St Patrick’s Day – the results

Over the past week I’ve written about Irish food in anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day (here and here), which was yesterday.  I now feel obligated to let you know how things turned out.  In a word – great!

I decided to make coddle the main course of the meal.  The dish was born as a Thursday night special (back in the days when Catholics were not allowed to eat meat on Fridays) when all the meat scraps in the kitchen were tossed into a stew that was fleshed out with potatoes and maybe cabbage.  I’ve encountered many recipes for coddle but they are all using a similar framework – potatoes, bacon, and either sausages or a pork chop in a one-skillet meal.  There are many, many variations on this theme, but reliance on pork and potatoes and a one-skillet braise are constants.

I assembled my own version from a handful of recipes and did a little improvising from there.  I decided to use a couple of Irish bangers (UK for sausage) and a pair of  thin pork chops, I supplemented the potatoes with cabbage, rutabaga, and carrots, and the stewing/braising liquid was chicken broth and hard cider.  The full recipe is below but here’s the outline.

But first, here’s a diversion on back bacon.  A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how wonderful it was to have access to the kind of ingredients I have in my neighborhood (here) except that foods from the UK were hard to find.  In particular, I complained about not being able to find “back bacon,” which is what is called plain ol’ “bacon” throughout the UK.  It’s uncured, and resembles Canadian bacon but is a little different.  Several of you wrote in suggestions, which unfortunately didn’t pan out.  I went to every butcher I know – some knew what I was talking about, none had any, and a couple said “we don’t do it that way here.”  Eventually, I did find some at Whole Foods! 

I first seared the pork chops in butter and set them aside.  Added the back bacon to render it a little, then added the potatoes, rutabagas, and carrots.  Stirring frequently, I let these go for about ten minutes, and then added the sausage, layered the cabbage on top and put the pork chops on top of the cabbage.  Added the stock and the cider, brought to a boil then reduced the heat, covered, and simmered for 20 minutes.  Uncover, turn the heat back up to reduce the liquid, and served directly from the skillet.

It was delicious.  The pork chops were tender, tastes of bacon fat and apples were in every bite, the rutabagas and carrots gave the vegetables some depth, I loved it.  It’s going into the permanent collection.

Give the amount of vegetables, I probably didn’t need to make a side but I did anyway.  I’ve made colcannon before but I wanted to tinker a little this time.  I braised a leek in a little milk until the leek was soft and then added the leek and the milk to the potato/cabbage mixture.  It worked very well.

Finally is Sally Schneider‘s Irish Brown Bread. It’s a basic quick bread, but the flour is a mixture of all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, rolled oats, and oat bran.  I’m not sure why she calls it “brown bread” because it seems to me to be one more variant of Irish Soda Bread, but that’s OK.

The next holiday is Easter, and my true love and I usually celebrate Easter with Polish food, so you can look forward to some Polish cuisine in the near future.

Recipe – Irish Coddle

Ingredients

2 pork loin chops

2 Irish bangers (sausages)

4 strips back bacon, chopped

2 tbl butter

1 potato, cut into cubes

1 large carrot, cut into cubes

1/2 rutabaga, cut into cubes

1/4 head of cabbage, chopped

3/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 cup hard cider

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Melt the butter in a skillet on med/high heat.  Liberally season the pork chops and sear in the skillet (about 90 seconds per side) and set aside.  Sear the bangers in the skillet (about 2 minutes on a side) and set aside.  Add the bacon and stir for about a minute, until the fat begins to render.  Turn the heat down to med/low and add all the vegetables and stir.  Keep stirring until the vegetables and bacon begin to brown, about ten minutes. Test for seasoning.

Cut the bangers into bite size pieces and nestle them into the vegetables.  Add the cabbage in a layer on top and add the pork chops on top of the cabbage.  Add the cider and stock and turn the heat up to med/high until the liquid boils.  Then cover, turn the heat to low, and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Uncover and turn the heat up to high until the liquid begins to boil.  Reduce the liquid by about half and serve in the skillet.

Recipe – Colcannon

Ingredients

1 potato, sliced

1/4 head cabbage, chopped

1 medium-small leek, chopped into thin pieces

milk

1 tbl butter

chives

Directions

In separate saucepans, boil the potatoes and the cabbage.  While they are boiling, in a third saucepan, barely cover the leeks with milk and bring to a simmer.  When the potatoes are done, drain them to a large bowl.  When the cabbage is tender, drain it and chop it a few times until the long strands are broken up.  Add to the potatoes and mash for a bit. When the leeks are tender, drain off about 1/2 the milk and then add the milk and leeks to the potatoes and cabbage.  Mash until thoroughly mixed and the potatoes are smooth.

Serve with a pat of butter and chives scattered over the top.

Recipe – Irish Brown Bread

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup oat bran

1 tbl brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

3 tbl butter, melted

Directions

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Melt the butter and add it to the bowl.  Add the buttermilk slowly and in a couple of batches, mixing it up each time.  Knead by hand until the mixture is smooth but stiff and no stray flour is in the bowl.

Divide the batter in half.  Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper and dust lightly with flour.  Place each half of the batter on different ends of the baking sheet and shape each into a round loaf about 5-6″ high in the center.  Cut a cross in the top of each loaf and insert in a preheated 400° oven.

After 25 minutes, begin checking for doneness. The bread is done when a thin knife, inserted into the loaf, comes out clean.  When done, place on a rack to cool.