Recipe - Irish Sausage

Sausages, I love them.  I love to eat them and I love to make them.  This next recipe is one of the many out there for Irish sausage.  Making sausage is easy.  All you really need is a grinder, or you can buy meat already ground.  From there just add the spices and there you have it, sausage.  You can then stuff it into casings or make patties or just leave it loose for chili's and meatloafs.  Theres so much you can do with it.


Irish Sausage
10-lbs ground pork
10-cups breadcrumbs
8-eggs, whisked
20-cloves garlic, minced
3-tbsp salt
1-tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1-tbsp dried thyme
1-tbsp dried basil
1-tbsp dried rosemary
1-tbsp dried marjoram
4-cups ice water

Combine all ingredients, mix well & stuff into sheep casing

Recipes - Irish Soda Bread

Irish soda bread is one of those classics for Saint Partick's day.  Just about any establishment that does anything for the holiday does soda bread (corned beef and cabbage is the other big one).  This recipe is an easy, almost foolproof, version.  Enjoy.

Easy Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients:

        * 4 cups all-purpose flour
        * 4 tablespoons white sugar
        * 1 teaspoon baking soda
        * 1 tablespoon baking powder
        * 1/2 teaspoon salt
        * 1/2 cup margarine, softened
        * 1 cup buttermilk
        * 1 egg
        * 1/4 cup butter, melted
        * 1/4 cup buttermilk

    Directions:

    HINT: To give a real authentic look to your creation, before baking any
Irish bread recipe use a knife to cut a cross in the top of the loaf. According
to old Irish folklore, the cross will ward off the Devil.

    Preheat oven to 375° F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet. In a large
bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and margarine.
Stir in 1 cup of buttermilk and egg.

    Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough
into a round and place on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine melted
butter with 1/4 cup buttermilk; brush loaf with this mixture. Use a sharp knife
to cut a big cross into the top of the loaf.

    Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted
into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 30 to 50 minutes. You may
continue to brush the loaf with the butter mixture while it bakes.

    This Irish bread recipe makes 1 (1 1/2 pound) loaf, 20 servings.

Recipe - Colcannon

Here is a recipe for one of Ireland's best potato dishs.  I would classify this as an easy to make recipe too.  The dish is called Colcannon and it is more or less mashed potatoes with ham or bacon and cabbage.  I'm sure there are several variations like using salt pork or pancetta instead of the bacon or ham.  Ooo, how about corned beef!?  Sort of like a corned beef and cabbage type thing.  Well, try the recipe then decide how you would like to adjust it.

Colcannon
 Ingredients

    * 3 pounds potatoes, scrubbed
    * 2 sticks butter
    * 1 1/4 cups hot milk
    * Freshly ground black pepper
    * 1 head cabbage, cored and finely shredded
    * 1 (1-pound) piece ham or bacon, cooked the day before
    * 4 scallions, finely chopped
    * Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

Directions

Steam the potatoes in their skins for 30 minutes. Peel them using a knife and
fork. Chop with a knife before mashing. Mash thoroughly to remove all the lumps.
Add 1 stick of butter in pieces. Gradually add hot milk, stirring all the time.
Season with a few grinds of black pepper.

Boil the cabbage in unsalted water until it turns a darker color. Add 2
tablespoons butter to tenderize it. Cover with lid for 2 minutes. Drain
thoroughly before returning it to the pan. Chop into small pieces.

Put the ham in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and
simmer for 45 minutes until tender. Drain. Remove any fat and chop into small
pieces.

Add cabbage, scallions, and ham to mashed potatoes, stirring them in gently.

Serve in individual soup plates. Make an indentation on the top by swirling a
wooden spoon. Put 1 tablespoon of butter into each indentation. Sprinkle with
parsley.

Recipe - Irish Beef Stew

Here's the next recipe for today, Irish Stew.  This one is made with Guinness.  I haven't tried this recipe yet, but it really does look very good.  I hope to give it a try in the next week or two.  So, without further ado...

Irish Beef Stew with Guinness Stout
Ingredients:

    * 2 tablespoons olive oil
    * 3 bay leaves
    * 2 pounds beef stew meat with some fat, cut in 2 inch cubes
    * 1 large yellow onion, peeled and sliced
    * 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
    * 1 teaspoon dried thyme, whole
    * 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
    * 2-3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    * 3/4 cup beef stock
    * 1/2 cup Guinness stout
    * 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
    * 1/2 pound carrots, sliced
    * salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat a 6-quart stove-top casserole. Then add the oil and the bay leaves. Cook
the bay leaves for a moment and then add the meat.

Brown the meat on both sides on high heat. Add the sliced onion and cook for a
few minutes until it is clear.

Reduce the heat to low and add the garlic, thyme, rosemary and flour, and stir
well until smooth.

Add the beef stock and stout; simmer, stirring, until the stew thickens a bit.
Add the remaining ingredients and cover.

Place the pot in a 275° F oven for about 2 hours, stirring a couple of times.
Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!  The day were everyone gets to be Irish.  It's also a day to try out some really awesome Irish food.  Today I'm going doing a series of post of Irish recipes as well as throw in a post or two just on Irish cooking and a wee bit of history there of, too.  I'll kick things off with a recipe for a classic.  Corned beef and cabbage.

This is a favorite in this house hold.  We make it almost every month.  While corned beef and cabbage is a classic, it looks like it may just be a variation of another dish from Ireland, Bacon and Cabbage.  Now, for those of you that don't know, Ireland has two types of bacon.  The one the Americans are most familiar with is called rashers there.  No, Bacon and Cabbage uses Back Bacon which is more like a ham.  It's cured, but may not be smoked.

Anyways, here's a recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Ingredients

    * 1 pound kosher salt
    * 2 gallons water, divided
    * 8 pounds beef brisket
    * 6 bay leaves
    * 8 black peppercorns
    * 1 onion, chopped
    * 1 medium head cabbage, quartered
    * 1 pound carrots, sliced
    * 1 turnip, chopped
    * 1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
    * 8 potatoes - peeled and cubed

Directions

   1. In a large stainless steel or cast iron pot, combine the salt, water and
brisket. Cover and let sit for 7 days in the refrigerator. (Note: brisket must
be completely submerged, so double the salt and water if necessary.)
   2. After 7 days, drain the brine and add 1 gallon fresh water, bay leaves and
peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low/medium low, and simmer for 3 to
3 1/2 hours.
   3. During the last 45 minutes of cooking, add the onion, cabbage, carrots,
turnip, cilantro, and potatoes. Continue simmering until all vegetables are
tender.
 

A Super Easy Meal

So, I've been told that I need to include some recipes for the cooking challenged parents out there.  I'll be the first to admit that my idea of easy is not nessicarilly everyone elses.  With that said, I'll post about the easiest meal recipe I can think of.  Of course I'll make sure to throw up more of the super easy recipes, but until then.....

This is a favorite of my daughter who asks for it quite a bit when she's around.

Box of mac and cheese
1/2 a keilbasa
frozen broccoli

Cut up the keilbasa to bit size pieces.

Start the water going for the mac and cheese.  Add you broccoli to the water as it's heating up.  In a fry pan (cast iron is the best) fry up the sausage.  Make sure you brown it really good, about to the point were it looks burnt.

Once the mac and cheese is made add the keilbasa and maybe a little extra cheese if you have a little kicking around.  That's it.  About as easy as I can do.  If you don't know how to make boxed mac and cheese then, well, I doubt that this blog will be of much use to you, otherwise I hope you enjoy it all!

Be sure to stop by Wednesday (St paddy's day) when I'll be posting lots of recipes as well as anything else I can come up with on Irish cooking.  I look forward to seeing everyone then!.

A Rant about Washing Vegetables

I've got to rant a little bit here, and see if maybe someone can answer a question for me.  Most everyone knows about food safety, like to what tempreature to cook chicken, and to wash your hands, etc.  What you may not know is that you can get certifiad as a safe food handler.  A lot of restaurant and other food related busniesses require it.  I just re-up'ed my Serv-Safe about a month ago.

Anyways, the rant.  One of the things they tell you is to wash your fruits and vegetables before prepping them for whatever your going to use them for.  The rule is under cold water for 15 seconds.  Appearently the friction from the water is enough to carry away the bacteria.  Now who really believes that?  You do?  Really?  Ok, allow me then to continue on.  Chicken needs to be cooked to 165 degrees to kill off salmonella (though eggs are 'special' and only need to be cooked to 155 to kill the same thing.... think about that for a second).  Non-ground beef needs to be cooked to 145 to kill e-coli AND e-coli only lives on the outside of the meat.  As long as the outside comes to 145, you can eat the inside raw and not get e-coli.

So, if all you need to do is wash veggies under running water and it's safe to eat, then can't we just run a steak under water then hand it to someone and KNOW that the e-coli bactiria has been washed away?

Anyone that can explain that, I'm all ears and am interested to learn.  Here is what I think though, the powers that be are so hung up on washing that even if it doesn't do jack, they will still tell you to do it and hope that you believe their crap.  If you don't believe me, just look at hand sanitizers.  Hand sanitizers now a days kill 99.9% of germs.  Just as good, if not better than hand washing, but even if you use hand sanitizers you still have to wash your hands for 20 seconds using really harsh soap.  Doesn't make much sense does it.  It's done that way because the government has invested so much into promoting hand washing that they will push that even it there is a different option that kills 100% AND virus too.

OK, that post sounds a little to much like a conspiracy theory.... I guess it is, though don't expect any topics to be popping up on the conspiracy forums and what not.