What’s happening in the world of contemporary Irish cuisine?
I admit I didn’t know anything. Most people—if they think about Irish food at all—come up with the usual list of St. Patrick’s Day tried-and-trues, but many a chef has been talking about some of the A-list ingredients coming from the Emerald Isle—the superb Kerrygold butter being perhaps the best known.
Ostensibly, a cooking school should be about acquiring technique—learning certain rules in order to forget them. If you have feelings and emotion, you apply what you’ve learned to a life of constant discovery when it comes to food. I learned on the job, in kitchens large and small. Having never been to a cooking school, I can think about what it might be like to work with Ducasse or Bocuse in France and be near those markets, but my personal cooking school fantasy happens to be the six-day course in Thai cooking offered at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok.
But what a wonderful experience it must be to wake up on an Irish farm in spring, to be near the ocean and feel its pull—all while learning about food. I'm fascinated by Ballymaloe—and not just because it’s Irish and beautiful, but because it’s about smart agriculture and cooking with fantastic ingredients grown in their own market gardens. There’s a lot we here in Columbia County can learn from what they’re doing in the Old Country—both agriculturally and economically. Why not great sustainable agriculture that’s good business for Columbia County?
RECIPES FOR QUINTESSENTIAL IRISH DISHES FROM THE BALLYMORE COOKERY SCHOOL
2½ to 3 lbs lamb chops (gigot or rack chops) not less than 1 inch thick
8 medium or 12 baby carrots
8 medium or 12 baby onions
8 to 12 potatoes, or more if you like
Salt and freshly ground pepper
About 4 cups stock (lamb stock if possible) or water
1 sprig of thyme
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon roux, optional (see recipe)
Cut the chops in half and trim off some of the excess fat. Set aside. Render down the fat on a gentle heat in a heavy pan (discard the rendered down pieces).
Peel the onions and scrape or thinly peel the carrots. (If they are young, you could leave some of the green stalk on the onion and carrot.) Cut the carrots into large chunks. (If they are small, leave them whole.) If the onions are large, cut them into quarters through the root; if they are small they are best left whole.
Toss the meat in the hot fat on the pan until it is slightly brown. Transfer the meat to a casserole. Then quickly toss the onions and carrots in the fat. Build the meat, carrots, and onions up in layers in the casserole, carefully seasoning each layer with freshly ground pepper and salt. De-glaze the pan with lamb stock and pour into the casserole. Peel the potatoes and lay them on top of the casserole, so they will steam while the stew cooks. Season the potatoes. Add a sprig of thyme, bring to the boil on top of the stove, cover with a butter wrapper or paper lid and the lid of the saucepan. Transfer to a moderate oven or simmer on top of the stove until the stew is cooked, 1 to 1½ hours.
When the stew is cooked, pour off the cooking liquid, skim off fat, and reheat in another saucepan. Thicken slightly by whisking in a little roux. Check seasoning, then add chopped parsley and chives. Pour over the meat and vegetables. Bring the stew back up to boiling point and serve from the pot or in a large pottery dish.
Roux
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
Melt the butter and cook the flour in it for 2 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally. Use as required. Roux can be stored in a cool place and used as required, or it can be made up on the spot if preferred. It will keep at least two weeks in the refrigerator.
Variation: Irish Stew with Pearl Barley
Add 1 to 2 heaping tablespoons pearl barley with the vegetables.
Increase the stock to 5 cups since pearl barley soaks up lots of liquid.
This master recipe can be used for most round fish, e.g. haddock, pollock, grey sea mullet, ling, hake etc. Salmon and sea trout are delicious in this way or with a mixture of fresh herbs, e.g. parsley, fennel, lemon balm, and chives.
Serves 6
6 portions of cod (approximately 6 ounces filleted fish per person)
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon finely chopped onion
Salt and freshly ground pepper
¼ stick butter
3 to 4 fresh bay leaves
Light cream to cover the fish, approximately 1¼ cups
Roux (see recipe)
Enrichment
⅛ stick butter or 1 or 2 tablespoons Hollandaise sauce (optional)
Melt the butter in a pan. Fry the onion gently for a few minutes until soft but not colored. Put the cod in the pan and cook on both sides for 1 minute. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add bay leaves. Cover with cream or creamy milk and simmer with the lid on for 5 to 10 minutes, until the fish is cooked. Remove the fish to a serving dish. Bring the cooking liquid to the boil and lightly thicken with roux. Whisk in the remaining butter or Hollandaise as an enrichment, check the seasoning. Coat the fish with sauce and serve immediately.
This dish can be prepared ahead and reheated. It also freezes well. Reheat in a moderate oven 350º F, for anything from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the container.
For a delicious starter, put the Cod with Cream and Bay Leaves into scallop shells
which have been piped around the edge with a little ruff of Duchesse Potato. For a dinner party the Duchesse Potato can be piped around a large serving dish with the cod in the center. Garnish with bay leaves before serving.
Duchesse Potato
Serves 4
2 lbs unpeeled potatoes, preferably Golden Wonders or Kerrs Pinks
1¼ cups creamy milk
1 or 2 egg yolks or 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk
¼ to ½ stick butter
Scrub the potatoes well. Put them into a saucepan of cold water, add a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil. When the potatoes are about half cooked, approximately 15 minutes for “old potatoes,” strain off two-thirds of the water, replace the lid on the saucepan, put onto a gentle heat, and allow the potatoes to steam until they are cooked.
Peel immediately by just pulling off the skins, so you have as little waste as possible; mash while hot. (If you have a large quantity, put the potatoes into the bowl of a food mixer and beat with the spade.)
While the potatoes are being peeled, bring the milk to the boil. Beat the eggs into the hot mashed potatoes, and add enough boiling creamy milk to mix to a soft light consistency suitable for piping; then beat in the butter, the amount depending on how rich you like your potatoes. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Note
If the potatoes are not peeled and mashed while hot and if the boiling milk is not added immediately, the Duchesse Potato will be lumpy and gluey.
If you only have egg whites they will be fine and will make a delicious light mashed potato also.
Songs have been sung and poems have been written about Colcannon. It’s one of Ireland’s most famous traditional potato dishes. It’s comfort food at its very best and can be made with cabbage or kale. Terrific for a party!
Did you ever eat colcannon
When 'twas made with yellow cream
And the kale and praties blended
Like a picture in a dream?
Did you ever scoop a hole on top
To hold the melting lake
Of the clover-flavoured butter
Which your mother used to make?
1 lb. kale or Savoy or spring cabbage
3 lbs. “old” potatoes, e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerrs Pinks
1 cup boiling milk, approximately
1 ounce scallion or spring onion, optional
Salt and freshly ground pepper
½ stick butter, approximately
Scrub the potatoes, put them in a saucepan of cold water, add a good pinch of salt, and bring to the boil. When the potatoes are about half cooked (about 15 minutes for “old” potatoes), strain off two-thirds of the water, replace the lid on the saucepan, put onto a gentle heat, and allow the potatoes to steam until they are cooked.
Remove the dark outer leaves from the cabbage. Wash the rest and cut into quarters, remove the core and cut finely across the grain. Cook in a little boiling salted water or bacon cooking water until soft. Drain, season with salt, freshly ground pepper, and a little butter. If using kale, remove the central rib. Cook the kale in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender. This may take 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the type and maturity of the kale. Curly kale is sweetest after it has been mellowed by a few night frosts.
When the potatoes are just cooked, put the milk and the finely chopped scallions into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pull the peel off the potatoes and discard, mash quickly while they are still warm and beat in enough boiling milk to make a fluffy puree. (If you have a large quantity, put the potatoes in the bowl of a food mixer and beat with the spade.) Then stir in the cooked cabbage and taste for seasoning. For perfection, serve immediately in a hot dish with a lump of butter melting in the center.
Colcannon may be prepared ahead up to this point and reheated later in a moderate oven 350º F, for 20 to 25 minutes. Cover while reheating so it doesn't get too crusty on top.
