Smoked Corned Beef

Corned beef is not traditionally eaten in Ireland on Saint Patrick's Day, but my Irish grandmother always made it so I'm continuing the tradition.




3 lb corned beef brisket, wash and pat dry
1 smoker bag, Savu beef bag preferred

Preheat oven to 475 and position oven rack to lowest setting. Place brisket in smoker bag, fat side up. Seal bag by double folding opening and turn up corners. Place bag in roasting pan and put in oven. Bake 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 375 and cook 1 hour and 45 minutes, total cooking time of 2 hours.

Remove roasting pan from oven and let meat rest in pan up to one hour. Remove meat from bag and slice against grain. Serve warm with colcannon or steamed Brussels sprouts. Serves 6.

Chef's Note: The smoked flavor of this beef makes an excellent substitution for pastrami and a delicious Reuben Sandwich.

Irish Teacake

1 1/2 c dried currants *
1 c strong tea, cooled
1 c brown sugar
2 c self-rising flour
1 egg
Butter for serving, softened

Place currants, tea, and sugar in medium bowl. Stir to combine and let soak overnight.

Preheat oven to 350. Line one 9 x 3 loaf pan with parchment paper, including a cover, and set aside. Stir flour and egg into currant mixture and bake 1 hour. Remove paper cover and bake 1/2 hour more or until pick incerted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, remove to rack to cool completely. Serve with lots of butter.

Chef's Note: *Zane grapes are used to make dried currants, which are much smaller and sweeter than California raisins. Currants are usually available at Christmas time for making English puddings and such, but unfortunately I had not bought any soon enough to have them for Saint Patrick's day this year. So I substituted dried blueberries for currants in this recipe. Blueberries aren't Irish but came in closer to the correct taste than a raisin would have.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread

A traditional Irish soda bread only contains four ingredients; flour, salt, buttermilk (or sour milk) and baking soda. If you add fruit, it's a cake. If you add seeds, it's a seeded bread not a soda bread.





4 c (16 oz) all purpose unbleached flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
14 oz buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425. Lightly grease and flour a 9 inch cake pan.

Sift dry ingredients in large bowl. Add buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon to form a sticky dough. Place on floured surface and lightly knead, just until dough comes together. Do not over knead as bread will become tough when baked. Shape dough into a mound, place in prepared cake pan, and score an X in top of loaf.

Cover the pan with another pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until golden and top sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan and cover lightly with a tea towel sprinkled with water. Do not seal bread in an airtight container as it will lose its crust. Let bread rest 4 to 6 hours before serving. Best eaten the day it's made.

Colcannon

1 1/4 pounds (about 2 large) russet potatoes
3 c thinly sliced cabbage
1/2 c milk, scalded
4 T butter, divided

Peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch pieces. In large saucepan, cover potatoes with salted water and simmer covered, for 15 minutes or until tender. While potatoes simmer, saute cabbage in 2 T butter over medium high heat 5 minutes, or until wilted. Drain potatoes, finely mash and stir in milk, 2 T butter, cabbage, and salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4.

Irish Pork with Red Cabbage

Irish Pork Tenderloin
1\2 c Irish whiskey
1\4 c brown sugar
2 T soy sauce
1\2 c water
1 T worcestershire sauce
1 1\2 pound whole pork tenderloin
2 T cooking oil

Mix together whiskey, brown sugar, soy sauce, water and worcestershire sauce to form marinade. Place pork tenderloin in large zip-top bag, pour marinade in bag with pork. Squeeze out air, seal and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°. In large oven-safe skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add pork (discard marinade) and sear on all sides approximately 3 minutes per side.

Transfer skillet with pork to preheated oven and bake pork until internal temperature reaches 160°. Remove pork from pan and let rest 10 minutes before slicing. Serve on a bed of braised cabbage with currant glaze and pan fried new potatoes. Serves 4.


Currant Glaze
6 oz currant jelly, black or red
1 c brandy
1 c chicken broth
2 t cornstarch, mixed with 1 T water

In small sauce pan, stir together jelly, brandy and chicken broth. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until liquid reduces by two-thirds. Mix cornstarch and water and add to saucepan. Cook until thickened slightly.


Red Cabbage
1 pound bacon
4 cups red cabbage, shredded
1\2 c sugar
1\2 c applesider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

In large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon (reserve for another dish) and add shredded red cabbage. Cook 5 minutes, add sugar and toss to combine. Add vinegar and salt and pepper to taste toss to combine. Cook 5 to 6 minutes more.

Shepherd's Pie

2 pounds stew beef, finely chopped
3 T all purpose flour
2 T cooking oil
1 package stew seasoning, recommended McCormick
1~12oz bottle beer, recommended Guinness
1~15oz can diced tomatoes
2 c baby carrots, cut in quarters
3 c fresh green beans, cut in 2" sections
3 pounds russet potatoes
1/2 c milk
1/2 c heavy cream
1 T butter
Mushroom gravy*, recipe to follow

Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Dredge beef in flour and fry until well browned on all sides. Add beer and stew seasoning, bring to boil and lower heat to medium. Add tomato, carrots and green beans. Cover loosely and cook a minimum of 90 minutes to 2 hours.

While beef and vegetables cook, peel and dice potatoes and add to large pot of cold water, heavily salted. Cover and bring to boil. Cook until potatoes are fork tender, drain. Add milk and cream; coarsely mash potatoes.

After beef cooking time is complete, place beef and vegetables in 9x11 casserole dish and cover top with mashed potatoes. Dot with butter and broil until potatoes are lightly browned. Serve with mushroom gravy. Serves 8.

Mushroom Gravy
1 package brown gravy mix, recommended Lawry's
4 oz baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
1/4 c dry red wine
1 c water
2 T butter

Melt butter in large saute pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add wine and cook one minute; add water and gravy packet; cook, over medium low heat until thickened. Yield 2 cups.

Chef's Note: I know, stewed beef and fresh green beans are not "traditional", but I just can't stomach boiled ground meat and frozen peas. Yuck. Since it's MY recipe I can cook what I like to eat... steak and fresh veggies with an incredibly rich gravy. Now THAT'S good cookin'.

Spinach Brotchen

1/4 c butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 one onion, chopped
2 T steel cut Irish oats
3/4 lbs spinach, washed and chopped
4 c chicken broth
2 medium potatoes, diced
fresh nutmeg
salt & pepper, to taste
1 c heavy cream

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat and cook onion until soft, do not brown. Stir in oatmeal and continue cooking until oatmeal begins to darken slightly.

Add spinach, chicken broth, potatoes and pinch of grated nutmeg; season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium low and simmer gently for 10 to 20 minutes until spinach is just cooked.

Purée with immersion blender, add cream. Adjust salt and pepper as necessary. Bring to a boil and serve immediately, sprinkle with additional nutmeg for garnish. Serves 4 - 6.

Chef's Note: The word "brotchen" refers to Irish soups thickened with oats. These primitive soup recipes predate those containing meat, which later became known as "broth".

Bunratty Farmhouse Scones

In my eager anticipation for the arrival of Saint Patrick's Day next week, I will be posting some of my favorite Irish recipes. Erin go bragh!



Bunratty Farmhouse Scones

3 1/3 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1 T sugar
1/4 c (1/2 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 c raisins
1 c buttermilk (or sour milk)
2 eggs, beaten
2 T half and half
Condiments: clotted cream, butter and jam.

Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly butter heavy large baking sheet, or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine first 5 ingredient in large bowl, stir to blend. Using pastry cutter, work in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add raisins. Gradually stir in milk then add eggs. Mix just until dough forms.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and roll into 1-inch-thick circle. Using 2-inch-diameter biscuit cutter, cut scones into rounds. Transfer scones to prepared baking sheet, brush tops of scones with half and half.

Bake at 400° until tops are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve scones warm with butter, jam and clotted cream. (And tea with milk and sugar, of course!) Yield, 18-20 scones.

Chef's Note: Since my children don't particularly like raisins, I have adapted a method for white chocolate and cranberry scones. Substitute 1/2 c white chocolate chips in place of raisins and continue with recipe. Just after mixing until dough forms, divide dough in half. Add 1/4 c dried cranberries to one half of recipe and continue to baking as directed.