St Patrick's Day: 24 hours celebrating Irish flavours: dinner
Perhaps you've decided to make your celebration of St Patrick's Day this year a day long event. And who could blame you? Falling on a Saturday (2012) means a gift of 24 hours of saintly celebrations with 24 hours for recovery before the working week. If you've followed my St Patrick's Day menu suggestions of the last few posts you'll have breakfasted on Traditional Brown Soda Bread, lunched on a salad of Cashel Blue, Pear, Spinach and Hazelnuts and are ready to dine on the great iIrish traditional meal of Bacon & Cabbage.
Bacon and cabbage (in many variations) has appeared on the dinner table of most irish households at some time or other, often teamed with Champ (mashed potatoes with milk, spring onions and lots of butter) or steamed potatoes. This is my version and I've added some juniper berries at the boil stage. I took the inspiration from the traditional process of Limerick Ham which involves smoking a leg of pork over juniper branches. I've used a bacon joint (pork joints cured in brine) which is easily available everywhere. I decided to buy mine from a supermarket as opposed to the butcher which I would normally do because I wanted to test out how the most easily available bacon would work. That way I can be sure this dish will work for everyone. If you do have a friendly local butcher then I always advise you support them. My joint was from a free-to-roam animal as I really do believe that a well cared for animal rewards that care with great tasting meat. I took my bacon joint home and soaked it to remove any saltiness.
The 2-stage cooking process lends itself to boiling and prepping to bake stage the day before, which allows you time to enjoy St Patrick's Day celebrations before heading off to your kitchen to finish dinner preparations.
As before there is an illustrated recipe guide that you can download by clicking through the link at the bottom of this post. Print out, follow and enjoy!
Dinner:
Bacon & Creamy Caraway Cabbage with Connemara Whiskey Sauce
Serves 4
1.5 kg bacon joint (shoulder/leg, skin on)
750 ml dry cider
1 onion studded with 4 cloves
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
1 bay leaf6 juniper berries
several springs of parley
salt & pepper
water
Sweet Crumb Coating
2 tblsp brown sugar
3 tblsp bread crumbs
orange zest (1/4 orange)
2 tblsp bacon stock (from boiling stage)
2 tblsp orange juice
Creamy Caraway Cabbage
1/2 head white cabbage, finely shredded
100 ml cream
100 ml bacon stock / water
1 tblsp caraway seeds
salt & pepper
Method
Soak the bacon joint in cold water for a couple of hours or overnight.
Place the bacon in a deep pan, cover with fresh cold water and bring to the boil for 3 mins.
Discard the water. Retain the bacon in the pan.
Add carrot, celery, juniper berries, bay leaf, parsley and the cider.
Add enough water to cover the bacon. Season.
Bring to boil and simmer for 45 mins per kg. Remove from pan, retain stock. When cool enough to handle remove the skin but retain some fat.
Mix sugar, breadcrumbs, orange zest, orange juice and stock and pack onto fat surface. Place in dish with approx 125 mls bacon stock. Bake for 30 mins at 180C when the sweet coating will be caramelised. Allow the joint to rest 15 mins before serving with cabbage and whiskey sauce.
Creamed Caraway Cabbage
Meanwhile, blanch the shredded cabbage for 3 mins in boiling water. Drain.
Melt a knob of butter, sauté the caraway seeds for 1 min. Add the cabbage and cook for 5 mins. Add cream and stock. Taste and season. The cabbage should be cooked through but still have some firmness to it.
Whiskey Sauce
Place 200 g sugar + 4 tblsp water in a pan.
Heat and stir to dissolve the sugar then stop stirring. Bring the sugar syrup to a boil and boil until a light caramel colour.
Add 4 tblsp HOT water (CAUTION: it will spit!!). Stir.
Add 3 tblsp Irish Whiskey (I used 'Connemara' which is a light peaty, smoky whiskey). Use warm or cool. Keeps well in the fridge and is delicious over ice cream.
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Click on the link to download your illustrated recipe guide of
Bacon & Creamy Caraway Cabbage with Whiskey Sauce
Coming up next: St Patrick's Day:The morning after!
Footnote: not only did the supermarket bacon work well but my husband declared it one of the best meals he's eaten.. ever! Bless!