Custom Search

Site Index | Kids | Kitchen | Shopping | Poetry | Weddings | Travel | Basic Irish | Quotes | Books | Music | Movies | Trivia | Blessings | Links| Jokes |

 


History Page
Traditions, folklore, history and more. If it's Irish, it's here. Or will be!

"People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors."
-Edmund Burke

Home Page



Kids Page


Kitchen Recipe Page


Quotes

Library: Books, Movies, Music

Prints & Photos

Poetry

Jokes


Irish Wedding



Shops Ireland


Bunús na Gaeilge
(Basic Irish)


Circle of Prayer

Blessings



Did You Know?


Himself/Herself

Write to Us

Readers Write..

Links/Link to Us

Advertise with us

Awards & Testimonials

Submissions Guide


Help keep us free
Throughout the site you will see many items available for purchase from well-known merchants such as Amazon. Not interested in what we're featuring? It doesn't matter. Click on any link and then shop for whatever you wish - we will still get credit, if you buy something.
Thanks for your help.



   


The Traditional Irish Breakfast
Wouldn't it be lovely to serve her a traditional Irish breakfast? Here, you will find everything you need from putting together the main course to topping it all off with a perfectly made pot of tea.

Ingredients
1 lb Irish bacon
1 lb Irish pork sausages
2 to 4 tomatoes
1/2 lb white pudding
1/2 lb black pudding
1 dozen eggs
1 lb mushrooms - optional
Serve with soda bread and/or toast.
An Ulster Fry would also include fried potato bread or "fadge." Recipe follows.

Method
Depending on how many guests you’re having, enlist the aid of someone to set the table, fix the toast, and brew the coffee and tea. Meanwhile, follow the cooking instructions that come with the imported Irish bacon, sausages, white pudding and black pudding. When the meats are cooked, put them on an oven-proof serving platter and place in a slow oven to keep warm. Sauté the mushrooms and tomatoes and place them on the meat platter. Eggs are the last to be cooked and we usually make it easy on ourselves by fixing them sunny side up for everyone.


Fadge
This recipe is adapted from Darina Allen's The Festive Food of Ireland.

Ingredients
2 lbs potatoes
1 egg beaten
1/2 stick butter
2 to 3 tablespoons flour
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped parsley, chives, lemon thyme, mixed (optional)
Whole milk or half and half
Salt & fresh ground pepper
Seasoned flour
Bacon fat or butter for frying

Method
Boil potatoes in their jackets until tender. Pull off skins and mash immediately. Add egg, butter, flour and herbs (if using) and mix well. Season with salt and pepper, adding a few drops of milk if mixture seems too stiff. Shape into a 1 inch thick round shape and then cut into eight pieces. Dip into seasoned flour. Bake on a griddle over an open fire or fry in in bacon fat over gentle heat. Cook the fadge until crusty and golden brown on one side, then flip over and cook on the other side. (About 4 to 5 minutes on each side). Serve as an accompaniment to an Irish breakfast or on its own on hot plates with a blob of butter melting on top. Serves 8.


Tea - for the talkin’

I can still hear my mother saying, now Bridget, be a good girl won’t ye, and make a nice cup of tay for your poor old mother. I think she might have been around 45 years old at the time! At quite an early age, I was taught, as were the majority of Irish daughters not so long ago, how to make a perfect "cupan tae."

Ingredients
Cold water
Bulk Irish tea
Whole milk or half and half
Sugar.

Method
Fill a kettle with cold water fresh from the faucet. Bring to a boil and be ready to use right away. While you are bringing the water to a boil, have ready a teaspoon to measure out the tea, a strainer, teapot (earthenware is best), and a tea cozy or towel. Warm the teapot by pouring in some hot water from the faucet and then pouring it out. Bring the teapot to the stove and as soon as the water boils, fill the teapot. Put one heaping teaspoon of tea per cup into the teapot, plus one more ‘for the pot’. Put lid on immediately and then cover the teapot with a cozy or towel. Keep in a warm place and let the tea steep for a five full minutes. In the meantime, prepare the cups. My mother always insisted that the milk go in before the tea. But she would never allow anyone to put in her sugar. That was ‘stirring up trouble!’ Pour plenty of milk or cream into the cup, place the strainer so it’s resting on the cup, and pour in the tea.

After tea, be sure to save the tea leaves - especially if you’re a rose grower. They’re a great plant food for flowers that like acids and my mother’s gorgeous garden was sure proof of that.


Freckle Bread
Contributed by Hartson Dowd (of course)

This wonderful potato bread gets just the right touch of sweetness from the raisins - its "freckles." It makes great toast and spectacular bread pudding.
 
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups water
3/4 cup peeled, cubed potatoes
2 to 3 cups bread flour, divided
1 package dry yeast
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1/2 cup raisins
Vegetable oil spray

Method:
1. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the potatoes and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Measure off 3/4 cup of the boiling water.  If there isn't enough potato water, add warm tap water to make 3/4 cup.
2. Mash the potatoes in a bowl. Add 3/4 cup of the flour, the yeast, sugar, and salt. Stir in the potato water with a wooden spoon, and continue stirring until the mixture forms a smooth batter.
3. Cover with a dish towel and set in a warm place until the dough doubles in volume, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
4. Whisk the egg until frothy. Stir the egg, butter, and raisins into the batter. Start adding flour one-half cup at a time, mixing well after each addition, until you have a soft dough.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
6. Turn out the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough in half with the sides of your hand, and allow it to rest for 5 minutes.
Roll the dough into 2 cylinders, each about 9-inches long.
7. Grease a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan with the vegetable oil spray, and place the dough cylinders side by side in the pan. Cover with a towel and set in a warm place to rise again until double in size, about 45 minutes.
Remove the towel and bake the bread until light brown (it should sound hollow when tapped), about 20 minutes.
Makes 1 loaf

Orange 'Irish Whiskey' Marmalade
Just a few easy additions brings every-day orange marmalade into the realm of the special.
 
Ingredients:
1/4-cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1/4-cup granulated sugar
1 cup good-quality orange marmalade
2 tablespoons Irish whiskey

Method:
1. Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook until a candy thermometer reads 200 degrees. Stir in the marmalade and cook until the thermometer reads 240 degrees.
2. Stir in the Irish whiskey and cook, stirring, until thoroughly incorporated, about 1 minute.
3. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to come to room temperature. Spoon the marmalade into a clean jar, cover, and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. Makes about 1 cup.

Serve on toasted Freckle Bread or Irish Soda Bread.

Images:
Marmalade from www.foodloversbritain.com
Bread from www.bakery-net.com

 

Sun, Mar 4, 2018

"...the freshest of food and
the oldest of drink"
- Irish Proverb

Set a lovely tea table with Bewley's!

Bewleys Tea Pot



Bewley's Shamrock Sugar and Creamer

Bewleys Shamrock Mug Set

Click picture for individual items. click here for Complete Set.

The New Irish Table
by Margaret Johnson



Margaret Johnson’s love of Ireland permeates page after glorious page of mouthwatering Irish dishes, from Smoked Salmon Chowder to Raspberry Buttermilk Tarts. Lavish color photographs of the food, the landscapes, and the people are woven through the text, making The New Irish Table the next best thing to sitting down to dinner in Ireland itself.
Click here for New Irish Table.


 

Site Index | Kids | Kitchen | Shopping | Poetry | Weddings | Travel | Basic Irish
Quotes |
Books | Music | Movies | Trivia | Blessings | Links | Jokes |

  All contents copyright © 2001 through 2011 inclusive - all rights reserved.
March 4, 2011
   
Rollover button Images:
Wedding LaRose, Kids Reading & Kitchen Apples and Tea from All Posters prints.
The information provided on this site is offered as-is, without warranty. This site's owners, operators, authors and partners disclaim any and all liability from the information provided herein.
Any trademarks or registered trademarks on this site are the property of their respective owners.