Irish party menu?

[auld argonian]

There's an old joke that every entry in an Irish cookbook has the same instructions: "Boil until soft. Serve hot."

Or Dennis Leary's description of Irish Cuisine: cook it until you can suck it up with a soda straw.

Best

AA

[flyingshamrock]

My father would always boil a 3 to 4 pound corned beef for about 6 to 8 hours every day for 5 days. On day 5 he would add the cabbage, potatoes and carrots. My Mom has been making lamb stew (Irish stew) since I was a wee lad and it has always been a favorite of mine. She has passed down her recipe to my wife who now makes it for me. On St. Patty's day I make a horseradish cottage pie, because my friends don't care for the lamb.

[Blackrose87]

The stew recipe changes throughout Ireland, but in Derry and parts of Donegal it's made with beef mince instead of mutton or lamb.

[seanachie]

Apple pie
Boxty pancakes
Boiled Ham
Champ
Wheaten Bread, much more usual than soda bread

Growing up there we never had colcannon, would never have thought of green salad as Irish,but we did have Irish Stew with mutton

I am with Paul on boxties and champ , those are two things I thoroughly enjoy on my trips. Of course in America fresh local sausage, at least in LA, is a rare find so I always enjoy bangers.

[Bugbear]

Giant mushrooms.

[mayberry]

I remember being served a home-made Irish stew in Dublin, where the host was insistent that a real Irish stew had only 4 ingredients: mutton (or lamb), water, potatoes, and onions. No herbs, salt, pepper, or anything else. It was very good.

Wikipedia corroborates this as the purist's recipe, but a quick Google search turns up many more complex, mouth-watering recipes.

But Irish Stew is definitely Irish.

Cheers,
John

[Lyle1]

You must include a good pot of tea. When you serve it, observe your guests closely, those who do not take both milk and sugar are sinners doing a penance, for there is no other reason for an Irishman not to take milk and sugar with tea. Those guests might be the ones who are the most fun!

I had an American friend who spent a few weeks in Ireland and visited many of her immigrant parent's relatives. She was always offered tea and only added milk because she did not like sugar in her tea. Every time, her hostess would pause when the sugar was refused, then sympathetically say that she understood. It was only at the very end of her trip that her American cousin who was traveling with her explained that all of her newly met relatives thought that she was doing penance for her sins!

[Mickey]

I know it is cliche, but a very well done corned beef is always well received. Most corned beef recipes generally fall under the standard New England boiled dinner.

The trick to a brilliant corned beef dinner is to follow the standard boiled fare, but after the brisket is boiled to tenderness, give it a good coating of (general ingredients as to not reveal secrets) brown sugar, molasses, mustard, peppercorns, salt, (herb combination) and roast it to create a wonderful crust. In the middle of the roasting, add the potatoes and carrots to caramelize them. Serve the cabbage on the side with a lot of salt and pepper.

A good Irish stew works well too. As mentioned previously, simple is the best. Lamb, taters, onion, maybe a carrot. LOTS of pepper.

Soda bread is a must.

[artificer]

There's an old joke that every entry in an Irish cookbook has the same instructions: "Boil until soft. Serve hot."

I've got nothing else to add, but almost laughed tea all over my keyboard and screen when I read this.

ith:

[Blackrose87]

You must include a good pot of tea. When you serve it, observe your guests closely, those who do not take both milk and sugar are sinners doing a penance, for there is no other reason for an Irishman not to take milk and sugar with tea. Those guests might be the ones who are the most fun!

I had an American friend who spent a few weeks in Ireland and visited many of her immigrant parent's relatives. She was always offered tea and only added milk because she did not like sugar in her tea. Every time, her hostess would pause when the sugar was refused, then sympathetically say that she understood. It was only at the very end of her trip that her American cousin who was traveling with her explained that all of her newly met relatives thought that she was doing penance for her sins!

I'm not sure how true that still is in Ireland. I'm sure some of the older generation may still have that superstition about no sugar in their tea, but I can't say I've ever heard it.

Although saying that, I know a lot of people, my mother included, who will refrain from taking sugar in thier tea during Lent, so there may be some truth in it.