Today is the one day each year when, supposedly, everyone becomes Irish. In an effort to celebrate with food and drink, delis add cabbage to corned beef and rye, and bakeries smear cream cheese on green bagels. And you might even find your all-American neighborhood bar serves green beer or red wine from bottles labeled Chateau McCarthy.
Even the Irish themselves sometimes have trouble deciding what's the best meal to serve on St. Patrick's Day, although most cooks who plan to do a bit of celebrating opt for one-pot meals like Beef and Guinness, or Bacon and Cabbage, both of which leave lots of time for partying once the vegetables have been peeled.
The most traditional meat of Ireland, however, is neither beef (corned or not) nor pork, but lamb. It has been used for centuries in such country dishes as Lamb With Cabbage, Boiled Mutton With Caper Sauce and, of course, Irish Stew, which is very likely one of the oldest Irish recipes in existence, and one of the most controversial.
"Do you put carrots in your Irish stew?"
"Do you add barley?"
"How much liquid do you use?"
Myrtle Allen, hostess of the famed Ballymaloe House in County Cork, and one of the leading exponents of Irish food as a legitimate cuisine, said, "I spent one period of my life going around asking everyone I knew if they put carrots in their stew. My mother always did, as did everyone in Shanagarry. I found carrots going into Irish stews as far north as Tipperary.
"The classic version, however, has no carrots, but it is common practice to include them, in the south, at any rate. As this is a traditional folk dish, I feel that common practice carries its own authority."
Now, common practice in Irish cooking is more a matter of creativity than of geography, and just about any cut of lamb can turn this St. Patrick's Day into a genuine Irish feast. Layer shoulder chops or boneless lamb with potatoes, onion and, yes, carrots for traditional Irish Stew. Update an old-fashioned recipe of boiled mutton with a leg of lamb and cook it with leeks, garlic and white wine. Braise hearty lamb shanks in Guinness Stout. And, for an elegant-but-easy meal, wrap a loin of lamb in Irish bacon and puff pastry, and garnish with sprigs of watercress.
Serve these lamb dishes with Heron's Cove Potato Cakes, Irish Tea Bread and a fresh green salad, but, please, not a drop of green beer.
Ballymaloe Irish stew
Serves 4 to 6
3 tablespoons unsalted butter or oil
3 pounds shoulder lamb chops, bone in
4 carrots, peeled and quartered
4 onions, quartered
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 1/2 cups canned low-salt beef broth
4 to 6 small potatoes, peeled and sliced (see note)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
In Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat butter over medium heat. Brown chops in batches (do not crowd meat). Return meat to pot and layer with carrots and onions, sprinkling each layer with salt and pepper. Add broth and cover with potatoes. Cover and simmer stew gently 1 1/2 to 2 hours until meat is tender.
Transfer meat and vegetables to broad soup bowls with slotted spoon. Skim off any excess fat from stock, then taste and correct seasonings. Swirl in butter, parsley and chives. Ladle sauce over meat and vegetables.
Note: Some recipes call for layering the potatoes with the carrots and onions, which creates a thicker stew. Always end with the potatoes on top.
Boiled Leg of Lamb With Caper Sauce
Serves 4 to 6
1 leg of lamb (about 5 pounds)
2 leeks, white part only, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 carrots, peeled and quartered
2 stalks celery, quartered
2 onions, quartered
3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup dry white wine
2 to 3 sprigs fresh thyme
salt, freshly ground black pepper
water
6 to 8 small potatoes, peeled and quartered
Caper Sauce (recipe follows)
Place lamb in Dutch oven or large oven-proof casserole. Add leeks, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, wine, thyme, salt and pepper to taste and enough water to just cover meat. Bring to boil and cover. Then reduce heat and simmer 2 hours on top of stove or cook at 350 degrees in oven until meat is tender. Check after 30 minutes, skimming any foam that has risen to surface. Add potatoes 30 minutes before end of cooking time.
Remove lamb to platter. Slice and serve in broad soup bowls, spoon broth and vegetables around. Reserve 1 1/4 cups cooking liquid for Caper Sauce. Or slice lamb and serve with vegetables alone. Reserve broth for soup. Serve with Caper Sauce.
-- From Gerry Galvin, chef-proprietor of Drimcong House Restaurant in Moycullen, County Galway
Caper Sauce
Makes about 1 1/2 cups sauce
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 cups cooking liquid
1 tablespoon whipping cream
2 tablespoons capers, chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon fresh, chopped parsley
salt, freshly ground black pepper
Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in cooking liquid. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes until liquid begins to thicken. Stir in cream, capers, basil, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Sauce should have consistency of thin cream.
Irish Tea Bread
Makes 2 loaves
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/4 cups prepared Irish tea (such as Barry's, Bewley's or Dublin)
24 ounces mixed dried fruit (sultanas, raisins, currrants, etc.)
1 ounce quick-cooking Irish oats (such as McCann's)
4 ounces almonds, toasted
1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons milk
1 pound self-rising flour
dash salt
On day before baking, combine brown sugar and prepared tea. Stir until sugar dissolves. Place dried fruit and oats into large bowl. Pour in tea mixture and soak overnight.
Stir almonds and egg mixture into fruit mixture. Fold in flour and salt.
Divide mixture between 2 greased and floured 9-inch by 5-inch by 3-inch loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees about 1 hour until wood pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve spread with butter or fruit preserves.
Lamb Shanks Braised in Guinness
Serves 6
6 lamb shanks
flour, for dredging
salt, pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
12 small white onions, peeled
3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
dash dried rosemary
dash dried thyme
1 cup Guinness Stout
3/4 cup beef stock
12 small potatoes, peeled
Lightly moisten lamb shanks with water. In large bowl or plastic bag, combine flour and salt and pepper to taste, and dredge meat. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add lamb shanks and cook on all sides until browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer to Dutch oven.
Place onions, carrots, celery, garlic, rosemary and thyme in skillet and cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly to absorb pan juices. Combine vegetables and pan juices with lamb. Add Guinness and beef stock. Cover and simmer 45 minutes. Add potatoes and correct seasoning. Re-cover and cook until meat is tender, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours. To serve, place lamb shank in middle of broad soup bowl and spoon vegetables and broth around.
-- From amateur chef Larry Ryan
Heron's Cove Potato Cakes
Serves 4 (makes 8 potato cakes)
1 tablespoon butter
2 slices traditional Irish bacon, sliced (see note)
1/2 pound potatoes, washed but not peeled
2 ounces Kerrygold or Tipperary Cheddar cheese, finely shredded (see note)
1 ounce quick-cooking Irish oats (such as McCann's)
2 ounces Irish smoked salmon, diced (see note)
1 teaspoon creamed horseradish
salt, pepper
1 egg, beaten
coarse whole-meal flour, for dredging
olive oil, for frying
Melt butter in small saute pan over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until lightly browned, but not crisp, about 3 minutes.
Coarsely grate potatoes into large bowl. Add bacon, cheese, oats, salmon, horseradish, and salt and pepper to taste. Add egg and stir to bind. Form mixture into 8 small potato cakes. Dust with whole-meal flour.
Add enough oil to cover bottom of large skillet. Fry cakes until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
Note: To order traditional Irish bacon by mail, phone Dairygold U.S.A. at 800-386-7577. For information on other Irish products, cheeses, oats, mustard, tea or smoked salmon, contact the Irish Food Board at 212-268-5617.
Loin of Lamb Wrapped in Bacon and Puff Pastry
Serves 4
1 tablespoon oil
2 boneless loins of lamb (each about 3/4 pound)
6 slices traditional Irish bacon (see note)
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed but cool
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1 bunch watercress, for garnish
Irish Whiskey Mustard Sauce (recipe follows)
In heavy pot large enough to hold both loins, heat oil over medium heat. Add lamb and cook quickly on all sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate to cool. Reserve pan for sauce. Wrap each loin in 3 slices bacon.
Divide puff pastry in half. Carefully roll out each half to about 1/4 inch thickness and large enough to wrap loins. Place each loin in center of pastry and roll up. Pinch to seal. Mix together egg and water to make wash and brush over pastry.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Place loins on sheet. Bake at 400 degrees about 20 minutes for medium-rare meat and until puff pastry is golden brown. Remove meat from oven and allow to rest 10 minutes.
To serve, slice each loin into 6 slices. Arrange 3 slices on each plate in shape of shamrock and garnish with watercress as stem. Spoon sauce around loins.
Note: To order traditional Irish bacon by mail, phone Dairygold U.S.A. at 800-386-7577.
Irish Whiskey Mustard Sauce
Makes about 3/4 cup
1 teaspoon butter
1 shallot, diced
1/4 cup Irish whiskey
3/4 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons Lakeshore Whole Grain Mustard, or other fine mustard (see note)
In reserved pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add shallot and saute until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Add whiskey and, with spatula, scrape up any bits from bottom of pan. Cook until whiskey is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add stock and reduce by half again, about 5 minutes. Stir in mustard.
Note: For information on Irish products, cheeses, oats, mustard, tea or smoked salmon, contact the Irish Food Board at 212-268-5617.
Pub Date: 03/17/99