«previous next»Friday 17th March 2006Irish comforts for St. Patrick's Day | |||||||||||||||||||||
Whilst the Northern hemisphere looks forward to Spring and coming warmer weather, here in New Zealand, - "the Land
of the Long White Cloud" the middle of March brings with it shorter days and cooler nights. The mornings have the
familiar dewy autumnal coolness and freshness now, and the autumn leaves have been falling for some days, the backyards
are awash in beautiful golden colours. With all this the evenings come earlier, as does an extra blanket on the bed at
night. This weekend marks the end of our ‘daylight saving’ which is also kind of sad, although I’m happy to have the extra hours sleep. March 17 also marks St. Patrick’s Day, the day in which Ireland and the world remembers the Irish patron saint. After a wet drizzly Friday what could be more comforting than a few slices of warm corned beef on a great mound of buttery ‘champ’ with some braised carrots and cabbage. Everyone knows an Irishman is lost without his potatoes, but did you know that before the horrid potato famine of 1846-1850 the average Irishman tucked away 5 kg / 11 lbs of spuds every day?! Now that’s a lot of potatoes! Irish Champ is a favourite traditional way to serve potatoes in Ireland, and makes lovely warming comfort food for any dreary day.
Most "Corned Beef" is cut from the Silverside or Brisket, brisket is generally cheaper having more fat and rolled, whereas silverside is leaner and not rolled.
I served my Irish comfort meal of Champ and Corned Beef with some braised carrots and cabbage. Traditionally these would have been added to the meats cooking liquor, but cooking separately produces and more desirable result in my opinion. Now, what comforting meal would be complete with out a homely old fashioned pudding or dessert of Apple and Blackberry crumble - recipe to follow. Slainte! Enjoy | |||||||||||||||||||||
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