50 shades of green for St. Patrick's Day
On St. Patrick’s Day, everyone is Irish — no need for a 23andMe consult. People wear green. So does the food — from beer to bagels to brekkie eggs.
But there’s more to the culinary Hibernian heritage than green beer and corned beef and cabbage — both so inauthentic as to give purists the shakes, shamrock or otherwise.
“The food in Ireland is outstanding,” says Erin Keem, a longtime Detroit-based Gaelic League member who conducts cooking demos for the Irish Cultural Forum. “I don’t think a lot of people realize that.”
Sure and begorra, there’s plenty of potatoes and dishes created by resource-strapped cooks piling in whatever was on hand. But “there are misconceptions about Irish food,” says Jerry Cremin, proprietor of Sullivan’s Public House in Oxford.
Actual Irish cuisine is having a moment. Its emphasis on fresh, farm-to-table produce, pastured meats and abundant seafood, is totally on-trend. Prolific food writers such as Darina Hall and chefs trained at Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shanagarry, County Cork, Ireland, have brought it to the fore. Whimsical names, dairy-rich flavor profiles, adaptable veg-forward options and ease of preparation make traditional Irish dishes a veritable pot of gold for cooks craving authentic food.
“Ireland’s cuisine is focused mainly on the fruits of the land and sea,” Cremin says. “Irish food is about freshness. The dairy is hard to beat. We get rained on a lot, but the food’s better for it.”
Quality produce and proteins, and ultra-rich dairy, especially butter and cheese, are hallmarks of Irish food. Cured and smoked meats, particularly pork, are prominent in the cuisine. These ingredients stand on their own, Cremin says, needing little else.
Cremin works hard to show off Irish food. Born in the U.S. to Irish immigrants, he was raised in County Kerry in Ireland from age 8 on, after his parents moved back home. He returned to New York to work in hospitality and food service, then moved to Michigan after marrying an Oxford native. He opened Sullivan’s Public House — which has received numerous accolades — in 2014.
“A lot of my menu comes from old family recipes or is indicative of region I’m from,” says Cremin, who incorporates Irish ingredients, such as Irish sausage, black and white pudding, and Cahill’s Original Irish Porter cheddar into dishes. “It gives me the ability to tell my story and my family’s story.”
There is corned beef on the Sullivan’s menu, but Cremin encourages customers to be adventurous, though sometimes it takes a bit of a nudge.
“Someone will ask, ‘What’s black pudding?’ and I’ll say, ‘Just try it.’ Sometime we go ’round a couple of times until they do … and they love it. Then I tell them.”
Classic Irish Foods
Bangers. Irish sausages.
Bangers and mash. Irish sausages and mashed potatoes.
Black pudding. Pork blood sausage, served sliced and fried.
Blind stew. Vegetable stew with a thick sauce. Some versions include bacon.
Boxty. Potato pancakes.
Bridies. Irish-sausage rolls.
Champ. Mashed potatoes blended with green onions, chives or nettles steeped in milk, served with melted butter for dipping.
Colcannon. Potatoes mashed with kale or cabbage.
Dublin Coddle. Sausages, bacon, potatoes, onions, herbs and barley.
Dubln Lawyer. A posh coddle with lobster.
Irish Bacon and Cabbage. Pork shoulder braised with cabbage.
Irish Breakfast. Rashers, black and white pudding, sausage, fried egg, baked beans, grilled tomato and soda bread.
Rashers. Thick-cut bacon.
White pudding. Pork sausage with oatmeal, served sliced and fried.
Looking for authentic ingredients? Visit Foodireland.com.
Peckish Post-Parade?
The Gaelic League will serve Irish sausage rolls and meat pies after the St. Patrick’s Parade from noon to 7 p.m. March 15. Visit gaelicleagueofdetroit.org or call 313-964-8700 for more information. Nonmember cover charge: $10.
Potato-Leek Soup
This recipe is from Sullivan's Public House.
1 ounce unsalted butter
1 ½ ounces soybean oil
8 ounces diced yellow onion
8 ounces diced leeks
½ ounce diced garlic cloves
12 ounces diced raw potato
4 ounces white wine
24 ounces water
½ ounce vegetable base
Melt the butter in a saucepot with the oil. Add the onions, leeks and garlic to pot, caramelize, then add potatoes. Deglaze with white wine. Add the water and vegetable base. Simmer until the potatoes are tender. Remove the saucepot from the heat, let rest for a few minutes and then blend the ingredients (please be careful of splashing due to heat).
Blind Stew
Adapted from Irish Traditional Cooking by Darina Allen.
3 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks
3 medium-size carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks
1 small turnip, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
10 ounces thick-cut, Nueske’s applewood-smoked bacon, diced
2 ounces Kerrygold salted butter* (optional, see note)
2 yellow onions, diced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
to taste salt
to taste ground black pepper
Place all the vegetables and the parsley in a medium-size soup pot, and set aside. Saute the bacon in a skillet until crisp, then add to the vegetables. Saute the onions in the bacon fat until caramelized. [*Note, if there’s very little bacon fat, add the butter.] Remove the onions from the skillet and add to the vegetables. Add the flour to the bacon fat or butter in the skillet and stir over medium-low heat to make a roux. Slowly add the stock or water, whisking constantly until blended. Increase the heat, bring to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens a bit, then add to the vegetables along with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
Irish Bacon & Cabbage
“Bacon and cabbage are an important traditional dish,” says Jerry Cremin, proprietor of Sullivan’s Public House in Oxford. “Every househould would pick a day when they’d put it on. When you say bacon here, you think think strips, but for us, it’s back bacon or pork shoulder.” Recipes are from Sullivan’s Public House.
72 ounces pork butt
2 ounces whole-grain mustard
1/2 ounce mustard powder
1/4 ounce garlic powder
1/4 ounce onion powder
1 ounce chicken base
Water
2 heads cabbage
To taste Whiskey-Cream Sauce
Sprinkle green onions, diced
Trim the fat from the pork butt, leaving a little layer for flavor. Combine the dry ingredients (except for the chicken base) and whole-grain mustard, then rub them all over the pork butt until evenly coated. Meanwhile, heat up a pan and sear all sides of the pork butt. While the pork is searing, cut the heads of cabbage into quarters. Separately, combine chicken base and enough water to just cover the pork. Once all sides of pork are browned add the cabbage and water-base mixture to the pot. Bring to a low boil. When done, the pork should be tender, but not falling apart. Serve with Whiskey-Cream Sauce and a sprinkle of diced green onions.
Whiskey Cream Sauce
8 ounces Irish whiskey
16 ounces heavy whipping cream
2 ounces whole-grain mustard
1 ounce corn starch
1 ounce cold water
Reduce whiskey by half in a sauce pot. Add the heavy cream and mustard. Bring to boil. Mix the corn starch and cold water to form a slurry. Whisk the slurry into the sauce and simmer until it thickens.
Pan-Seared Faroe Island Salmon with Whiskey-Cream Sauce
To assemble: Use top-braised cabbage and Champ (see recipe) with Scottish salmon that’s pan-seared to medium and drizzled with Whiskey-Cream Sauce (see recipe) and a sprinkle of chopped green onions. Recipe from Sullivan's Public House.
Champ
Adapted from Irish Traditional Cooking by Darina Allen.
4 ounces green onions*, green and white parts, diced
4 ounces (approx.) milk
1 pound mashed potatoes
to taste salt
to taste ground black pepper
2 to 4 ounces Kerrygold salted butter
Place the green onions in a saucepan and add the milk, making sure sure to use enough so that they’re completely covered. Bring just to a boil, then turn off the heat. Allow to steep for 5 minutes. Microwave the mashed potatoes until very hot. Using a slotted spoon, remove the green onions from the milk and add them, along with salt and pepper, to the mashed potatoes. Using a fork, stir to blend well. If the potatoes are too stiff, add a bit of the steeping milk until desired consistency is reached, reserving any unused portion under refrigeration for future use. Mound the potatoes in a large serving bowl or individual bowls. Make a well in the center of the mounded potatoes. Add a knob of butter and, when it’s melted, dip spoonfuls of potatoes in it.
* Champ can also be prepared with chives, nettles, parsley, seaweed, wild garlic, parsnips, leeks, tender young peas or crispy fried onions.