaware of until I happened upon a menu at the Oliver St John Gogarty pub in the Temple Bar district of Dublin proper. I still have no idea how popular it may or may not be, but it does seem to have been around for a while, being a favorite dish of Jonathan Swift (if one believes such items that cannot be verified).
It is a quite simple dish to make as well as an excellent candidate for the slow cooker if one wants to go that route. It is, at it's core, a stew of potatoes, onions, sausage, bacon, and a pork stock. Anything else, from what I've read about it, is a luxury or a flourish. After eating a bowl (well, two bowls, after last night) I've come to the realization that it doesn't need much of anything else.
There are several notes which should be considered if one wishes to make this. Firstly, if you're aiming for authenticity, then the bacon should be of the British variety, the rashers, rather than the American variety. However, American bacon will work quite nicely, and will likely upset none but the purists.
Secondly, use starchy potatoes rather than waxy. As the coddle will stew for quite some time, the potatoes should cook to a point where they will fall apart if looked at sternly. Once they fall apart, the give the coddle a thickened, almost creamy texture. This is a good thing. Your typical Idaho baking spud is perfect for this dish.
Finally, the pork stock in place of water is not a necessity, but it will provide a depth of flavor that opens up the dish quite nicely. That choice is yours. Additionally, pouring a touch of Guinness in the pot also works quite well, and from what I am led to believe, is quite an acceptable behavior.
Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Place the 2 qts of water in a sauce pan over medium heat and bring to a boil.
While waiting for the water to boil, place the bacon and sausage in a skillet and fry over medium heat just long enough to get some color but not to cook thoroughly. Remove from the skillet and place in the boiling water. Allow to boil beteen 5-8 minutes. Remove from the water and slice into bite-sized pieces. Set both the water and the meats aside.
In a dutch over or casserole dish, start layering the ingredients in the following order, sliced potatoes, sliced onions, pepper, parsley, meats. Repeat this process until all of the ingredients have been used or the pot is filled.
Taking the remaining water or pork stock, pour over the layers until it barely comes up to the uppermost layer of onions. If you need more liquid, top off with more water or the Guinness.
Place in the oven and allow to stew for at least 90 minutes. Cooking it longer should not harm the dish at all as long as the liquid does not evaporate.
Ladle into bowls and serve with buttered bread or Irish Soda bread.
Serves 6-8
Due to a little accident in a swimming pool involving a flip, a misplaced hand, and a particularly viscous wall, I am current without use of one of my fingers on my right hand. If there are more than the average amount of misspellings for the next few days, let's feel free to blame the injured finger.
Since I'm going to be exploring Ireland and Scotland both via books, and in person, I thought it would be interesting if I could produce a few of the recipes from the region that happened to strike my fancy. I've touched upon Irish food before, albeit briefly, so I may get a little more in depth.
The first recipe captured my attention for two reasons - First, it's fairly simple to make and I didn't wish to tax myself too much yesterday afternoon. Secondly, it contains scallops, also known as "nature's perfect shellfish".
I really enjoyed this dish. Yes, it's a little simple for those of us who prefer chowders, but from my point of view, scallops are best when simplified. As an added bonus, this soup is very cheap to make, with all of the ingredients adding up to only a little over 12 dollars (we got the scallops for 7 dollars a pound).
I found this recipe in The Scottish-Irish Pub and Hearth Cookbook, and altered it just a tad.
In a medium sized sauce pan that has been placed over medium high heat, add the onions and butter. Allow the butter to melt and cook the onions until they just start to turn translucent, about five minutes. Add the flour and whisk together and allow to turn a light brown.
Slowly pour in the cream, just as if you were making a bechamel sauce. Cook between 8 - 10 minutes, ensuring that the soup is smooth. Stir in the Anchovy paste and lemon juice and add pepper to taste.
Add the Scallops to the soup and then immediately lower the heat to medium/medium low. Cook for another four minutes and remove from the heat completely. Add two tablespoons of the dill and mix in well, and save the remaining dill for garnishing the tops of individual servings.
Serve immediately.
Serves 6
Champ is an Irish recipe that, once you hear the ingredients, makes you think "I didn't know there was an "official" recipe for this. I mean, c'mon...it's essentially green onions mixed into mashed potatoes, something that a great majority of mashed potato fans have been doing for years, never knowing that their recipe had Irish roots...so to speak.
Oh, and while I'm raining on the parades of various mashed potato aficionados, adding grated cheddar cheese isn't a new thing either. Sorry.
Champ is traditionally served with a well in the middle that has a dab of butter melting in it. The potatoes are then eaten from outside in, with each forkful of potatoes getting dipped into the melting butter.
In a small bowl, combine the onions and the cream. Set aside.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place in potatoes and cook for 15 minutes, allowing the potatoes to become soft. Drain and place in a bowl. Add the butter, and pour in the cream and onions. Mash together well. Salt and pepper to taste.
When serving, spoon onto a plate and create a small well in the center of the potatoes. Place a pat of butter into the well.
Serves 6-8
This is the recipe that must not be named in public. Well, not true, but when I mentioned to Tara that I was making this, her reaction was less than enthusiastic. So much so, that I was a bit sadistic in bringing up this recipe for the rest of the weekend.
Truth is, the recipe turned out a little better than I anticipated. The trick here is to understand that you're eating a meat pie, and not some exquisite culinary treat. Keep that in mind. This is a hearty dish. This is the Irish equivalent of eating pot pies.
Except it's made with Guinness.
I am a big Guinness fan. No doubt about this fact. This recipe gave me the excuse to purchase some to keep at home. As a bonus, I was able have a quaff or so while baking, all the while the sounds of me heartily yelling "Oi! Oi! Oi!" played in my head. I'm fairly sure this means I am all set for St. Patrick's day.
As to the recipe: I urge you to use Canadian Bacon (if you're here in the States...or Canada. If you're in Ireland, you already know which bacon to use). You can use traditional American bacon, but you'll end up with a saltier dish. The Canadian Bacon makes the pie sweeter than one could imagine.
Pre-heat over to 350 degrees F.
Bake base of pie shell blind (meaning weighing down the bottom of the pie crust with either pie beads or dried beans) for 10-12 minutes, ensuring the crust is starting to become golden/golden brown, but not entirely. Remove from oven and set aside. Lower the heat to 325 degrees F.
Using a large mixing bowl, combine flour with salt and pepper. Liberally dust the cubes of steak with the flour.
In a large skillet, melt the three tablespoons of lard over medium heat. Add the diced bacon and fry between 3-4 minutes. Add pieces of steak, tapping off any excess flour before placing in the skillet. Brown the meat for 8-10 minutes. Remove the beef and place the pieces into a casserole dish to cool. Leave the bacon in the skillet. In the remaining bacon and lard drippings sauté the onions until golden.
While the onions are frying, combine the Guinness, honey and currants in a medium mixing bowl. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes.
Remove the onions and bacon from the skillet and combine with the beef in the casserole dish. Top with the Guinness mixture and add chopped parsley. Wrap the top with Aluminum foil and place in the oven to bake for 2 and a half hours.
Remove from oven and ladle meat filling into the baked pie crust. Top with the unbaked pie shell, brush with egg whites, and place back in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until top is a golden brown. Remove from oven and sit for 15 minutes. Slice and serve.
Serves 4-6
