Barmbrack
2 1/2 cups Mixed dry fruit (currants, dates & raisins)
1 cup Boiling black
tea
1 Egg, slightly beaten
Mixed spices (equal parts of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, and mace)
4 teaspoon
Orange Marmalade
1 1/3 cups superfine sugar
2 1/2 cups Self-rising flour
Place dried fruit in a bowl, cover with the hot tea and let soak overnight. The
next day, add remaining ingredients and mix well. Preheat oven to 375° F. Pour batter into greased 7-inch square pan and bake
in the centre of oven for 1 1/2 hours. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack. Slice and serve buttered with tea.
In Northern Ireland and the Republic BRACK is the Celtic word for salt and is
used to mean bread. Barmbrack is leavened bread, the word BARM meaning yeast. The term "barmbrack" for an Irish fruit loaf
or cake does not derive from barm or leaven. It is a corruption of the Irish word "aran breac" (Speckled Bread).
Boxty
1/2 lb Raw potato
1/2 lb cooked mashed potato
1/2 lb Plain flour
Milk
(see recipe for amount)
1 Egg
1 medium onion, chopped fine
Salt and pepper
Grate raw potatoes and mix with the cooked mashed potatoes. Add salt, pepper,
onion and flour. Beat egg and add to mixture with just enough milk to make a batter that will drop from a spoon. Drop by tablespoonfuls
onto a hot griddle or frying pan. Cook over a moderate heat for 3-4 minutes on each side. Serve with a tart apple sauce or
as part of an Ulster Fry, with bacon, fried sausage, fried eggs, black pudding, and soda bread.
An old poem says:
Boxty on the griddle,
Boxty in the pan,
If you can't make boxty,
You'll
never get a man.
Dublin Sunday Corned Beef and Cabbage
5 lb Corned beef brisket
1 large Onion stuck with 6 whole cloves
6 Carrots,
peeled and halved
8 medium Potatoes, washed and quartered
1 tsp Dried Thyme
1 small Bunch Parsley
1 Head Cabbage
(about 2 lbs), quartered
HORSERADISH SAUCE
1/2 pint Whipping Cream
2 TBSP mayonnaise
2-4 TBSP
prepared horseradish
Put beef in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil with the lid
off the pot. Add thyme, parsley and onion. Turn to simmer and cook for 3 hours. Skim fat from top as it rises. Add cabbage,
potatoes and carrots. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until cabbage is cooked. Remove the meat and cut into pieces. Place on centre
of a large platter. Strain the cabbage and season it heavily with black pepper. Surround the beef with the cabbage, carrots
and potatoes. Serve with horseradish sauce.
Horseradish Sauce: Whip cream until it stands in peaks. Fold in mayonnaise
and horseradish.
Steak & Guiness Pie
Pie pastry for double 10-12 inch pie
1 2-lb Round steak
1 TBSP Flour
1
TBSP Brown sugar
1 TBSP Raisins
5 small-med onions
1 bottle Guinness stout
8 Slices bacon
3 TBSP shortening
Chopped parsley
For double-crust pie in deep pie dish. -- Cut the steak into bite sized cubes,
roll in seasoned flour, and brown in the shortening with the bacon, chopped small. Place the meat in a casserole dish, peel
and chop the onions, and fry until golden before adding them to the meat. Add the raisins and brown sugar, pour in the Guinness,
cover tightly and simmer over a low heat or in a very moderate oven (325°-350°F) for 2 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally, and add
a little more Guinness or water if the rich brown gravy gets too thick. Meanwhile, line a deep pie dish with half the pie
crust: bake it: then add the Guinness/beef mixture from the casserole, cover with the top layer of pie crust, and bake until
finished, probably about 10 more minutes.
Irish Chocolate Cake
Sponge
6oz self-raising flour
1/2tsp salt
2oz dark chocolate
4oz
butter
6oz caster sugar
3oz cooked mashed potato
2 eggs, beaten
4tbsp milk
Filling
4oz dark chocolate
4fl oz double cream
2oz icing sugar
3tbsp
Irish cream liqueur
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease and line two 8-inch cake tins. Sift flour and salt
into a mixing bowl. Melt chocolate in a bowl placed over a saucepan of hot water. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar
together until fluffy, then beat in the chocolate and mashed potato. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little flour with
each addition. Fold in the rest of the flour and stir in the milk. Divide mixture between cake tins and bake for 25-30 minutes
or until top is firm but springy to the touch. Remove from oven and after a few minutes, turn out on a cooling rack. While
the cake is cooling, make the filling. Melt the chocolate as before, stir in the other ingredients and mix well. Use the filling
to sandwich the sponge layers together and coat the top and sides of the cake.
