Irish Recipes

We'd love to add your favorite Irish recipe to this page - and if you send it to us, we'll attribute it to you!

Recipes:

Barmbreck - Candies Peels - Guinness Beef Stew

We open the "Irish Recipes" page with some translations of Gaelic references to food and drink:

B'fearr an sugh go mór ná fheoil.
Soup is the essence of meat.

Is maíth na fataí nuair bhíos an bláth bán orthu.
When the blossom grows white the potatoes are good.

Is deacair amhrán a rádh gan gloine.
It's hard to sing with an empty glass.

Ní thig leat císte milis a beith agad agus a ithe.
You cannot have your cake and eat it.

Dá ghoire don chnáimh an fheoil is amhlaidh is milse í.
The nearer the bone the sweeter the meat.

Ná mól an t-arán go mbruithear é.
Don't praise the bread until it is baked.

Ná diol do chearc lá fluich.
Never sell your hens on a wet day.

Barmbrack
(From the Gaelic "barm breac" = "speckled bread")

On Halloween, this bread is baked with a wedding ring (wrapped in paper) inside. Whoever gets the slice of bread with the wedding ring will be engaged by New Years.

Ingredients:

1 lb. flour
1/2 grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
2 oz. butter
3/4 oz. dried yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 well beaten eggs
1/2 oz. sultanas (raisins)
1/2 lbs. currants
4 oz. chopped candied peel (see recipe below)
1/2 pint of milk

Sift the flour, nutmeg and salt together. Cut the butter into the flour. Mix the yeast in a cup with a teaspoon of sugar until smooth. Add the rest of the sugar to the flour mixture and mix well. Warm the milk slightly and add it to the yeast mixture along with most of the beaten eggs.

Add liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat well until batter is stiff. Fold in currants, raisins and peel. Put into a greased 8 inch cake pan so that the mixture only half fills the pan. Cover with a linen cloth and leave to rise in a warm place until mixture has doubled in size (about 1 hour.)

Brush top of the dough with the remaining beaten egg to give a glaze and bake at 400 F for approximately 1 hour.

Check for doneness by inserting a knife in the center - if the knife comes out clean and dry, the bread is done.

Candied Peels

Ingredients:

6 oranges
1-3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup clear corn syryp
1-1/2 cup water
3 oz. orange J-ELLO gelatin mix

Cut oranges in half and remove fruit. Cut peels into strips. Cook peels in boiling water for 15 min. Drain & repeat.

In the same pot, cook sugar, syrup, & 1-1/2 cups of water over high heat until sugar is dissolved. Add the gelatin & peels & simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. On a sheet of waxed paper, sprinkle 1 cup granulated sugar. Lightly roll the peels in the sugar, a few at a time, until the peel is evenly coated. Add sugar as needed as supply is used.

Place in one layer to dry overnight. Store in an airtight containers. If kept dry, candied peels will keep forever.

Variations: Use lemon or lime peels with lemon/lime gelatin mix.

Guinness Beef Stew
(from Kathy Casper)

Ingredients:

2 lbs. sirloin steak
2 tablespoons of drippings
2 large onions
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup flour
1 cup beef stock
1 cup Guinness
3 carrots
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried or fresh thyme
6 prunes
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Chop onions, crush garlic and slice carrots. Cut meat into small chunks. Cut prunes in half and remove the pit. Fry onions in meat drippings. When golden brown add crushed garlic.

Cook for 1 minute. Remove onion and garlic from the frying pan and put aside. Add meat to remainder of drippings in pan and fry until meat is brown on all sides. Reduce heat and add flour. (SEE NOTE BELOW!)

Coat the meat with the flour and add stock slowly to form a thick sauce. Add Guinness and simmer. Add onions and garlic and carrots, herbs and season with salt and pepper. Stir all ingredients and simmer for 1-2 hours.

Don´t cover! This gives a thick sauce.

Stir occasionally so that the meat doesn´t stick to the bottom of the saucepan. Add the prunes a half an hour before the end. Add parsley before serving. This dish can be prepared the day before and reheated gently before serving.

NOTE: To avoid lumps in the sauce, I don't add the flour at this point. I roll the meat pieces in the flour, just to coat them. Then I combine the remaining flour with the stock in a jar and shake the jar vigorously until the flour and stock are mixed to a smooth cream. Then add it to the flour rolled meat in the pan - Kathy.

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