March 17th (otherwise known as St. Patrick’s Day) is almost upon us. The day is a cultural and religious holiday which is celebrated in honor of the patron saint of Ireland. The festival commemorates the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, as well as celebrating Irish heritage and culture. St. Patrick’s Day is now celebrated by many people throughout the world, Irish and non-Irish alike, with food, drink and all things green and with St Patrick’s Day just a couple of days away, here at Women UK, we thought we’d share some of our favourite traditional Irish dishes.
For breakfast, nothing starts the day better than Potato and Spring Onion Breakfast Pancakes with Streaky Bacon. For four people, you will need:
210g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks- 75g self-raising flour
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 6 eggs
- 8 tbsp milk – full fat if possible
- 5 spring onions that have been very finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil
- 8 rashers of streaky bacon
- Butter
- Boil the potatoes in a large pan of salted water until tender. Drain well, tip back into the pan, shake for 1 min over a gentle heat to dry them off, then mash and leave to cool.
- In a bowl, mix the cooled mash with the flour and bicarb. Whisk 2 eggs with the milk, season, add to mix and whisk until smooth. Stir in the spring onions, reserving some to serve.
- Using a non-stick frying pan, heat half the oil and butter until sizzling, then spoon in half the pancake batter to make 4 pancakes. Cook for 1 min or so on each side until browned and set underneath, then flip and cook the other side. Keep warm in a low heated oven while you make 4 more pancakes.
- Fry the bacon and sizzle until almost crisp. Put to one side and crack in the 4 remaining eggs – with a splash more oil if needed. Serve with the pancakes and bacon, sprinkled with the remaining spring onions.
- Breakfast is ready to serve. Add your own twist and make it extra special with some grilled tomatoes and grated Parmesan. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
White Irish Stew
For this hearty and extremely tasty Irish Stew, you don’t need a massive amount of ingredients. It’s simple and delicious and using the best ingredients you can afford, will make all the difference.
To make this stew, you will need:
- 25grams unsalted butter
- olive oil
- 4 medium onions chopped
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 6 large potatoes diced to roughly the same size
- Carrots
- 8 lamb chops, excess fat trimmed off and reserved – ask your butcher for thick neck chops
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 565ml/1 pint good-quality lamb stock
- chopped parsley, optional
Irish Stew is very easy to make. Follow these simple instructions and you will be left with a meal fit for a Saint!
Melt butter with the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan with a tight-fitting lid.
Add the onions and garlic and sweat them gently for around 15 minutes or so over a low heat.
Add the potatoes and stir well to cover in the creamy juices from the onions and garlic.
Add lots of freshly ground black pepper and three pinches of salt.
Leave the potatoes and onions in the pan for a further 15 minutes over a very low heat, taking care not to let them burn – if they begin to stick add a little bit of stock.
Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over a low heat and add the excess trimmed fat from the lamb to the pan. Let the fat render down and add salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Remove and solid fatty bits that remain and add the chops to the pan and brown on both sides.
Once browned, remove the chops and add them to the potatoes.
Add some of the stock to the frying pan and stir well to get all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Add this to the chops and potatoes and add in the carrots.
Add the remaining stock, cover and cook over a low heat for one and a half hours.
Remove the stew from the heat, sprinkle with parsley and leave to rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Taste and season as necessary.
Chocolate and Guinness Cake
This fabulously rich cake is very easy to make and is perfect for a St Patrick’s Day celebration! To serve 8 people, you will need:
- 250ml Guinness®
- 250g butter
- 100g dark bitter chocolate, broken up
- 400g caster sugar
- 1 small tub of soured cream or creme fraiche (150ml)
- 2 medium eggs
- 275g plain flour
- 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
To make the cake, simply follow the steps below:
- Heat the Guinness®, butter, chocolate and sugar together.
- Mix in the eggs and soured cream.
- Add in the flour and bicarb.
- Beat so it’s smooth with no lumps.
- Place into two 20cm (8″) round cake tins and bake for 40 to 50 minutes at 180 C / Gas 4.
- Serve when still slightly warm with sweetened creme fraiche – absolutely delicious!