Cut meat
into 1" cubes.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and cook onions until pale golden.
Add garlic, cook 1 minute longer. Remove from pan and drain on
absorbent paper.
Heat the remaining dripping in a larger pan, add meat and cook
quickly to brown on all sides. Reduce heat, stir in flour until all
meat is coated.
Blend through stock to form a thick, smooth sauce. Add Guinness and
stir until the mixture comes to simmering point. Add onions and
garlic, carrots, herbs and pepper, stir until combined.
Simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent
catching.
Cook uncovered so that the sauce can reduce and thicken.
Serve garnished with the chopped parsley.
* If using prunes, add to pan in the final 30 minutes of cooking.
The addition of prunes to this dish adds sweetness and balances the
distinctive bitterness of the Guinness. They can be removed before
serving.
Fry the bacon in a large saucepan for 2 – 3
minutes, until the fat just starts to run, stirring occasionally.
Add the stock and milk. Season to taste, bring to the boil, then
cover and simmer for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
Allow to cool slightly, then purée the soup in a blender or food
processor.
Return the soup to the pan and stir in
the parsley and cream. Reheat gently, then serve hot, garnished with
croutons.
Lightly fry bacon until crisp. Place in large cooking pot. Brown sausage in some bacon grease or vegetable oil. Remove and add to pot. Soften sliced onions and whole garlic cloves in fat, then add to pot with potatoes and carrots. Bury the bunch of herbs in the middle of the mixture. Sprinkle with pepper. Cover with cider. Cook 1 1/2 hours over moderate heat; do not boil. Garnish with chopped parsley. Makes 6 servings.
Cut
butter into flour until it forms large granules. Add salt and baking
powder, mix well. Mix in potatoes. Knead for a few minutes. Roll out
onto lightly floured board with floured rolling pin. Cut into 2
rounds. Cook on a dry griddle or skillet until brown on both sides.
Makes 2 cakes.
Mix
dry ingredients together. Add milk or buttermilk to form a loose
dough. Add raisins or currants, if desired. Place dough on floured
board and knead until smooth. Form into a round about 2 inches high
and make a large X with a knife in top of dough. Bake on greased
baking sheet at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Makes 1 loaf.
This
is traditionally eaten in
Colcannon
should correctly be made with chopped kale (a member of the cabbage
family) or green cabbage but it is also made with white cabbage.
Colcannon
at Halloween used to contain a plain gold ring, a sixpence, a
thimble or button: finding the ring meant marriage within the year
for the person who found it, the sixpence meant wealth, the thimble
spinsterhood and the button bachelorhood."
Yield:
4 servings 1 lb Curly kale or cabbage, cooked 1 lb Potatoes, cooked
1 Onion, chopped 1 oz Dripping per lb. vegetables Salt and pepper
Milk if necessary 1 Ring, wrapped in greaseproof paper Mash the
potatoes or pass them through a food mill. Chop the cabbage or kale
and add it to the potatoes. Mix well. Peel and chop the onion. Melt
a little of the dripping in a large, heavy frying pan and cook the
onion in it. Remove and mix with the potato and cabbage. Season to
taste, and stir in a little milk if the mixture is too stiff. Add
the rest of the dripping to the hot pan and, when very hot, turn the
potato and cabbage mixture into the pan and spread it out. Fry until
brown, then cut it roughly and continue frying until there are lots
of crisp brown pieces. Just before serving, slip in the wrapped ring
-- the trick, as you can see from the rhyme, is to make sure the
ring doesn't turn up too soon -- then the children will eat it all
willingly!
Yield:
4 servings 450 g Kale or cabbage 450 g Potatoes 2 Small leeks or
green onion tops 150 ml Milk or cream Pinch of mace Salt and pepper
100 g Butter If using the kale, strip from the stalks or likewise
remove the stump of cabbage before cooking in boiling salted water
until tender but not overcooked. Drain very well and chop finely.
Meanwhile, cook the potatoes, and while they are cooking chop the
leeks or onion tops and simmer them in milk or cream for about 7
minutes. Drain the potatoes, season and mash them well, then stir in
the cooked leeks and milk, adding a little more milk if needed.
Finally blend in the finely chopped kale or cabbage (modern cooks
will find a blender or food processor ideal for this). Add the mace
and taste for seasoning. Heat the entire mixture gently, then pile
in a warmed dish. Make a small well in the center and pour in the
melted butter.
Yield:
4 servings 2 1/2 lb Potatoes (cooked, mashed) 1 c Cooked kale
(finely chopped) 1 c Hot milk 4 Chopped scallions (optional) Butter
Strip the heads of kale away from the stems and shred them finely.
Kale is a tough vegetable which needs to cook for 10-20 minutes
depending on its age. Cook as you would for any green vegetable in
furiously boiling salted water until it is just tender. (Some people
add 1/2 tsp baking soda to the water to help keep the kale at its
brightest green.) Strain it and refresh it with cold water. Drain it
thoroughly and squeeze out any excess water. Put the kale into a
food processor with the hot milk and blend them into a green soup
then mix through the mashed potatoes. Reheat it in the oven until it
is very hot. This produces a dish fit for St. Patrick's Day in
greenness. It is perfectly acceptable just to mix the kale and milk
into the potatoes without recourse to the food processor, but the
resulting dish is just speckled green. Do not use the processor if
you are making colcannon with cabbage instead of kale. Don't forget
the coin and the ring to amuse the children.
Chop
and fry onions, mince and garlic. Add everything else except the
peppers and wine when the mince is browned. Keep adding the herbs
until the mixture just begins to taste herby. Add peppers about 5
minutes before serving, and wine at the last minute, Serve with any
pasta.
Pre-heat
oven to 375 degrees.
Brown the beef in oil.
Remove from pan and set aside.
Drain most of the accumulated fat from the pan. Sauté onions until
tender, and then add chopped tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add broth and stir in herbs and seasonings.
Return brown meat to skillet and continue cooking for 5 minutes.
Transfer all ingredients to an ovenproof casserole.
Top with mashed potatoes (scoring them with a fork.) Dot with butter
and bake uncovered in 375-degree oven for 30-40 minutes.
Mix. Divide dough into 2 parts. Roll out into 2 large circles. Peel apples and slice thinly. Layer apple slices on 1 circle of dough; cover with other. Pinch edges to seal. On greased griddle, cook slowly over low heat, turning once. When apples are cooked, remove top cake and sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves and butter. Replace top cake and heat 5 minutes longer. Serve with lemon curd and hot tea. Makes 1 cake.
Mix
flour and baking powder. Add butter, blending until mixture is
butter-colored. Add sugar and continue to mix well. Add half the
beaten egg and all the milk. Add raisins or some nuts, if desired,
mixing well to make a sticky dough. Turn dough onto floured board
and knead at least 5 minutes or longer. Cut dough into rounds and
place on greased baking sheet or hot frying pan. Brush tops of
scones with remainder of beaten egg. Place walnut halves on top, if
desired. Bake at 350 to 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until
brown. If preparing over an open fire, heat frying pan till very
hot. Place scones in pan and cook 7 to 8 minutes. Turn and cook 7 to
8 minutes more. Makes 6 scones.
Sieve
flour and mix together all dry ingredients. Rub in margarine and mix
to a soft dough with milk. Roll out and cut into rounds or shape
into two rounds, flatten out with palm of hand and cut into four,
making small triangular scones. Place on a greased and floured
baking tin and brush over with egg or milk if liked. Vary by adding
sultanas to the above ingredients.450 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes.
To
make a savory cheese scone, omit sugar and add 2 to 3 oz. finely
grated cheese and seasoning. For whole meal scones, use half and
half whole meal and plain white flour and omit sugar.
Cream the yeast and the sugar and allow to froth up in the milk, which should be at blood heat. Sieve the flour, caster sugar and spice and rub in the butter. Make a well in the centre and add the yeast mixture and the egg, beaten. Beat with a wooden spoon for about 10 minutes until a good dough forms. The fruit and the salt should be worked in by hand; the gold ring wrapped in greaseproof paper should then be added, and the whole kneaded. Put in a warm bowl, cover and allow to rise in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in size.
Knead lightly and place in a lightly-greased 7 in /15 cm diameter cake tin and allow a further 30 minutes rising time. Bake near the top of a pre-heated oven at gas mark 6, 400°F, 200°C for 45 minutes. On removing from the oven the brack can be glazed with a syrup made from 2 tsp sugar dissolved in 3 tsp boiling water.
Corned
beef is brisket, topside or silverside which has been pickled in
brine. It is especially popular around
Quarter
the cabbage and put aside. Peel and slice the other vegetables.
Cover the meat with the water and bring to the boil. Skim the
surface, add the vegetables (except the cabbage), the bay leaf and
the pepper and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Add the cabbage and
cook for a further 30 minutes. Serve the meat surrounded by the
vegetables with additional mashed potatoes. Serves four to six.
Put the meat in a large pan and cover with the cold water. Bring to the boil and skim the surface. Rinse the barley and add to the pan. Cover, but not too tightly, and simmer gently for 90 minutes. Shred the cabbage and dice the other vegetables and add these to the soup. Bring back to the boil and simmer for another hour. Remove the mutton and separate the meat from any bones, fat or gristle. Chop the meat and return to the soup. Allow to cool and remove fat. Reheat and serve. Serves six.