Bacon and Cabbage Soup

A gorgeous chunky colourful soup to finish off this month of Irish recipes!! I hope you enjoyed them!!

Ingredients

250g bacon, diced

2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

400g can chopped tomatoes with juice

1 cup chicken stock, or as needed

Salt and black pepper to taste

155g thinly sliced cabbage leaves

Method
1. Place bacon in a large deep stockpot or saucepan. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain off any excess fat.
 
2. Stir in potatoes, tomatoes and enough chicken stock to cover. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  

3. Stir in cabbage and allow the soup to simmer for a few minutes longer before serving.

Enjoy!!

Treacle Oat Bread

My mum tells me that when she was a girl they used to store a metal spoon under the house and would use it to sneak spoonfuls of the treacle (and horse pellets!!). Grandma never found out either!

Ingredients

90g rolled oats

1/2 cup treacle

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups boiling water

2 tablespoons dried active baking yeast

1/2 cup lukewarm water

125g wholemeal flour

750g bread flour

2 eggs

Method
1. Combine rolled oats, treacle, oil, salt and boiling water in a large bowl and allow to cool to about 40C.
 
2. In a small bowl, stir yeast into lukewarm water and set aside for about 10 minutes, until foamy.  

3. Add yeast to oat mixture and stir well. Add wholemeal flour, 1/2 of the bread flour and the eggs. Beat well.  
4. Gradually stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough out to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Place in a well greased bowl with a lid on it. Put into the fridge and leave overnight.  

5. The next day, preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Punch down dough, form into loaves, then let rise until doubled.
 
6. Bake for about 40 minutes, depending on size, until loaves sound hollow when tapped. I get 3 large loaves and 4 mini loaves with this recipe.

Irish Dumpling Stew

Sooo incredibly yummy, it's hearty and oh so Irish!

Ingredients
For the Stew:
4 medium-sized Gold Potatoes or Butter Red Potatoes, whole
2 pounds stew meat, lamb or beef
1/2 cup flour
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large bunch of mixed herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage), tied with a string
1 1/2 cups beef broth
Salt for taste
Pepper for taste

For the Dumplings
3/4 cup self raising flour
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 tablespoon mixed herbs
1/4 cup solid shortening
1 egg, beaten
Broth or water
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Coat all sides of the meat pieces in flour. Heat oil.

in a skillet and brown the meat bits. Add onions and garlic. Saute.
2. Toss the browned meat, onions and vegetables into a large cooking pot. Place herbs in the middle of the mixture. Cover with broth and cook for 2 hours over low temperature.
3. While the stew is cooking, you can make the dumplings. Add the dumplings 20 minutes before stew is done. Add salt and pepper for taste. 
4. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Add shortening and egg. Whisk all the ingredients thoroughly.
5. Divide mixture into small ball shapes. Roll these into even rounds with your floured hands.
6. Place the molds in boiling water or broth. Cook for 15 minutes. Add to stew 20 minutes before stew is done.

 Enjoy!

Pea and Ham Soup

This soup is made with dried peas; these generally have to be soaked overnight, though it is possible to buy some that need only a few hours' immersion. It is slightly less trouble to make the soup with split peas - which have no skins - and here there is a choice of green or yellow. Although there is no difference in the taste, the latter give the soup a pleasant golden colour.

Ingredients
2 cups dried peas or split peas
1/2 cup diced pieces of cooked ham or a ham bone
1 large onion
6 cups ham stock or water
cream (optional)
parsley (optional)
seasoning

Method
1. Soak the peas as directed on the packet. Chop the onion. Add the peas and water or stock and the ham bone if used.

2. Cook gently until the peas are soft - about an hour. Remove the bone and strip off any meat. This should be cut into small dice and reserved.

3. Puree the peas in a blender or pass through a sieve. Adjust the seasoning. Add the diced ham and serve with a swirl of cream or a sprinkling of chopped parsley on top.

Enjoy!

Irish Chocolate Cake

The "Irishness" of this lovely chocolate cake is thanks not only to the wonderful liqueur used in the filling, but also to a certain, very Irish, ingredient in the cake mixture itself, which contributes to its moistness. And while it may sound a little weird, give it a try, you will be very pleasantly surprised :)

Ingredients
Sponge
175g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
50g dark chocolate
110g butter
175g caster sugar
80g cooked mashed potato
2 eggs, beaten
4tbsp milk

Filling
110g dark chocolate
125ml double cream
50g icing sugar
3tbsp Irish cream liqueur

Method
1. Preheat oven to 190°C, and grease and line two 20cm cake tins.

2. Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Melt chocolate in a bowl placed over a saucepan of hot water. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy, then beat in the chocolate and mashed potato. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little flour with each addition. Fold in the rest of the flour and stir in the milk.

3. Divide mixture between cake tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until top is firm but springy to the touch. Remove from oven and after a few minutes, turn out on a cooling rack. While the cake is cooling, make the filling.

4. Melt the chocolate as before, stir in the other ingredients and mix well. Use the filling to sandwich the sponge layers together and coat the top and sides of the cake.

Enjoy!

Porter Cake

Porter is a type of dark Irish beer, not now as widely available as it once was. It is not as strong as stout but Guinness, Murphy's or other Irish stout can be substituted in this recipe if mixed fifty-fifty with water. This cake is quickly and easily made, it tastes good fresh from the oven, and is best kept for about a week in an airtight tin.

Ingredients
1 cup porter
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
6 cups mixed dried fruit (equal quantities currants, raisins, sultanas
with about half as much mixed peel)
4 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp mixed spice
grated rind from one small lemon (optional)
3 medium eggs

Method
1. Melt the butter and sugar in the porter in a saucepan. Add the fruit and simmer for 10 minutes. Allow to go cold and add the sieved flour, baking soda, spices and lemon rind. Beat the eggs and mix in with a wooden spoon.

2. Pour into a greased and lined 25 cm cake tin and bake on the middle shelf of a pre-heated oven at 160°C for about 1 3/4 hours. To test the cake, push a skewer into the centre; if ready, the skewer will come out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the tin.

Best served with custard or vanilla ice-cream.

Enjoy!

Boxty

Boxty is a traditional potato dish, celebrated in the rhyme.

Boxty on the griddle,
boxty in the pan,
If you can't make boxty,
you'll never get your man

Ingredients
1 cup raw potato
1 cup mashed potato
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
large knob of butter, melted
about 1/2 cup milk

Method
1. Grate the raw potatoes into a bowl. Turn out onto a cloth and wring, catching the liquid. This will separate into a clear fluid with starch at the bottom. Pour off the fluid and scrape out the starch and mix with the grated and mashed potatoes.

2. Sieve the dry ingredients and mix in along with the melted butter. Add a little milk if necessary to make a pliable dough. Knead lightly on a floured surface.

3. Divide into four and form large, flat cakes. Mark each into quarters but do not cut right through, and bake on a griddle or in a heavy pan.

If liked, more milk and an egg can be added to make a batter which can be fried in bacon fat like drop scones.

Enjoy!