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St. Patrick's Day


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March 17th is coming up and I am sure some of us (not me) are Irish, and will be preparing food to celebrate the wearing of the green.

Besides the traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage, Dublin Coddle, Soda bread, and Colcannon/Champ, what other dishes are really Irish? Is there a modern Irish cuisine? Isn't there more to Irish food than a lot of potato jokes? Ireland is supposed to have some of the best fishing and seafood in all of Europe, isn't it?

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

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Guinness-soaked beef, soda bread, Irish stew, bread, foul and feathered game, bread, blood sausage, eggs, bread, oatmeal, bread.

Oh yeah, and did I mention there is a lot of bread?

As for that plentiful Irish bread, bake yourself a loaf of Barm Brack. The yeasted kind, not the "tea" brack which is like so many British loaves made of tea-soaked fruit and chemical leavening. With currants and a bit of candied citrus peel, it makes the best toast in the world. Probably pretty damn good French Toast too.

And bread pudding...

Excellent recipe for it in Darina Allen's book...can't remember which one and I left it at work. The bread is called Halloween Barm Brack and has little symbols baked into it: a ring, you'll get married this year; a thimble, you'll be a spinster...

Wish I had a loaf now...oh! I do have hot cross buns! nearly as good.

kit

"I'm bringing pastry back"

Weebl

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I have been digging in my bookcases looking for the Irish Heritage Cookbook by Margaret Johnson.

I do have several of Darina Allen's cookbooks but this one is my favorite.

I also have a very small, very old cookbook titled A Feast of Ireland, by Diarmuid.

Only one name, no date, apparently self-published.

I got it as part of a library collection I purchased several years ago. I have never been able to find any references to the book.

It has recipes for wild game, rabbit, grouse, etc., as well as trout, salmon, cod and another fish that I can't recall, that was supposed to come from Dingle, as well as shellfish and seaweed.

I made several of the baked items. I will have to dig out my old notes and see what I thought of them.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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corned beef and cabbage (and oh how i love it) is an irish-american tradition. you won't find it served in ireland except in establishments catering to americans.

but it's what we're having. and a pint of murphey's

joe

petersburg, alaska

sure it rains alot, what's your point?

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1) Scotch Broth

2) Gaelic Mixed Grill of, lamb, bacon, chicken, salmon, & liver.

3) Pete Smoked Salmon

4) Ale & Cheddar Soup

5) Guinness Glazed Root Veggies (Brilliant!!) :biggrin:

6) Oatmeal bread Onions

7) Barley & Cabbage pilaf

I Will Be..................

"The Next Food Network Star!"

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corned beef and cabbage (and oh how i love it) is an irish-american tradition. you won't find it served in ireland except in establishments catering to americans.

but it's what we're having. and a pint of murphey's

This is a popular dish in Ireland on the big day. However, you are probably commenting on the type of meat used in the dish. Traditionally, in Ireland this dish would have been made from a pork joint or other tough cut (possibly even pork hock) and cooked in stout or ale. The use of corned beef is (as some say) probably more American, but the combination of a salty or brined meat and cabbage goes back a long way in Ireland. The chances that a peasant would eat beef on any given day was probably nil...but a lesser cut of pork or mutton would not be unheard of.

John

Edited by dodger (log)

It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.

Hunter S. Thompson ---- R.I.P. 1939 - 2005

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society."

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A sixpack and a potato. Neither of my Grandmothers (Murphy & Sweeney) could cook, and neither had any clue what Irish food was.

:smile: I am in full agreement with DeVeaux.....I'm not Irish but I've always had a few Guinesses and a corned-beef sandwich on St. Pats while at the yearly St. Pats parade in Balboa Park in San Diego. It works for me! :wink:

"We do not stop playing because we grow old,

we grow old because we stop playing"

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Corned beef and cabbage was something the Irish picked up from the Yankees. I understand that in Ireland, bacon was more traditional. My wife once worked at a place where they served corned beef and cabbage on March 17, and when one of her Jewish colleagues tasted it she said: "No wonder you people drink."

"Last week Uncle Vinnie came over from Sicily and we took him to the Olive Garden. The next day the family car exploded."

--Nick DePaolo

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A sixpack and a potato.

That's the punchline of a joke an irish friend used to tell:

"What d'you call a seven-course Irish meal?"

[buddum bum!]

...but this septet looks mighty good:

1) Scotch Broth

2) Gaelic Mixed Grill of, lamb, bacon, chicken, salmon, & liver.

3) Pete Smoked Salmon

4) Ale & Cheddar Soup

5) Guinness Glazed Root Veggies (Brilliant!!) biggrin.gif

6) Oatmeal bread Onions

7) Barley & Cabbage pilaf

Edited by johnnyd (log)

"I took the habit of asking Pierre to bring me whatever looks good today and he would bring out the most wonderful things," - bleudauvergne

foodblogs: Dining Downeast I - Dining Downeast II

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When I visited Ireland, I had great oysters, mussels, smoked salmon and trout dishes.

We also had some delicious local cheeses (Gouda style, though, really) and pates and terrines.

My husband liked beef stew made with with Guinness, beef ribs made with Guinness and beef pie made with, yes, Guinness.

I have a recipe for Steak and Guinness pie if you're interested. It involves bacon, raisins and brown sugar.

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2 lbs beef steak cut into small pieces

1 tbsp seasoned flour

6 tbsp butter

8 rashers of bacon, chopped small

5 onions, chopped

1 tbsp raisins

1 tsp brown sugar

1 1/4 cups Guinness

shortcrust pastry

beaten egg to glaze

Brown meat and simmer for two hours with other ingredients. Top with pastry & egg glaze, cook in a hot oven until golden brown.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This recipe is adapted from a little cookbook that I bought at the Guinness factory in Dublin. The cookbook is magnetic, so (a) it sticks to the fridge and (b) the recipes are certainly fabulous!

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That beef stew looks fabulous!

When I was a newbie in the NZ hospitality industry, a few and some years gone, the deal with St Paddy's Day was colouring as much of whatever you sold a bright shamrock green! Draught beer, whiskey, mashed potatoes, meat pies, stuffed shoulder of hogget, orange roughy, pavlova, ice cream, were but a few to be 'dyed' for!

Serious St Patrick's Day always had Irish Stew amongst some seafood and simple veg, and my alltime favourite cooked oyster dish; Oysters Kilpatrick, which was assembled on Bluff Strait oysters on the half shell. Well cooked bacon baton, butter and Worcestershire Sauce on top, thrown under a salamander for 30 secs. Manna of heaven! These were washed down with Black and Tans, or Black Velvets, with cheddar, oat cakes, and Jameson's on the side.

This year I'm doing Irish Stew, with leeks and parsley dumplings.

Looking forward to the 17th!

John

"Venite omnes qui stomacho laboratis et ego restaurabo vos"

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, St Patrick's Day is tomorrow and I still haven't decided what to make... I'm in a "St Patrick's Day rut", always making one of three dishes for the occasion: Steak and Guinness pie, corned beef and cabbage or lamb stew.

My butcher told me he was getting one fresh lamb in today, so I was there bright and early and got the shanks, 4 shoulder chops and some shoulder stewing pieces, so I'm thinking stew it is this year.

Does anyone have any other ideas for an Irish dish involving lamb? :smile:

Cheese: milk’s leap toward immortality – C.Fadiman

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I've got at least ten pounds of brisket in the fridge, turning into corned beef. If you've never tried corning your own, you oughta. It's easy to do, and head & shoulders above the salt-n-food coloring crap you buy at the grocery store.

We'll be eating it Saturday at our cabin, along with cabbage, parsnips, and rutabagas. Oh, and I suspect there will be some beer and scotch being passed around. We're just that type of people. :blink:

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1) Scotch Broth

2) Gaelic Mixed Grill of, lamb, bacon, chicken, salmon, & liver.

3) Pete Smoked Salmon

4) Ale & Cheddar Soup

5) Guinness Glazed Root Veggies (Brilliant!!)  :biggrin:

6) Oatmeal bread Onions

7) Barley & Cabbage pilaf

Chefreit

Guinness Glazed Root Veggies sounds tasty indeed. Can you give me a little guidance on how to prepare this? Actually, your whole list sounds pretty amazing.

I would live all my life in nonchalance and insouciance

Were it not for making a living, which is rather a nouciance.

-- Ogden Nash

http://bluestembooks.com/

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1) Scotch Broth

2) Gaelic Mixed Grill of, lamb, bacon, chicken, salmon, & liver.

3) Pete Smoked Salmon

4) Ale & Cheddar Soup

5) Guinness Glazed Root Veggies (Brilliant!!)  :biggrin:

6) Oatmeal bread Onions

7) Barley & Cabbage pilaf

Chefreit

Guinness Glazed Root Veggies sounds tasty indeed. Can you give me a little guidance on how to prepare this? Actually, your whole list sounds pretty amazing.

Glaze:

Cook the stout down by 3/4, or to a syrupy consistency. Remove from heat, wisk in butter, stirring constantly. Add chopped chive, salt, pepper, and grated ginger.

What you are looking for is a buttery emulsion flavored with G. Stout.

Root veggies of your choice cut to a lg. dice. Parsnips, rutabaga, carrots, celery root, ect. Coat w/ Oil of you choice, or bacon fat at 350 till tender.

I hope this helps.

Harry

I Will Be..................

"The Next Food Network Star!"

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We'll be having Braised Beef with Guinness and for dessert, Butterscotch Tart. Both from 'West of Ireland Summers' by Tamasin Day-Lewis. This is a lovely cookbook with memories from a really good down-to-earth writer(IMO).

If only Jack Nicholson could have narrated my dinner, it would have been perfect.

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Glaze:

Cook the stout down by 3/4, or to a syrupy consistency. Remove from heat, wisk in butter, stirring constantly. Add chopped chive, salt, pepper, and grated ginger.

What you are looking for is a buttery emulsion flavored with G. Stout.

Root veggies of your choice cut to a lg. dice. Parsnips, rutabaga, carrots, celery root, ect. Coat w/ Oil of you choice, or bacon fat at 350 till tender.

I hope this helps.

Harry

Many Thanks! This sounds scrumptious. A worthy cause for the sacrifice of a bottle of Guinness if I ever heard of one.

I would live all my life in nonchalance and insouciance

Were it not for making a living, which is rather a nouciance.

-- Ogden Nash

http://bluestembooks.com/

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I don't see any mention of an Irish breakfast for tomorrow. Anyone ever had one?

I tried an Irish breakfast in Chicago once - I could live with the potatos and fried tomatos, but have never eaten anything as ghastly as the black pudding and white pudding.

I'll be putting granola in me Irish tummy come tomorrow mornin' instead of that shite.

"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

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I missed this thread, til today. I pulled out my "Cooking at Ballymaloe House" and it evoked memories of glorious cheeses, fresher-than-fresh vegetables that you could watch the cooks' helper bringing in one door, while another course was being put on the table. Heavy meats, but wonderful, I remember, and the lamb WAS, indeed, a sprouty little topiary of rosemary sprigs. No one ever heard of calories or carbs, as attested by one dish of "Champ" or Champit potatoes, which are a lovely mash with great lashings of sauteed green onions, heavy stand-a-spoon-in cream, all served with a great hole in the middle, into which goes about a cup of butter to melt and run all down through the dish with each subsequent dip of the spoon.

The dessert cart was a marvel, with very dainty offerings, as well as good heavy cakes and more of that marvelous cream on everything. I chose a slice of orange torte, and it was the essence, the distillation, of all great oranges and their sun-heavy juices and zests--orange mousse and orange layers and whipped cream rosettes with candied peel. The server whacked into that beautiful cake like beheading an escaping fish, wedging off a great slice worthy of any king's table. The quivering chocolate mousse-cake was so tempting, and what the heck, we were only there once, so we shared a slice of that, as well.

And the breads were all heavy, moist, buttery-delicious. One loaf was like an immense scone, filled with currants and sultanas and peel, sliced in half like a big shortcake, to be filled with another half-pound of butter and .......thick cream.

Other pub-meals were meat-bread-potatoes, save for one incongruous "special" which was a panini filled with roasted peppers and sliced potatoes. Really good; and after several days of beef and lamb, one lunch of pad thai in ANOTHER pub was quite a change. Sorry---I'm straying, and remembering.

Very few salad offerings; dressings in the book are made with sieved yolks and cream instead of vinegar and oil.

Yesterday was a very busy workday, so we jumped the gun and had corned beef and rye takeout from our fave deli last night. Maybe one of those lovely Irish panini tonight...........

And happy St. Pat's to everyone!!

rachel

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Don't forget the seafood. there's great irish seafood out there. mainly in Ireland though!

Oysters and Guinness

Fresh Oysters served on crushed ice with sliced lemons, the oyesters are spiced with a hint of cayenne pepper. Served with a large pint of really cold Guiness to drink! TOO GOOD..

Dublin Lawyer.

A whole beautiful obster cooked in butter, creme double, irish whiskey and french mustard. Love this.

Cockles and Bacon Rashers

Cockles cooked with bacon and parsley.

Mussels in white wine sauce.

Blue Mussels served with leeks, onion, garlic, parsly in a thick white wine and cream sauce.

Cod's roe Ramekin.

Nice gratin of spice Cod's roe.

Works good on Saint Paedrics.. Let me know if you want any recipe.

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...Dublin Lawyer.

A whole beautiful obster cooked in butter, creme double, irish whiskey and french mustard. Love this.

...Let me know if you want any recipe.

Yes please... sounds like an interesting variation on butter poached lobster.

For our St Patrick's Day dinner yesterday I made a Guinness, lamb and root veg stew, champ potatoes with sour cream, and warm apple cake for dessert.

Cheese: milk’s leap toward immortality – C.Fadiman

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