Once upon a time there was,
Irish ways and Irish laws,
Villages of Irish blood,
Waking to the morning, waking to the morning
There is a rich history in Ireland of "Cead Mile Failte" or a hundred-thousand welcomes. A stranger was never turned away, but always welcomed with open arms and the best cut of meat and the finest brew on the place. I love being in Ireland sharing a meal with my friends be that at home, in the Pub or at one of the new posh restaurants springing up all over the country. I've developed and collected these recipes over many years of having fun in the kitchen with Irish cooks, and, you know, the thing I come away with is just this: use the best and freshest local ingredients as you can and know you are very close to the land and love it. Oh, and two other things: have everything at room temperature and Guinness in Ireland is THE DRINK OF GODS!
IRISH STEW
Monica Sheridan was a chef on Irish TV in the 60's: "The original Irish Stew was made not from mutton, but from kid, a very poor Irishman's dinner as he had to sell the mutton to make a living. It was made in a bastable (cast iron pot with three feet) over a peat fire with peat coals on the lid. Slow, fragrant cooking. Lamb neck's were the preferred cut of meat as the young male kids were very disposable."
We are using lamb stew cut. If you want to use lamb's necks or lamb soup bones to flavor the broth, please see your butcher a few days or weeks in advance, my German butcher was just too happy to oblige.
3 pounds lamb's neck or 2 lbs. lamb stew meat
8 medium potatoes
2 large onions sliced
3 sprigs thyme
2 Cups water if using bones, 1 C water and 1 C beef broth if not
Salt & Pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
The best way to cook an Irish Stew is in a cast iron pot with a lid.The next best is an oven proof pot with a tight fitting lid. Peel the potatoes and soak for 1 hour in cold water, drain. Slice 1/3 in thin slices; leave the rest whole. Place a layer of all of the sliced potatoes, a layer of 1/2 of the onions, & all the lamb. Season well and add 1/2 the thyme. Cover with the remainder of the sliced onions & whole potatoes cut into halves on top. Season again with salt, pepper and thyme. Add the two cups liquid. Cover the pot with aluminium foil to seal and then the lid. Cook for 2 1/2 hours. The thinly sliced potatoes at the bottom of the pot should thicken the juice and the potatoes on the top should remain floury. You'll sleep like a baby after eating this. 6-8 servings.
Note: Adding veggies like carrots or peas is probably debatable nowadays, but in traditional Irish cooking it simply was not done. They were always served on the side.
Men are like bagpipes no sound comes from them till they're full
GALWAY VEGGIES
A friend from Galway gave me this recipe
4 medium carrots
4 medium turnips or white parsnips
2 Tbsp. butter
salt & pepper to taste
Peel and slice the carrots. Peel and chop the turnips or parsnips. Cook in boiling salted water SEPARATELY until tender. Drain both vegetables and return to the separate pots to heat and dry off the veggies. Combine and mash, add butter, salt, pepper to taste.
SHAMROCK PEAS
Finger lickin' Monica's veggie recipes. When chastised for tasting from the spoon and licking her fingers, she sniffed, " what's the matter, my fingers are clean!"
1 12 oz package frozen peas
1 Tbsp butter
Place frozen peas and butter in a saucepan; cover with a tight fitting lid. Place pan on slow heat. Gently shake pan from time to time while cooking. This takes about 15-25 minutes to thoroughly heat the peas. Do not lift the lid while cooking - just shake the pan. They do retain their bright green color and fresh flavor and will "pop" in your mouth with this method. A good compliment to stew or chicken.
COLCANNON
You might think this is a Scottish recipe, but it is a derivative of Champ, which is a very old Irish way to make potatoes for babies - just leave out the cabbage.
1 1/2 pounds white potatoes
1 1/2 cups milk
6 scallions, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups boiled green cabbage, chopped
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 Tbsp. chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
Peel potatoes and soak in cold water for about an hour. Cook potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain and stick back on the stove with a folded towel on top of the pot until the potatoes are dry. Mash potatoes. Meanwhile, scald the milk and pour boiling water over the scallions to keep them bright green then drain. Add hot milk to potatoes and beat until fluffy. Toss cabbage with melted butter. Add scallions, cabbage and parsley to potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and serve.
Traditionally, colcannon was served at Hallow's Eve. Miniature thimble and horseshoe, button, sixpence, and a wedding ring are wrapped individually in paper and stirred up in the Colcannon to foretell the fortunes of the new year. The thimble means a spinster, the horseshoe good fortune, the button a bachelor, sixpence wealth and the wedding ring a happy marriage.
The other March dinner would be the above veggies with a roast chicken or Tinker's Chicken, ahem. Abscond with chicken, wring neck, encase in mud, bury in foot deep hole, build fire over hole, cook tatties over fire and if guardia (Irish police) come, laugh, later, dig up chicken and crack mud, feathers and all will come away leaving a lovely snowy breast and moist flesh to savor.
Creations of the hands are a reflection of the spirit
BROWN BREAD or ARAN DONN
This bread I had at a wonderful restaurant in Spiddal, Ireland in 1998. I have adapted it. The restaurant is called Boluisce. If you ever get the chance....it's still there!
3 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 Cup Wheat Bran, toasted
1/4 Cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. baking soda
2 1/2 - 3 Cups buttermilk
PreHeat Oven to 400F degrees
Sieve the baking soda and then mix in the rest of the dry ingredients. Add 2 1/2 cups buttermilk and bind, add more buttermilk if needed.You'll probably need between 2 3/4 & 3 cups buttermilk depending on the elevation and humidity and temperature where you are! Turn out into a 9" X 5" greased glass loaf pan and cook 45-60 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick starting at 40 minutes. This is all eyeballs and nose! Let cool in pan. Serve with Kerrygold butter, the salted kind. It really does compliment both of the breads.
IRISH BEER BREAD
3 Cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 Cup sugar
12 oz. good beer (I've used Guinness, Murphy's, Smithwicks, hoppy microbrews, esb ales, and Buttwiper when that was all I had) at room temperature
PreHeat Oven to 350F degrees. Mix all ingredients together and pour in a greased 9X5 glass loaf pan. Bake 350F degrees for one hour. Cool 15 minutes and turn out of pan onto rack to completely cool.
A narrow neck keeps the bottle from being emptied in one swig
IRISH SEEDCAKE WITH WHISKY GLAZE
If you can get Paddy's Irish Whiskey (only sold in Ireland), do use it. I was once going from Dublin to Glasgow and felt like I was getting very sick. I took two shots of Paddy's at the airport on a Sunday morning and by the time I got to Glasgow I was fine.
1/4 C poppyseeds
2 Tbsp fennel seeds
3/4 C strong Irish Tea
3-4 Tbsp Irish whiskey
2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 C sour cream
Confectioner's sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine seeds and soak in 1/2 C tea with 1/1/2 Tbsp whiskey added. Set aside to soak. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time then the vanilla. Mix in flour mixture 1/3 at a time, sour cream 1/2 at a time. Add seeds and tea mixture. Cook for 30-45 minutes depending on the pan you are using until golden brown and done in the center. Cool in pan.
You can use a bundt pan or an 8" single cake pan with a 5 3/4" X 3" X 2 1/8" small loaf pan or several small loaf pans or a muffin tin. However, the pan(s) must be greased and floured.
The glaze is a simple one. Just whisk together sifted confectioner's sugar, a bit of the tea and the whiskey to taste. I usually make up a little bit fresh every time the cake is eaten.
CHOCOLATE POTATO CAKE
A fun recipe for the kids. It does come out really moist and flavourful.
1/2 lbs. butter
2 C. sugar
4 beaten eggs
3 ozs. unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 C. unseasoned mashed potatoes
2 C. pre-sifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 C. buttermilk
1 C. nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Have all ingredients at room temperature. Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside. Combine butter & sugar and mix until creamy & light. Add eggs, one at a time. Mix in chocolate & potatoes. Add flour mixture & buttermilk to chocolate mixture beginning & ending with the buttermilk & mix well. Fold in nuts that have been tossed withcocoa powder. Pour into a 9" lightly buttered spring-form pan. Bake 45 minutes at 350F degrees. Cool cake in pan for 20 minutes. Then place cake on plate. Keep in air tight container to retain moistness. This cake is actually better the next day.
For a hangover the next day a Black Velvet is just the trick. 1 C Guinness and 1/2 C Champaign. Pour Champaign into Guinness and enjoy!
A good wine for the main course would be a grassy sparkling white wine like Schloss Biebrich sold at Trader Joe's or beaujolais or Guinness at room temperature, of course. Martinelli's sparkling apple juice is also a good choice.
The "Celtic Tiger" is really rocking and rolling at present and the new cuisine chefs of Ireland are competing with the best in Europe, but sometimes the old ways are the best ways. Slainte!