An Irish Country Cookbook Page 11
Serves 4 to 6
5 oz/150 ml white wine vinegar
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
1 small onion or 2 shallots, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lb/455 g white mushrooms or cremini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
Chopped fresh cilantro
Combine the vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, onion, garlic, and bay leaf in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for just a few minutes until the onion is cooked. Season with salt and pepper to taste and pour over the mushrooms. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove the bay leaf, garnish with chopped cilantro, and serve. These keep, refrigerated, for about a week in a sealed container.
Lemon Rice
Serves 4
A knob of butter
1 small onion, chopped, or 2 shallots, chopped
8 oz/227 g long grain rice
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
16 oz/475 ml chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp chopped fresh tarragon
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and gently fry the onion for a few minutes without browning. Add the rice and lemon zest and juice and stir once. Add the chicken stock and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, by which time the stock should be absorbed. Stir the tarragon through the rice.
Onion Pudding
Serves 4
1 oz/28 g butter
1 lb 2 oz/500 g mild sweet onions, finely sliced
2 eggs
5 oz/150 ml milk
1 oz/28 g all-purpose flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C. Melt the butter in a lidded frying pan, add the onions, cover, and cook gently for about half an hour without letting them colour. Whisk together the eggs, milk, and flour until smooth and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the onions and pour into a well-buttered casserole. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until well risen and coloured. Serve.
Potato and Celeriac Mash
Serves 4 to 6
1 lb/455 g celeriac, peeled
1 lb/455 g russet potatoes, peeled
2 oz/60 ml heavy cream
2 oz/56 g butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Slice away the rough outside skins of the celeriac and chop into 1-in/2.5-cm chunks. Peel and chop the potatoes into slightly larger chunks than the celeriac. (This will ensure that both vegetables cook evenly and are ready at the same time.) Now put them into a pan of boiling salted water to just cover them and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender. Drain, mash and dry off over a low heat. Add the cream and butter, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
Potato Gratin
Serves 4 to 6
2 garlic cloves, peeled
Butter
2¼ lb/910 g waxy potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
24 oz/710 ml milk
Salt
1 egg
6 oz/170 g cheddar cheese or Gruyère cheese, shredded
Ground nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Rub the sides and base of a 9 by 13-inch/23 by 33-cm baking dish with the garlic, then chop the garlic and set aside. Butter the dish well.
Rinse the potatoes well in cold water and drain them. Bring the milk to the boil with a little salt, add the potatoes and the chopped garlic, and simmer very gently for about 5 minutes. Drain the potatoes and reserve the milk.
Beat together the egg, half the cheese, the nutmeg, and salt and pepper in a bowl. While still whisking, add the milk. Layer the potatoes in the casserole dish and pour the milk mixture over. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and dot the surface generously with butter. Cook for 20 minutes, by which time the top should be golden and the potatoes cooked. If they are not soft when tested with a fork, leave to cook for another 5 minutes or so. If the top is becoming too brown, cover with a piece of foil.
VARIATION
Try this with alternating layers of thinly sliced parboiled carrot or parsnip or both.
Roast Potatoes
Serves 6 to 8
5 Tbsp duck or goose fat or canola oil
8 potatoes peeled and cut into halves or thirds if large
1 tbsp sea salt
Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Put the fat or oil into a large 9 by 13-inch/23 by 33-cm roasting pan in the oven. Parboil the potatoes for about 5 minutes. Drain them in a colander and return them to the hot saucepan. Add the sea salt to the potatoes, replace the lid and give them a good shake. This gives the potato edges a rough texture and improves the crunchiness of the finished roast potatoes.
Empty the potatoes into the roasting pan and mix until they are coated with the hot fat. Return the pan to the oven for about 20 minutes. They will now be starting to colour and should be turned over and cooked for another 20 to 30 minutes or until they are golden brown and crunchy. Drain on paper towels.
Spicy Red Cabbage
Serves 8 to 10
4 oz/113 g raisins
3 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (2 lb/910 g) red cabbage, cored and shredded
1 lb/455 g tart apples, peeled, cored, and shredded
2 red onions, sliced
5 oz/150 ml apple cider
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1 bay leaf
Combine the raisins, sugar, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt and pepper to taste. Layer the cabbage, apples, and onion into a Dutch oven, sprinkling the sugar mixture in between the layers as you go. Pour the cider and vinegar over the top and drop in the bay leaf.
This dish may be cooked either in the oven or on the stovetop but I think it is easier to do it on the stovetop because you will need to stir it from time to time.
Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook slowly for 2 or 3 hours, stirring occasionally. If you like you can leave the lid off for the last 30 minutes to reduce the fluid and concentrate the flavour. Remove the bay leaf and serve.
If cooking in the oven, bake at 350°F /180°C for 2 or 3 hours and remove the lid for the last 30 minutes.
This dish may be prepared well in advance and frozen.
Kinky’s Note:
Whilst Bramley apples would have been the cooking apples of choice in Ulster, if they are not available, try using Braeburn or any other slightly tart variety.
Yorkshire Pudding
Yorkshire pudding is traditionally served with roast beef and is a similar batter to that used in the Toad in the Hole recipe. In poorer families, both, indeed, had a similar purpose. With the Toad, the intention was to make a small amount of meat stretch a bit further, while the Yorkshire pudding was often served before the meat course, thus providing a cheap way to take the edge off of the appetite and make the more expensive meat go further. In poorer households, the Yorkshire pudding served with gravy was often the only course. Doctor O’Reilly tells me that it dates back to the eighteenth century and came from the North of England. He likes me to serve it with a lamb roast fillet or roast pork, as well as roast beef.
Makes about 12
4 oz/113 g all-purpose flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
10 oz/295 ml milk
4 Tbsp goose fat, lard, or sunflower or canola oil
Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Sift the flour and seasonings into a bowl and whisk in the eggs. Add the milk slowly and whisk until you have a smooth batter. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Distribute the fat or oil evenly between the cupcake or muffin pans and heat in the oven until it is very hot and almost smoking. Pour the ba
tter into the pans and return to the oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until well risen and golden brown. (Do not open the door while the puddings are cooking or they might collapse.) Leave for a few more minutes if necessary. Prick with a toothpick to allow the steam to escape. Serve immediately.
Kinky’s Note:
This batter can be made up to three days in advance but you should bring it back to room temperature before cooking.
You Win Some, You Lose Some
“Right,” said O’Reilly, parking himself in an arm-chair, “not long to the start.” He leant forward and switched on the television that had a small room of its own at Number One Main Street because, as he had once explained, “I don’t like the baleful eye watching me in my lounge.”
He clutched a glass of Jameson’s Irish whiskey. Being on call, I sipped a C & C Club Orange.
The screen flickered, looked like a snowstorm, then produced a distorted black-and-white picture of a man’s head and shoulders that shimmied like my sister Kate.
O’Reilly muttered something, rose, and struck the top of the set a single thump.
I swear there was instant resolution of the picture and the commentator, David Coleman, clunky microphone to his lips, looked a bit as if he’d been the recipient of the blow.
O’Reilly growled, “And I’ll take no cheek from electrical devices either.”
Coleman’s plummy English tones came from the set’s speakers, “Welcome to Aintree for the running of the one hundred and nineteenth Grand National, the world’s toughest steeplechase. The course is four miles, three and a half furlongs. The forty-seven horses will attempt to jump thirty jumps over two circuits of the track.…”
O’Reilly leant forward and turned down the volume. “He’ll blether on for a while before we get the real action. I’m all set on this one. I’ve studied the racing form of every horse and I’ve got the inside word from Fergus Finnegan…”
I’d treated the Marquis of Ballybucklebo’s jockey for an eye infection last year. He was renowned for his ability to predict the outcome of horse races.
“Fergus says there’s a great Irish horse, Crobeg, running at a hundred to one. I’ve five pounds on him. You know, Barry,” he said, “it’s a great science putting bets on horses. You really have to bring a trained mind like mine to bear.”
“Good luck,” I said, recalling with great clarity a horse called Battle Cruiser that O’Reilly had backed at a point-to-point last year. The animal had a reputation for loving to jump fences. Regrettably, it had gone over the first fence it saw—the perimeter fence—and it hadn’t come back. I had felt it tactful not to mention that.
“Aye,” said O’Reilly, taking a pull on his whiskey, “Did I ever tell you about the time in Dublin … hang on, your man Coleman’s talking about the tote board. We’re going to get the starting prices.” He turned up the volume.
“… the favourite, Freddie is at seven to two…”
And I wasn’t going to get to hear whatever O’Reilly was going to tell me about.
“Jasus,” said O’Reilly, “put down two quid to win seven? Not me.”
Coleman said, “The Rip, nine to one. Pat Taafe’s up on Quintin Bay and with such a famous jockey the odds are twenty-five to one.…”
O’Reilly said, “The bookies use their loafs before they call the odds. I said and I’ll say it again, don’t bet until you’ve done your homework.” He laughed. “I was going to tell you a story about a bet a friend of mine at Trinity medical school made in the thirties in Dublin…”
Coleman called more odds and concluded, “… and the remaining twenty-one horses are at one hundred to one…”
“Including my little beauty, Crobeg.” O’Reilly said, and lowered the volume. “Anyway Sean Barry was a County Corkman and a betting man…” He took another drink and shook his head, “I do believe Sean would have wagered on two snails crossing a path, but his great love was the horses. He and I were sitting in Davy Byrne’s pub on Duke Street. Says he to me, ‘Fingal, would you be willing to help me out?’
“‘And what,’ says I, ‘would you like me to do?’
“‘Could you lend me a fiver? It’ll only be for about half an hour, so.’
“I confess I entertained a certain suspicion that an equine might be involved. ‘And what’s it for,’ says I?”
“‘There’s a filly running in the third at Leopardstown this afternoon at a hundred to one.’” O’Reilly digressed to say, “Just like my Crobeg in the National,” then continued, “Sean said, ‘I really need the cash and a fiver on will bring one hundred and five back when she wins.’
“‘If she wins,’ I said. ‘If.’ I’ve always made it an absolute that I don’t mind lending money, but my father taught me never to lend more than I can afford to lose. You’ll not always get the loan back. I shook my head. ‘I would if I could, Sean, but I’m skint,’ and I was. ‘I’ve enough for a couple of pints and that’s it.’
“‘Och well.’ His face fell then he brightened and said, ‘I think, bye, you could help me in another way, so.’
“‘Go on.’
“He pointed and said, ‘This suit’s brand-new. There’s a pawnbroker’s across the road. We’ll go back to the gents. I’ll take a cubicle, take off me suit, hand it over to you…’
“‘And you want me to pawn it?’
“‘I do and I’ll wait in the cubicle for you to bring it back with my winnings.’
“‘You are nuts. I’ll do no such thing.’
“Your man Sean Barry could have given Moses himself a run for his money in the ‘soften Pharaoh’s hard heart’ stakes. Before you knew it I was in the gents, clutching a suit, in the pawn broker’s, taking a fiver, and in the turf accountant’s, placing a bet on a horse called Belfast Bombshell.… Hang on,” he said and turned up the volume in time to hear, “They’re under starter’s orders.”
I sighed. I wanted to know what happened to the Bombshell, but had to settle for, “And they’re off. Freddie leads Red Tide by a nose. Both are ahead of the pack. They’re coming to the first and yes, yes, Ayla’s down.…” and there was a horse struggling to get back on its feet, its rider curled in a ball to avoid the hooves of the rest.
I must admit I’m not a horsey chap, but it was exciting to watch.
“Crobeg’s up with the leaders,” O’Reilly said, as every horse cleared the second hurdle.
David Coleman said, “There’s trouble at the third. It’s an open ditch fence.”
The horses pounded up to it and soared over water and hedge, all but;
“And Ronald’s Boy is down.”
“Crobeg’s not,” I said, and now I was as caught up in the race as O’Reilly.
“After the fourth Red Tide’s down and Culette has pulled up and refused, and so has Fearless Cavalier.”
“Go on Crobeg, you-boy-yuh,” O’Reilly said, hunching forward in his chair and cheering as no horses missed the fifth. “The next’s Becher’s Brook,” he said. It’s a real B. Four-foot-ten fence and an eight-foot brook.”
I swear I was holding my breath.
The commentator said, “Jay Trump’s over, followed by Freddie, Mr. Jones, the Rip … and, oh dear me, we have had a series of collisions. I can’t tell who brought down whom, but Nedsmar’s down and Ruby Glen, Sizzle On, Barley Croft, and one more. I can’t make out which horse it is.…”
“Well I can, you bollix,” said O’Reilly. “It’s my horse.” He took a deep breath. “Och well,” he said, “we might as well enjoy the rest of the race,” and we did to see just fourteen horses finish, with Freddie the favourite coming second and Jay Trump winning at one hundred to six.
“Fingal,” I said, “you were telling me about your friend and his suit?”
O’Reilly snorted then said, “I’ll put it this way. I didn’t go back to Davy Byrne’s for a couple of weeks in case Sean was still in there. I regret to say he hadn’t really done his homework.”
And we both laughed.
“You’re in fine fett
le, so,” Kinky said, sticking her head round the door. From her kitchen below wafted the smells of kedgeree cooking and fresh bread cooling. “I’m pretty glad myself. Flo Bishop, Aggie Arbuthnot, Cissie Sloan, and me had six quid on Jay Trump, so.”
“And,” said O’Reilly, “did the sight help you, Kinky Kincaid?”
You do know that Kinky was fey.
She sniffed. “Not at all,” she said. “That would be cheating. Flo got out the list of runners, and Aggie closed her eyes and stuck a pin it it.”
“You what?” O’Reilly said. “I’ll be damned.”
The temptation to remark, “There’s more than one way to do your homework,” was almost overwhelming, but often times around Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly, as Falstaff might have said, “The better part of valour is discretion.”
Sauces AND Jelly
Sauce Béarnaise
This is probably one of the most difficult of all the French sauces to make, but I think this recipe is quite foolproof. It is very good served with steak or fish.
Serves 2 to 4
6 egg yolks
2½ oz/75 ml white wine vinegar
7 oz/200 g butter, melted
1 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon (or ½ tsp dried)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
First blend the egg yolks (I use the Sunbeam Mixmaster Doctor O’Reilly bought me). Then, with the mixer still running, add the vinegar very slowly and follow by gradually adding the butter. To finish, add the tarragon, season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.
Hollandaise Sauce
Serves 4 to 6
3 eggs
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 oz/113 g butter
I do this in a blender but you may want to use a whisk. Separate the egg yolks and egg whites.
Heat the vinegar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and reduce to about half. Put the vinegar mixture into the blender and, with the blender running slowly, gradually add the egg yolks and salt and pepper. Melt the butter in the same pan that you used for the vinegar and with the blender still running add the melted butter to the egg yolk mixture. The sauce will start to thicken and if you think it is too thick just add a little hot water.