Five of the most delicious Irish recipes to cook on St Patrick's Day

Plus our guide to the best Irish coffee you'll ever taste

Whip up an Irish-themed feast this St Patrick's Day.

Irish country soup

recipe by:Darina Allen

Rich, hearty and filled with vegetables, this soup is the perfect solution for a cold winter evening - enjoy with homemade bread

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 25 mins

Course

 Starter

Cuisine

 Irish

Ingredients

• 175g un-smoked streaky Irish bacon

• olive or sunflower oil

• 150g potatoes, peeled and chopped into 5mm pieces

• 50g onions, finely chopped

• 1 small garlic clove (optional)

• 450g very ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced or 400g tin of tomatoes and juice

• salt

• freshly ground pepper

• ½-1 tsp sugar

• 750ml homemade chicken stock or vegetable stock

• 50g cabbage, finely chopped

• chopped parsley, to garnish 

Method

1. Remove the rind from the bacon if necessary.

2. Prepare the vegetables

3. Cut the bacon into 5mm dice approx. Blanch the bacon cubes in cold water to remove some of the salt. Drain and dry on kitchen paper.

4. Sauté in a little olive or sunflower oil until the fat runs and the bacon is crisp and golden. Add potatoes, onions and crushed garlic. Sweat for 10 minutes and then add diced tomatoes and any juice. Season with salt, pepper and sugar. Cover with stock and cook for five minutes.

5. Add the finely chopped cabbage and continue to simmer just until the cabbage is cooked. Taste and adjust seasoning. Sprinkle with lots of chopped parsley and serve.

Irish apple cake

recipe by:Darina Allen

This cake would originally have been baked in a bastible or pot beside an open fire and later in the oven or stove on tin or enamel plates – much better than ovenproof glass because the heat travels through and cooks the pastry base more readily.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 10 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 225g white flour

• ¼ tsp baking powder

• 110g butter

• 125g caster sugar

• 1 egg

• 50-125ml milk, approx

• 1-2 cooking apples

• 2-3 cloves (optional)

• egg wash

• To serve:

• Barbados (muscovado) sugar

• Softly whipped cream

• 24cm (9in) ovenproof pie plate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl.

3. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until it resembles the texture of breadcrumbs.

4. Add 75g caster sugar, make a well in the centre and mix to a soft dough with the beaten egg and enough milk to form a soft dough.

5. Divide in two. Put one half onto a greased ovenproof plate and pat out with floured fingers to cover the base.

6. Peel, core and chop up the apples, place them on the dough and add 45g sugar, depending on the sweetness of the apples.

7. Roll out the remaining pastry and fit on top. This is easier said than done as this ‘pastry’ is more like scone dough and as a result is very soft. Press the sides together, cut a slit through the lid, egg wash and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes approximately, or until cooked through and nicely browned.

8. Dredge with caster sugar and serve warm with Barbados sugar and softly whipped cream.
   
   Taken from Irish Traditional Cooking by Darina Allen.

Old-fashioned Irish salad

recipe by:Darina Allen

This simple, old fashioned salad can be quite delicious when it’s made with a crisp lettuce, good home-grown tomatoes and cucumbers, free-range eggs and home preserved beetroot

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Fresh watercress or butterhead

• Lettuce

• 2 hard-boiled eggs, preferably free-range, quartered

• 2-4 tomatoes, quartered

• 16 slices of cucumber

• 4 slices pickled beetroot

• 4 tiny scallions or spring onions

• 2-4 sliced radishes

• Chopped parsley

• To serve: 

• Salad cream 

Method

1. Hard-boil the eggs for the salad. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil, gently slide in the eggs, boil for 10 minutes (12 if they are very fresh), strain off the hot water and cover with cold water. Peel when cold. Wash and dry the lettuce and scallions.

2. To assemble the salads: Arrange a few lettuce leaves on each of 4 plates. Scatter a few quartered tomatoes and 2 hard-boiled egg quarters, a few slices of cucumber and 1 radish or 2 slices of beetroot on each plate. Garnish with spring onion and watercress, scatter the remaining egg white (from the dressing) over the salad and chopped parsley.

3. Put a tiny bowl of salad cream in the centre of each plate and serve immediately while the salad is crisp and before the beetroot starts to run.

Irish stew

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

Good quality neck chops of lamb, streaky bacon, fresh herbs and plenty of vegetables blend beautifully to create a comforting classic for family suppers

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 50 mins

Total Time

 2 hours 10 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Irish

Ingredients

• 3 large onions, peeled and sliced thickly

• 10 medium potatoes, peeled and cut in half

• 900g lamb neck, cut into chunks

• 4 springs of thyme

• 5-6 medium to large carrots, peeled and cut into thick rounds

• good handful of chopped parsley

• 200g smoked streaky bacon or rashers, cut into large chunks

• 1 bay leaf

• 80g pearl barley

• 850ml lamb or good chicken stock

• a little rapeseed oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Heat a little rapeseed oil in a large casserole over a medium-high heat. Add the bacon chunks for a few minutes until starting to crisp up. Add the lamb, allowing it to brown for around 5 or 6 minutes.

2. Remove the meat and set aside.

3. Add the onion and carrot to the pan and cook for 6-8 minutes until the onion is starting to turn translucent and brown. Add the meat back to the pan along with the bay leaf, sprigs of thyme and parsley. Pour in the stock along with the pearl barley and bring it all to a gentle simmer.

4. Add the potatoes to the casserole, sitting them on top of the stew and place in the oven with the lid on for around 90 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven and check that the potatoes are well done — falling apart when you place a knife into their floury flesh. You can stir them through or leave them on top, adding a few flecks of butter to each potato and a good crack of black pepper. You can garnish the whole thing with some more chopped parsley, chives or even some spring onion.

Chocolate roulade with whipped Irish Cream liqueur

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

Luxurious and rich, Irish Cream adds an extra layer of deliciousness to this roulade

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 25 mins

Total Time

 35 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• For the roulade:

• 6 eggs, separated

• 170g golden caster sugar

• 180g dark chocolate, broken into very small even sized pieces

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 2 tbsp cocoa powder, sieved

• For the filling:

• 250g ricotta

• 20g icing sugar

• 30ml Baileys

• 20g hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C and line a Swiss roll tin with baking parchment.

2. To make the roulade, whisk the egg whites with half of the sugar until stiff peaks form.

3. Melt the chocolate over a saucepan of simmering water and set aside to cool.

4. Whisk the egg yolks, with the other half of the sugar and the vanilla until the whisk leaves a trace in the mixture. Fold the cooled chocolate into the mixture along with the cocoa powder. Gently fold in the egg whites a quarter at a time.

5. Scoop the mixture into your prepared tin and bake for about 25 minutes, until firm to touch. Once cool enough to handle turn out onto a damp tea towel. Allow to cool completely

6. To make the filling whip the ricotta, icing sugar and Baileys until smooth. Stir in the hazelnuts.

7. Spread the filling onto the cooled roulade. It is nicer to have the shinier side exposed so the filling is spread on the side that was face down in the tin. Leave about an inch all around the sides as the mixture will spread as you roll the roulade. With one of the short edges facing you, gently roll the roulade into a sausage shape, using the tea towel to help you on each turn. Sprinkle more hazel nuts or flaked chocolate over the top if you wish and serve.

Best ever Irish coffee

recipe by:Neven Maguire

I’ve perfected this recipe over time and believe it really is the best ever Irish coffee

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Total Time

 5 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 75 ml double cream (well chilled)

• 2 tbsp light muscovado sugar

• 2 tbsp whiskey

• 2 tbsp baileys

• 2 tbsp kahúla (coffee liqueur)

• 300ml freshly brewed piping hot espresso coffee

• pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, to decorate

Method

1. I’ve perfected this recipe over time and believe it really is the best ever Irish coffee. Heat the glasses if you can be bothered (to keep the coffee hot for longer), by pouring boiling water over them from a kettle, and turning them carefully so that they do not crack. Or you could take glasses straight from the dishwasher while still piping hot.

2. Place the cream in a bowl and whip lightly, then chill until needed. Heat a small, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Sprinkle the sugar over the base of the frying pan and heat for 1 minute, without stirring - the sugar will caramelise.

3. Pour in the whiskey and quickly light with a match or flambé - the sugar will seize and harden, but don’t worry as it will melt again once the flames die down. Stir in the Baileys and Kahúla and cook over a high heat for 3-4 minutes until smooth, stirring constantly to help the sugar dissolve.

4. Divide the alcohol mixture between two hefty, thick-stemmed glasses, (both about 250ml/9fl oz in capacity) and then carefully pour in the coffee.

5. Then, over the back of a metal spoon, carefully pour a layer of cream on top (the spoon trick really is worth doing as it helps prevent the cream from sinking). Add a tiny grating of nutmeg and serve at once.