Irish Oatmeal Bread Recipe

This smells great while cooking and tastes even better. Makes two loaves, serve it with unsalted butter. Store extra loaf wrapped in aluminum foil and reheat in oven.

Ingredients:
3 cups sifted flour
1-1/4 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1-1/2 T. baking powder
1 T. salt
1/2 cup honey
1-1/2 cups milk
1 T. melted butter
1 egg, beaten

V.S.P. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sifted flour, rolled oats, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, add mix honey, milk and butter with the beaten egg. Pour egg mixture into oat mixture, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Mixture will be lumpy. Spread into two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake one hour. Turn out of pans onto a wire rack. Brush with more melted butter while warm. Serve.

Irish Potato Soup Recipe

Serves 8 to 10.

Ingredients:

7 medium potatoes (3 lbs.)
3 medium onions
3 T. butter
4 cups milk
6 cups chicken stock
1 T. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 cup light cream
5 strips bacon
1/4 cup snipped chives (dried is ok)

Step 1. Peel and slice the potatoes and onions.

Step 2. Melt the butter in a large sauce pan. Add onions and saute over low flame until tender, but not brown.

Step 3. Add the potatoes, chicken stock, milk, salt and pepper. Cover the pan and simmer over very low heat flame for one hour.

Step 4. Cut the bacon into small pieces and saute until crisp. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set bacon bits aside.

Step 5. When soup has cooked for an hour, put it through a blender at high speed. Return soup to the saucepan.

Step 6. Add cream and cook slowly until the soup is just hot. Do not boil.

Step 7. Garnish with bacon bits and chives on each serving.

Irish Stew Recipe

This will serve 10 to 12 people and you may wish to use only half the amount shown.

Ingredients:
4 T. shortening
5 lbs. stewing beef, cut into 1-1/2” cubes
1T. salt
1/4 t. pepper
8 small white turnips, about 1 lb.
10 large carrots, about 2 lbs.
4 large onions, at least 1 lb.
12 medium-sized potatoes, about 4 lbs.
1/2 cup all purposed flour
4 T. chopped parsley

Step 1. Heat shortening in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add about 1/3 of beef cubes and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove to a bowl and brown remaining beef in batches.

Step 2. Return all of the meat to the Dutch oven. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; stir in 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, one hour.

Step 3. Meanwhile, pare turnips and slice crosswise into 1/2” thick slices. Pare carrots and slice diagonally 1/2” thick. Peel onions and cut into quarters. Set all vegetables aside until meat has cooked one hour.

Step 4. Add all vegetables to Dutch oven, return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 40 minutes or until meat and vegetables are tender.

Step 5. In a small bowl, gradually stir 1/2 cup water into flour until smooth. Slowly add to stew, stirring constantly; boil gently a minute or two. Add parsley.

Oatmeal Dumplings Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
2 T. baking powder
1 T. seasoned salt
1 T. sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats
1-1/3 cups milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 T. vegetable oil
3 T. chopped parsley

Step 1. Into a large bowl, sift the flour with baking powder, seasoned salt and sugar. Stir in the oats.

Step 2. In a small bowl, combine the milk, eggs, oil and parsley; mix well with a fork.

Step 3. Pour milk mixture, all at once, into flour mixture; mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Let mixture stand 10 minutes.

Step 4. Drop batter, by large tablespoons, into simmering stew; cook gently 10 minutes, then cover tightly and cook 10 minutes longer. Be certain to choose a large enough Dutch oven so that your dumplings will have enough room to expand.

Steamed Raisin Pudding Recipe

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups milk
1-1/2 cups dark raisins, chopped
1-1.2 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 t. baking powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
1 cup grated suet

Step 1. In the top of a double boiler, over hot water, heat milk and raisins for 20 minutes. Remove top of double boiler from water, set aside 10 minutes to cool.

Step 2. Meanwhile, sift flour with baking powder, sugar, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Step 3. In a large bowl, with electric mixer at medium speed, beat eggs until light. At low speed, beat in crumbs until well mixed. Beat in the suet.

Step 4. Alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture to egg mixture at low speed, beating until well-combined.

Step 5. Turn into well-greased 2-quart pudding mold with tube; cover tightly. Place on trivet in a large kettle; add enough boiling water to come halfway up side of mold.

Step 6. Steam (the water in the kettle should be bubbling), tightly covered, for two hours.

Step 7. While pudding is steaming, make the Irish whiskey sauce, below.

Step 8. Remove pudding from water. Let stand about 10 minutes.

Step 9. With a knife, loosen edges of pudding and around tube; turn out of mold. Serve with warm sauce.

Irish Whiskey Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 cup light cream
Dash of ground nutmeg
1/4 cup Irish whiskey

Step 1. In the top of a double boiler, with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter with sugar until light and creamy.

Step 2. Beat in egg, cream and nutmeg until mixture is fluffy.

Step 3. Cook, stirring occasionally, over hot, not boiling, water until mixture is thickened.

Step 4. Remove from heat; gradually stir in whiskey. Serve warm or cold with steamed pudding.

Irish Coffee

Makes 10 cups

Ingredients:

15 oz. Irish whiskey
65 oz. hot strong black coffee
8 t. sugar
Whipped cream

Step 1. Mix whiskey, coffee and sugar together.

Step 2. Divide the coffee mixture into 10 Irish coffee glasses or cups.

Step 3. Top each serving with whipped cream. Do not mix the cream into coffee, just let it float on top.

“Slainte gus Soal agat” - That’s health and long life to you.

The Kitchen Mouse's Irish Menu

Originally published March 15, 1984

Gaelic tradition insists that St. Patrick be credited not only with driving the snakes out of Ireland, but with introducing the art of distilling to the Emerald Isle. If that be so, then Irish coffee devotees should lift their mugs (or stemmed goblets) to brim, for Erin’s whiskey is the drink’s soul.

Here is the menu which we put together about seven years ago for a group of 40 couples in our Gourmet Club.

Menu:
Irish Coffee
Potato Soup
Entrée - Irish Stew with Oatmeal Dumplings
Dessert - Steamed Raisin Pudding with Irish Whiskey Sauce
Wine - Medium dry Sherry or Madeira