Irish Country Cooking: Recipes from the Irish Countrywoman’s Association

I’m loving this cookbook.  It’s a collection of recipes from members of the Irish Countrywomen’s Association. The photos are beautiful and the recipes are both interesting and approachable. Each recipe includes a little blurb about the recipe and how it came to be.  My favorite part is the one sentence description of each contributor.  Stuff like “Golf-mad grandmother of 12” or “Volunteer and busy mum of three”.  My personal favorite is “Hill-walking granny and expert patchworker”.  The recipe I used today was from Margaret O’Reilly of County Cork, “Prize-winning maker of Carrickmacross lace”.

Now that it’s October and the weather seems to have turned, it really feels like Fall. Maybe that’s why I bought a huge bag of apples the other day. Apples. Just what you need when you want to make a simple, comforting, fall dessert.  I needed to make something easy, preferably something you could throw together while holding a baby. Rolling out pie dough was out.  An apple crumble was in order.

I chose the one in this book because it was different from any apple crumble recipe I’ve made before. The apple crumble recipes I’ve tried in the past all call for a streusel topping made with flour, sugar, warm spices and cold butter that you sprinkle on top of apples that have been tossed with sugar and lemon juice, sort of like a crustless streusel-topped pie. This was totally different. Toasted breadcrumbs, ground almonds, lemon zest, brown sugar and golden syrup with no warm spices, or any spices, to be found. Plus, the topping was cooked on the stovetop prior to baking and everything was layered in the pan - apples, topping, apples, topping - lasagna style. The recipe also called for blackberries, which I didn’t have. Still, the result was delicious. Simple. Clean. Extra “appley” without those spices for vying with the fruit for attention. The lemon zest complemented the sweetness of the apples without taking over. It also felt sweet and indulgent without being heavy.  No guilt in eating this on top of yogurt or oats for breakfast.

A few years ago I bought this apple corer, peeler, slicer, which is one of the few uni-taskers allowed in my kitchen. I’m so glad I have it.  This was Emmett’s first time using it and he thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Isla was able to use it too (little miss “anything you can do I can do better” - she’s a competitive little bugger).  They made quick work of 4 apples.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t measure, again. So the amounts below are just estimates. I’m just not big on measuring unless I absolutely have to. But I’ve outlined the ingredients and basic process below.

This golden syrup is available at the boutique and has so many uses. 

Apple Crumble

Recipe adapted from Irish Country Cooking

2-3 tablespoons Butter

1 cup Breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons Brown sugar

2 oz Golden Syrup

Zest and juice of one lemon

pinch of salt

2oz Ground almonds

2 oz Sliced almonds

4 apples, cored, peeled and sliced

Preheat oven to 350F.  

Spray a pie pan or other baking dish with cooking spray or coat with butter.  

Melt butter in a large skillet and toast breadcrumbs for about 5 minutes, until they are light brown and smell toasted.

Place golden syrup, lemon juice and zest, salt and sugar in a small saucepan and heat over low heat.

Once breadcrumbs are toasted, add them to sugar mixture, then add ground almonds and sliced almonds and stir.

Layer 2 apples in the pan and top with one half of the topping mixture.

Layer the remaining apples on top and top with the remaining sugar-breadcrumb mixture.

Place in oven. After 20 minutes, check the crumble and place foil loosely over the top if it is browning too fast (this is important, I almost didn’t check mine in time and it was very brown by the time I covered it).  

Cook for another 20-25 minutes or until apples are soft and bubbling. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream or custard.  

Melt butter for toasting breadcrumbs, Irish butter if you have it. 

Breadcrumbs and nuts are combined with warm sugar, syrup, lemon juice mixture.

Layer apples and topping in the pan. 

Ready to bake.

I ate this as an afternoon snack - plain with some coffee.  The next evening we had it after dinner with custard and tea. 

An Irish Italian Meal: Bacon and Pea Risotto

I had just started cooking dinner the other night when Paul suggested that I take some photos and blog about it. The thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I looked down at the big pile of cubed Irish boiling bacon that I was about to put into the risotto and realized that I use Irish bacon all the time.  So often that I don’t even recognize it as an “Irish” ingredient anymore. Friends who aren't Irish ask me what it is and how it's different from regular bacon. Like brown bread, I had never even heard of Irish bacon until I started dating Paul and celebrating holidays with his family. My father-in-law, Paddy, studs his with cloves and boils it for just the right amount of time.  It puts the turkey to shame every Thanksgiving and I can never decide whether to eat more then and there or to hold off with the hope that there will be some left over. I think Paddy has caught on to my not-so-subtle clamoring for the leftovers so he often sets some aside for me when he makes one. I freeze it for fried rice, pasta, omelettes, sandwiches, pot pies, soup, you name it.

Bacon and pea risotto was actually a first in my household but I will definitely make it again. The kids loved it and Emmett, who had requested “plain noodles” for dinner ended up cleaning his plate. We were joking that we should have been wearing the “Half-Gaelic, Half-Garlic” T-shirts for this meal, but really, who doesn’t like bacon, peas and rice?

Mr. Plain Noodles stealing bites of the good stuff from Dad. 

Bacon and Pea Risotto

1 fist-size slab of cooked Irish boiling bacon, cubed

1 cup frozen peas

1 shallot, thinly sliced

3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

¾ cup Arborio rice

⅓ cup white wine (optional)

1 tablespoon butter, divided in half

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cups chicken stock or broth (This is more than enough.  I heat up more than I need and use what's left for another purpose)

1 sprig rosemary

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (dried work fine as well)

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup Parmesan cheese plus more to finish

1 lemon for serving

Place chicken stock or broth in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. While stock is coming to a simmer, prepare your shallot, garlic and bacon. Place a heavy bottomed pan on the stove and turn heat to medium high. Add half of the butter and the olive oil.  Once the pan is hot, add the shallot and garlic and turn down the heat as necessary to make sure the shallot and garlic do not burn. Cook about five minutes, until shallot is translucent.  Add the rice, rosemary and thyme and stir until all of the grains of rice are coated in oil/butter and begin (just barely) to toast. Turn the heat back up and add wine, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Once wine is almost completely evaporated, turn the heat down to medium low and start adding the stock. I use a soup ladle and add a couple of ladles of stock at a time, keeping the rice-stock mixture at low boil and seasoning with salt along the way. Once the rice has absorbed most of the stock, I add more. After 10 to 15 minutes I start checking the rice to gauge how much longer I think it will take to cook through. Once it is just a little more al dente (15 minutes or so) than I would like, I remove the sprig of rosemary and add the bacon, peas, and a little more stock.  I continue to cook until the rice is just cooked through. Try not to get distracted at the end because it can go from perfect to mushy quickly. When the rice is ready, I turn off the stove  and remove the pan from the heat.  Then I season the risotto with salt and pepper and stir in the remaining butter and Parmesan cheese. I serve it with lemon wedges, more Parmesan, and ground pepper on top.   

First Days of Fall: Pumpkin Spice French Toast

Believe it or not I have never had a pumpkin spice latte. Gasp. Where have I been? I know. While I love pumpkin and spices I’ve never really found the idea of coffee with pumpkin and spices too appetizing. Coffee and pumpkin pie? Yes. Coffee and pumpkin bread? Yes. Pumpkin pie in my coffee. No. See what I mean? Or maybe I just have no idea what a pumpkin spice latte is like - a distinct possibility. I digress. My point is that now that it is officially fall, seasonal pumpkin flavor is out in full force. From the ubiquitous latte to yogurt, m&m’s, cheerios, cinnamon rolls, beer,  donuts, ice cream and everything in between, I’ve been seeing orange everywhere. I’ve also been trying to make healthier breakfasts for the kids.  They are pretty good eaters so it’s not too hard, but they are kids. They don’t worry about calories or carbs (thank goodness) and they love eggo waffles, chocolate chip pancakes, lots of beige stuff and sugar, sugar, sugar! Who can blame them? Not me. But I do try to offset this by adding vegetables to their muffins, solid sources of protein to their morning meals in the form of eggs, peanut butter and yogurt and by serving them whole grains whenever possible. I’m not fanatical about this kind of thing, but I try.

Pumpkin french toast is such an easy way to get my seasonal pumpkin fix while also providing my kids with a (somewhat) healthy breakfast that they love. I cut it into sticks for the kids and give them their own little cups of syrup to dip them in. I’m super-stingy with the syrup but they haven’t caught onto that yet. Parenting, like most things, is all about managing expectations.

Soldiers for the wee ones.

I happen to think this breakfast would be a perfect match for some Irish weather and a cup of tea or coffee. Did you know that while pumpkins do grow in Ireland there are very few pumpkin growers in the entire country? According to the Irish Times, in 2014 there were only 11 commercial pumpkin growers in the whole country. Maybe in our next lives Paul and I can move there and become pumpkin farmers!

Yogurt, almonds and cinnamon for me. 

Pumpkin French Toast

Serves 4

4 pieces whole wheat bread (best if stale but fresh works too)

3 large eggs

1-2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

¼ cup milk

¾ cup pumpkin puree

1 tablespoon coconut sugar or brown sugar lightly packed

a pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Butter for the pan

Maple syrup for serving

Mix the eggs, spice, milk, pumpkin, sugar, salt and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

Coat griddle or pan with butter and heat over medium high heat.

Add pieces of bread one by one to bowl containing the pumpkin mixture and coat thoroughly, until fully saturated.

Place bread on hot griddle or pan and cook until bottom of slices begin to brown, a couple of minutes.  

Flip and cook for a couple of minutes on the other side or until both sides are golden brown and french toast is springy to the touch.  

Serve warm with butter and maple syrup.

Sticky fingers, funny face.