Leaping Leprechauns!
More St. Paddy's Day Menus

by Kate Heyhoe

Just as Lunar New Year provides inspiration for a Chinese Dim Sum Party, St. Patrick's Day reminds me that Irish food can be much more than corned beef and cabbage. Not that there's anything wrong with Corned Beef and Cabbage, but it's like the Sweet 'n' Sour Pork of Irish cooking—a bit hackneyed and usually not very authentic.

Ireland

Fortunately, true Irish country fare is enjoying not just a revival but a rebirth. The key to a great Irish meal lies in the purity of the ingredients used, and freshness means everything. The emphasis behind Irish cooking, both old and new, places a priority on the natural, crisp, clean flavors, and the foods for which Ireland is famous, like farmhouse cheeses, wild fruits and berries, rustic vegetables, and incomparable seafood, lamb and livestock. Hence, modern chefs have discovered a respect for these ingredients and now produce outstanding meals which, in their sheer simplicity, rival the most complicated French creations or vertically composed stacks of urban cuisine.

I've listed below some Irish recipes and recent Irish cookbooks that illustrate the new approach of taking a lighter hand with traditional dishes, and some of the traditional dishes as well.

As they say in Ireland:
Bain taitneamh as do bhéile! Bon appetit!

The New Irish Table

About the Book

Recipes

Lamb Cutlets with Honey, Apricot, and Tarragon Sauce
Gratin of Summer Fruits with Irish Mist Sabayon

Elegant Irish Cooking

About the Book

Recipes

Traditional Irish Soda Bread

Roasted Peppered Salmon

with Tomato-and-Basil Relish

Chocolate Steamed Pudding, "Clontarf"

Gourmet Ireland and Gourmet Ireland 2

About the Book

Recipes

Wilted Cabbage Salad

with Bacon and Cashel Blue Cheese

Loin of Hare

with Bacon and Irish Whiskey Cream

Roasted Sea Bass

with a Parsley and Caper Sauce

Brown Chicken Stock

Mussels with Potato and Garlic

Braised Lamb Shanks

with Pearl Barley and Root Vegetables

Old-Fashioned Salmon Mayonnaise

The Irish Heritage Cookbook

About the Book

Recipes

Champ

Lamb Folláin

Salmon and Spinach Terrine

Toasted Oatmeal and Bushmills Crème Brûlée

with Rhubarb Compote

Irish Recipes

St. Paddy's Green Potato Pancakes

with Pale Green Horseradish Drizzle

Irish Ale and Stout Party

Crunchy Blue Cheese Bread Croutons
Sharp Ale Cheese
Beer "Latkes" or Pancakes
Corned Beef & Cabbage in Ale
Pork Chops in Beer

Irish Toasts

Kate's Global Kitchen for March 2003:
3/07/03     The Bourdain Identity
3/14/03     Leaping Leprechauns! More St. Paddy's Day Menus
3/21/03     The Progress of Food Processors
3/28/03     Linda Gassenheimer's Latest

Current Kate's Global Kitchen
Kate's Global Kitchen Archive

This page created March 2003

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