Darina Allen: St Patrick's Day recipes
shares her favourite St Patrick's Day recipes
BALLYMALOE Cookery School and Ballymaloe House will join the more than 300 landmarks in 33 countries around the world that will be illuminated in green to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.
This is the ninth year of Tourism Ireland’s unique global campaign to create bonds and focus international attention on Ireland.
We join iconic sites like the Colosseum in Rome, the Sydney Opera House, the London Eye, the Empire State building in New York, Niagara Falls, The Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland Paris, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa… how posh is that?
So, if joining in on the greening isn’t your thing, at least let’s enter into the spirit and wear a spot of green today, I know it sounds a bit naff but it’s a lot of fun and we can have a hilarious time, rooting out green sparkly bits. I wish I could find that luminous green tent dress I used to wear to the discos in the Barn at Whites Hotel in Wexford in 1970… cringe making but I thought I was beyond cool then.
Back to the kitchen to celebrate Lá Fhéile Pádraig. My absolute favourite St Patrick’s Day feast is bacon, cabbage, parsley sauce and champ, followed by rhubarb tart but there’s not a chance of rhubarb after the weather we’ve had recently so I’m going to change my menu to wild watercress soup followed by a fine pot of Ballymaloe Irish Stew and Carrageen Moss Pudding. I’ll garnish with wood sorrel oxalis, a wild edible plant, which has a clean fresh lemony taste that contrasts deliciously with the silky texture and flavour of the carrageen. But the best thing is that the heart shaped leaflets resemble a shamrock. What could be more appropriate for St Patrick’s Day?
I also love old fashioned caraway seed cake, that so reminds me of my childhood except I hated seed cake then but now its one of my favourites, particularly with a glass of Highbank Medieval sweet cider.
Happy St Patrick’s Day and don’t forget to make our special national day into a celebration with family and friends.
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Ballymaloe Irish Stew
Recipes for Irish Stew vary from family to family; it’s a one pot meal, usually made with lamb or hogget, sometimes beef. It always includes onion and potatoes, but in our area of East Cork, carrots are also added. Here I include a west Cork version which is bulked out with swede turnips. Notice how the meat is taken off the bone for ease of service, but the bones are included during the cooking process to enhance the flavour and nourishment.
Serves 6-8
1.3kg gigot or rack chops from the shoulder of lamb not less than 2.5cm thick
450g carrots (4 medium), cut into 2.5cm chunks
450g (8 medium) onions
450g swede turnip, cut into 2.5cm cubes
10 -12 potatoes, or more if you like
salt and freshly ground pepper
1litre stock (lamb stock if possible) or water
1 sprig of thyme
1 tbsp roux, optional
Garnish
1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
1 tbsp freshly chopped chives
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/regulo 4.
Trim off the excess fat from the chops. Remove the bones and cut into generous 2.5cm cubes, you should have a minimum of 1.1kg lamb. Set aside. Render down the fat on a gentle heat in a heavy pan (discard the rendered down pieces).
Peel the onions and scrape or thinly peel the carrots (if they are young you could leave some of the green stalk on the onion and carrot). Cut the carrots into large chunks, or if they are small leave them whole. If the onions are large, cut them into quarters through the root, if they are small they are best left whole. Peel the turnip and cut into cubes.
Toss the meat in the hot fat on the pan until it is slightly brown. Transfer the meat into a casserole (add the bones also but discard later). Quickly toss the onions and carrots in the fat. Build the meat, carrots, onions and turnip up in layers in the casserole; carefully season each layer with freshly ground pepper and salt. De-glaze the pan with lamb stock and pour into the casserole. Peel the potatoes and lay them on top of the casserole, so they will steam while the stew cooks. Season the potatoes. Add a sprig of thyme, bring to the boil on top of the stove, cover with a butter wrapper or paper lid and the lid of the saucepan. Transfer to a moderate oven or allow to simmer on top of the stove until the stew is cooked, 1-1½ hours approx, depending on whether the stew is being made with lamb or hogget. (If the potatoes are small, use twice as many and add half way through cooking.)
When the stew is cooked, pour off the cooking liquid, de-grease and reheat in another saucepan. Discard the bones. Thicken slightly by whisking in a little roux. Check seasoning, and then add chopped parsley and chives. Pour over the meat and vegetables. Bring the stew back up to boiling point and serve from the pot, in a large pottery dish or in individual bowls.
Wild Watercress Soup
Wild watercress has more depth of flavour than farmed versions, so see if you can find some. This soup has been a favourite on the menu of Ballymaloe House since it opened in 1963.
Serves 6-8
45g (1½ oz) butter
150g (5ozs) peeled and chopped potatoes
110g (4ozs) peeled and chopped onion
Salt and freshly ground pepper
900ml (1½ pints) water or homemade chicken stock or vegetable stock
300ml (½ pint) creamy milk
225g (8ozs) chopped watercress (remove the coarse stalks first)
Melt the butter in heavy-bottomed saucepan, when it foams, add the potatoes and onions and toss them until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and sweat on a gentle heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile prepare the watercress. When the vegetables are almost soft but not coloured add the hot stock and boiling milk. Bring back to the boil and cook until the potatoes and onions are fully cooked. Add the watercress and boil with the lid off for 4-5 minutes approx until the watercress is just cooked. Do not overcook or the soup will lose its fresh green colour. Puree the soup in a liquidiser. Taste and correct seasoning.
Carrageen Moss Pudding with Wood Sorrel
Many people have less-than-fond memories of carrageen moss, partly
because so many recipes call for far too much of it. It is a very strong natural gelatine so the trick is to use little. Because it is so light it is hard to weigh, we use just enough to fit in my closed fist, a scant 8g (quarter ounce).
This recipe given to me by Myrtle Allen is the most delicious I know. Nowadays, more chefs are using carrageen, but often they add stronger flavours such as treacle or rosewater, which tend to mask the delicate flavour of the carrageen. Carrageen moss is served at Ballymaloe at least once a week.
Serves 6 -8
8g (quarter ounce) cleaned, well-dried carrageen moss (one semi-closed
fistful)
900ml (1.5 pints) milk
1 large egg, preferably free-range
1 tablespoon caster sugar
To Serve
soft brown sugar and cream
a handful of pretty wood sorrel leaves
Soak the carrageen in tepid water for 10 minutes. Strain off the water and put the carrageen and sweet geranium into a saucepan with the milk and vanilla pod, if using. Bring to the boil and simmer gently with the lid on for 20 minutes. At that point separate the egg and put the yolk into a bowl. Add the sugar and whisk together for a few seconds. Pour the milk, carrageen and sweet geranium through a strainer on to the egg yolk mixture, whisking all the time.
The carrageen will now be swollen and exuding jelly. Rub all this jelly through the strainer and beat it into the liquid. Test for a set in a cold saucer: put it in the fridge and it should set in a couple of minutes. Rub a little more through the strainer if necessary. Whisk the egg white until stiff peaks form and fold it in gently; it will rise to make a fluffy top. Leave to cool.
Serve chilled with softly whipped cream and scatter the heart shaped shamrock-like leaves on top.
Caraway Seed Cake
I hated Seed Cake as a child, not least because my brothers joked that there were mouse droppings in it! Now it’s one of my great favourites. My father had a passion for it, so it was always on offer when we went to visit our Tipperary relations on Sunday afternoons.
175g butter
175g caster sugar
3 eggs, free-range if possible
225g plain flour
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon ground almonds (optional)
1-2 tablespoons caraway seeds, plus extra for sprinkling
½ teaspoon baking powder
18cm round, 7.5cm deep cake tin, lined with greaseproof paper
Cream the butter, add the sugar and beat until very soft and light. Whisk the eggs and gradually beat into the creamed mixture. Stir in the flour, add ground almonds, if using and a good pinch of salt. Add the caraway seeds and the baking powder with the last of the flour. Turn the mixture into the prepared cake tin, scatter a few more caraway seeds on top and bake in a preheated moderate oven, 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4, for 50–60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. This cake keeps well in an airtight tin.
Note: Caraway seeds vary in intensity, home grown achenes (seeds) tend to be decidedly more aromatic than bought caraway.
A Scary Green Drink for St Patrick’s Day
Makes 450ml (15fl oz)
40g (1½oz) curly kale, weighed after stalks are removed
10g (½oz) coriander leaves
10g (½oz) flat parsley
½ tsp grated ginger
freshly squeezed juice of ½ lemon
1 tbsp honey
600ml (1 pint) apple juice
Whizz all the ingredients together in a food processor.
Hot tips
Sushi Made Simple with Shermin Mustafa at Ballymaloe Cookery School on Wednesday, March 21, at 9.30am.
Scared to tackle sushi yourself? This is the course for you and will demystify this jewel of Japanese cuisine. We will use fresh fish straight from the boats in Ballycotton Bay to create sublime sushi and sashimi. This course takes the mystery — and stress — out of making sushi. Shermin will start by explaining the ingredients, basic equipment and techniques required, giving you the confidence to serve it to guests at home or in a restaurant. Further information at www.cookingisfun.ie
