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What I found coming from a very large family born and bred in Ireland, (Dublin – Mullingar) and marrying a bog- man from Co Sligo, was that it didn`t take long to fall into the ways of how the Irish would do things. The way they cooked and with what they cooked were an experience in more ways than one. Not only tasty are the Irish eats, they are simple to make and guaranteed to fill the belly. Food consumed in an Irish household was mostly always home-grown vegetables and fruit nurtured by their own hand. And the meats they ate usually came from livestock they reared themselves which was cured in a shed at the side of the peat barn. Is the reason why the taste of Irish food is unique because it is freshly picked from the land?
Aside from cooking, I also found that living among paddies' all my life that it was hard evading picking up bits of the Irish brogue which would slip into conversation from time to time. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? Well to be honest after frequent visits to Ireland and watching how paddy lived, and just in general everything that Ireland has to offer, whether connected to the Irish accent has left me never to question myself over this again.
Tasty St Patrick`s Day Recipes – The Irish certainly know how to feast and the best part of the Irish cuisine is the simplicity of it all.
"Col Canon" a mashed spud dish with chopped spring onion, and potato cakes being another which couldn`t be simpler to make. I have in the past seen Col Canon explained as buttered mashed potato with cabbage, but we know this as bubble and squeak. I suppose it all depends on which part of Ireland you come from. Also, corned beef is widely used to dictate what the Irish eat with cabbage, sorry to disappoint but its bacon.
If you`re having friends over for a St Patrick's day dinner and looking for some of Paddy`s favourite meals to cook, that is simple quick and easy to make, then below you will find some of the best tasty St Patrick`s day recipes fit for a leprechaun with a big belly.
Every household on March the 17th should have a loaf of Irish Soda Bread. A slice of soda bread with a lump of cold boiled bacon, fresh tomatoes and raw onion is not only tasty but filling. Soda bread with a smidgen of butter and a piping hot "mug" of tea has over the years has been Paddy`s staple diet. You could say that this gave him the strength for digging the turf.
St Patrick's Day Soda Bread Recipe
Ingredients
4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp cardamom
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 3/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cup currants
Baking Insructions
In a large mixing basin, add the flour – salt - baking powder - baking soda – sugar - cardamom Work butter in using your hands. Mix the egg and buttermilk together and then add to the dry ingredients and blend well. Add the currants and stir. Turn out on a floured bread board and knead lightly for 3 minutes or until the dough is smooth. Separate the dough into two halves, shaping each lump into a round loaf. Place both in a greased 8 inch baking tin pressing it down until the dough fills the tin. Cut a 1/2 inch deep cross on top of each loaf. Bake the bread in a preheated 375 F oven for about 40 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when you tap it. Bacon & Cabbage
Ingredients
1 big or 2 small Savoy cabbages
6 to 8 strips lean bacon
Seasoning (Salt and pepper)
4 whole allspice berries
300 ml bacon stock
Cooking Instruction
Cut the cabbage in half and boil for 15 minutes in salted water. Not too much salt because bacon is salty. Drain, and soak in cold water for 60 seconds, then drain again and slice. Layer the base of a oven dish with half the bacon strips and then put the cabbage on top and add seasonings. Add enough stock to barely cover, and then add the rest of the bacon. Cover and simmer for an hour until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Baked Parsnip Irish Style the way Paddy likes them
Ingredients
2 to 3 lbs parsnips
2 oz butter or bacon fat
3 tbsp stock
Pinch of salt and pepper and nutmeg
Cooking Instructions
Skin the parsnips, quarter, and remove woody core. Parboil for 15 minutes and strain. Place in an ovenproof dish. Add stock and seasoning and a sprinkle of nutmeg. Dab butter over and bake for half an hour in a moderate oven.
If you ever visit Ireland and invited into the homes of the Irish folk who live in the houses scattered and situated in the mountains - you will always see and get the of smell a pot of soup, stew or broth boiling away on the range. If you`re having a large gathering for your St Patrick`s day dinner it is a safe bet to have a pan of soup on the go. A large pot full of boiled vegetables and meat will go round all your friends, and if served up with a slice of soda bread then you have created a true Irish meal.
With an Irish stew/soup you are not committed to having to stand over the stove while it is cooking thus leaving you more time to mingle and join in with all the St Patrick`s Day fun.
Tasty Soup
Ingredients
1 lb green cabbage
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp chopped onion
1/4 cup raw potato
1/2 tsp ground mace
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup whipped cream
2 tbsp parsley
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
Cooking Instructions
Wash cabbage thoroughly and quarter; discard hard stalks. Keep stalks and potato peelings. In Ireland spuds are nearly always boiled in the skins and when peeled the cooked peelings end up as chicken feed.
Cover the cabbage with boiling water and leave for 5 minutes. Drain and pat dry, and then shred. Melt butter over low heat and simmer the onion until soft. Add cabbage and potato and stir. Add
mace. Spoon in the flour to coat all ingredients and stir, do not brown. Add the liquids and bring to a boil, simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Squeeze through a sieve Reheat and
season. Dilute soup if is too thick by adding hot milk. Serve with a blob of whipped cream on each serving. Sprinkle chopped parsley and parmesan cheese onto the whipped cream.
"Coddle" a soup we had every St Patricks Day or any day in saying that.
Ingredients
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1lb bacon
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2lbs pork
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Bacon fat or oil
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2 onions
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2 crushed garlic cloves
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4 potatoes thickly sliced
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2 carrots thickly sliced
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Fresh thyme, parsley, rosemary, chives bunched together, tied with butchers twine
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Fresh black pepper
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Apple wine or apple cider
Lightly fry the bacon until crisp, place the bacon into a large stock pot - brown sausages in the bacon grease remove and add to the stock pot. Sizzles onions and garlic in the bacon fat until soft remove and add to the stock pot along with the potatoes and carrots. Put in your bunch of herbs and sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover with cider.
Cook for 1 1/2 hours over a low heat Do Not Boil
Serve up a meal to remember. Molly "Coddle" your friends and family this St Patrick`s Day. Let them indulge in your new acquired culinary skills straight from the heart of Ireland.
A Healthy Fat Loss Diet is one that allows you to eat – Fun Jokes for around the St Patrick`s Day dinner table
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