I want to cook like my Great-Grandmother from Ireland did! Do you have a favourite family recipe?

Question

I am searching for authentic irish family recipes. Thank you so much for your help.

I am asking for family recipes. I do not want links to web-sites.

Answer 1

So many links, when you'd specifically asked for family recipes..sheesh! The last guy had a lot of good and authentic recipes but not much detail. This is my recipe for Dublin coddle, which I've modified over the years. I got it from the landlady at a B&B on my honeymoon in Ireland. It makes enough to serve a big crowd, but you can easily halve the recipe.

Sharon Molloy's Dublin Coddle

--1 pound breakfast sausages
--4 to 5 thick slices bacon
--3 to 3 1/4 pounds peeled, sliced potatoes (Sharon used russet; I usually use Yukon Gold; either is good)
--2 large yellow onions, peeled and sliced thickly
--about 1/2 cup chopped parsley
--1 14-ounce can chicken broth, low-sodium if you can get it
--pepper to taste

Using kitchen scissors, cut the bacon strips into 1-inch squares and brown lightly in a skillet; drain on paper towels. In same skillet, brown the sausages lightly on each side, but do not worry about cooking them through. Drain on paper towels and slice into 1-inch pieces. (Note: Sharon did not bother browning the sausages, and you don't have to, but it makes them less, um, pale and gray, and it also makes them easier to cut up.)

Spray the bottom of a large saucepan (one with a cover) with cooking spray, and arrange a layer of sliced potatoes over the bottom. Sprinkle with a tablespoon or so of the parsley and a little salt--not too much, because the sausage and bacon are salty and will flavor the dish--and pepper. Add a layer of the sliced onions, then a layer of sausage. Sprinkle with some bacon pieces. Repeat layers until all are used, ending with a layer of potatoes.

Pour the can of broth over the whole thing. I know it doesn't sound like much liquid, but this is more of a stew than a soup. Cover the pot and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer 20-25 minutes (not "forever" as stated above!), or just until the potatoes and sausages are cooked through. You can add a little boiling water if it seems to be drying out, but I've never had to.

Serve in warmed bowls with....



Soda Bread (This is the first homemade bread recipe I ever dared to try making, and it's very easy and tasty! It requires no yeast and almost no kneading.)

--3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
--1 teaspoon baking soda
--3/4 teaspoon salt
--about 1 1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly flour a baking sheet. Mix flour, soda and salt in large bowl and make a well in the center. Mix in enough buttermilk to form moist clumps. Gather dough into a ball.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead just until dough holds together, about 1 minute. Shape dough into a 6-inch-diameter by 2-inch-high round, and place on baking sheet. Using a razor blade or a very sharp knife, cut a 1-inch-deep X on the top of the loaf, extending almost to the edges. Bake until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, about 35 minutes.

Take the bread from the oven and IMMEDIATELY wrap it in 2 clean dish towels. This is important, because the crust turns rock-hard if it cools unwrapped. Place the bundle on a wire rack until fully cooled.

(Champ is delicious too, by the way, but here's my secret: Heat the chopped green onions in the milk, half-and-half, or whatever liquid you're using to mash the potatoes with; let it simmer gently for about 2 minutes. That way the onion flavor permeates the whole dish. Champ was traditionally a Halloween dish. A little hole was made in the top of each serving and a piece of butter pushed in. Then each forkful was dipped into the butter before eating.)

Mmm, now I'm hungry. I hope something here works for you. Enjoy!

Answer 2

Colcannon, mashed potatoes with butter and seasoning, then mix in some cabbage (preferably Curly Kale) that has been cooked in the same water that the ham (or bacon ribs) has been boiled in, serve with slices of ham and parsley sauce.

My brother-in-law loves 1/2 pigs head and crubeens (that's pigs trotters) just boiled thoroughly. I find them too horrible to be honest but they are very Irish.

Coddle, this is typically a Dublin recipe, smokey bacon, potatoes, carrots, onions, sausages and water, boil the lot up together and cook forever !! (or so my friend says and she's a true Dub) sounds horrible but is quite tasty.

Tripe and Drishín (drisheen) boil the tripe with onions salt and pepper in milk, serve with drishín (cooked blood sausage).

A new one: beef and guinness,
beef (cubed), 3 carrots, mushrooms, shallots, 1 can guinness, 1 can tomatoes, toss beef in seasoned flour, fry off mushrooms, onions, carrots in a knob of butter, remove, then fry off beef in the casserole dish, replace veggies back into the casserole, add tin of tomatoes and guinness with 1/2 pint stock (veg). slam in oven for roughly 1 - 1 1/2 hours until meat is tender. Serve with champ ( mashed potatoes with chopped uncooked spring onions , milk and butter).

I agree with Leslie D below but one change to her bread recipe, use brown/wholemeal flour, and please do not use buttermilk, use soured milk (to the point of seperation) my mum-in-law has baked this every day for the last 70 years (yes, she is 90!) and still tastes brilliant, you can't buy brown bread like this.

Answer 3

bruteny......dont know if spelling is correct but my irish dad used to cook it for us a lot. its mashed potatoe and onion mixed together. then you make a well in the middle of it and pour in milk prior to serving. cheap authentic, filling and lovely. hope she likes it

Answer 4

Irish Soda Bread
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,194,157171-238200,00.html

I love making this.

Answer 5

You should buy an Irish cookbook
http://www.irishabroad.com/Culture/kitchen/

http://www.almudo.com/IrelandCookbooks.htm

Answer 6

this is a great bakery website with recipes and color photos

Answer 7

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/World-Cuisine/Europe/United-Kingdom-and-Ireland/Ireland/Main.aspx

http://www.recipezaar.com/19091

http://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/irish-dessert-recipes.html

i know what you mean, my mom and grandmother were born in portugal. while they were alive, i made sure to try to learn how they cooked traditional dishes. i am always searching too..
good luck

Answer 8

irish stew

Answer 9

http://www.recipeatlas.com/irishrecipes/

There aren't many here, but thought I'd pass them along to you.

Answer 10

my aunts carrot and corriander soup