Plan on having family and friends over for dinner this St. Patrick’s Day? Why not do something novel like prepare an authentic Irish meal for them? Impress everybody with your culinary know-how by offering them a taste of the same dishes they serve at Irish tables.
Contrary to what many of us have been led to believe, the Irish eat more than just potatoes, although it is still a big staple of their diet, Their traditional cuisine is based upon the hearty foods eaten by their farmer ancestors. Pork, such as bacon, ham, etc., and lamb continue to be popular and they also like seafood dishes.
I was surprised to see a description of what the Irish consider to be a “Full Irish Breakfast”. It includes sausages, eggs, bacon rashers, mushrooms, baked tomatoes, white and black pudding, buttered scones with marmalade, fresh fruit and sometimes fried potatoes. Their meals often include lots of rich breads and desserts. Beer and whiskey are quite popular, as well, and figure prominently in some of their recipes. Dr. Atkins’ devotees would likely not feel very comfortable with such a diet, but to those who relish good food and wonderful taste, Irish food has its charm.
If you’ve decided to give Irish cooking a try this St. Patrick’s Day, here are some excellent online sites that offer easy-to-make dishes that are loved in the Emerald Isle.
Irish Recipes and Baking
http://www.irelandseye.com/aarticles/culture/recipes/index.shtm
Find some good, basic Irish recipes here with simple instructions. Some of the recipes available here are for such dishes as: barmbrack, which is a traditional Irish bread; beef in Guinness; the ever popular corn beef and cabbage; pea and ham soup; Irish pancakes; a simple but rich Irish stew filled with mutton, potatoes, onions and carrots; Kerry apple cake and gooseberry crumble.
Irish recipes from the Irish Abroad Kitchen
http://www.irishabroad.com/Culture/Kitchen/recipes.asp
There is a huge list of Irish recipes on this site, so there is bound to be something that even the most culinary-challenged among us can muster up. Recipes include cod cobbler, Irish shortbread, crusty roast lamb, roast turkey with chestnut and prune stuffing, steak and Guinness pie, Ballymaloe hot buttered lobster, Irish potato salad, tuna fish and bean salad, chicken-ham-leek pie, chilled cream of carrot soup, apple mince pie and much, much more to make your mouth water.
Irish Recipes from FoodIreland.com
http://www.foodireland.com/recipes/
There are not as many things listed here, but one good aspect about this recipe site is that a few of the recipes here are gluten-free, so that if you or anyone you plan on cooking for is allergic to wheat, you can still fix some baked goods. Recipes offered here include white bread, crumpets, angle cake, raised doughnuts, mixed grill, meat cobbler, boiling bacon and cabbage, hot pot, pheasant and Kerrygold, Mulligatwny(a hearty Irish soup with lamb, carrots, turnips, onions, apples and curry powder), oxtail soup, apple sponge cake and more.
Irish Country Kitchen’s Irish Recipes Online
http://www.irishcountrykitchen.com/
Even though this is chiefly an Irish recipe site, there are some non-Irish recipes here as well. My focus, though, was strictly for Irish dishes and some of the dishes I saw recipes for here were parsnip and apple soup, beef casserole with parsnip dumplings, cottage pie with leek and potato topping, beef bean cobbler, boiled tea loaf, fruit brack (an Irish bread with raisins, currants, cherries and brown sugar), gingerbread, fish chowder, panned trout with bacon, prawn and mackerel hot pot, lamb’s kidney and mushroom casserole, baked parsnips, boxty potatoes, sausage and mushroom pie, shepherd’s pie and a number of scones, muffin and dessert recipes.
531 Irish Recipes from Recipezaar
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?categ=cuisine%2Cirish
This site is great because it offers, among its 531 Irish recipes, some that are healthier versions. Recipes on this site include steak and kidney pie, vegetarian Irish stew, vegan colcanon, vegetarian rice casserole, sesame whole wheat soda bread, cheesy potato soup, vegetarian version of a Ploughman’s sandwich, lamb and carrot casserole, beef stew with carrots and mushrooms, low-fat potato and leek soup, Irish salmon cakes, cucumber and apple soup, mussels with potatoes and garlic, toad-in-the-hole with bacon (the “toad” is really sausages and bacon) and far too many other recipes to list here. You’ll have to navigate this site for awhile, but there are a number of healthier versions you can find of more traditional Irish fare.
Yes, I Know!
I already picture horrified readers recoiling from the thought of all those calories racking up, but even those on the strictest of diets can visit these sites and find something you can prepare and cook to celebrate this St. Patrick’s Day.
For just one day, forget about the trans fats and pig out a little. Just get back on track the next day.
