Exploring my inner Irish

A. let me borrow a few Irish cookbooks, so I decided to explore my (imagined) inner Irish – or just a little Irish cooking – over spring break.  I made some Irish stew and soda bread for dinner one night. I figured it was a classic combination that would make a good introduction to Irish food.  

Does this look gray?

Irish stew is made with lamb, but the cut of lamb the recipe required is one not readily available on this side of the pond – or at least in the grocery stores where I shop.  In addition, the cookbooks were published in Ireland, so along with trying to find “giggot” lamb chops, I was also converting some metric measurements to pounds and cups.  The stew turned out okay, I think, although I had nothing to judge it against as I hadn’t had proper Irish stew before. Later A. asked me if it looked gray, which was reassuring because once I thought about it, it sort of did.  Although at the time, I though it an “interesting” color, paler than any stew I’ve ever made.  It also tasted about how it looked with flavor as about as strong its color, which wasn’t much.  I’m not say it was bad or tasteless, but for someone who was brought up eating hot, sour, and spicy foods, those things it was not – obviously. Instead, the dish was about simple seasonings – salt, pepper, and some fresh herbs. I used three times as much flat-leaf parsley, hence all the green flecks clinging to the carrots, potatoes, and lamb.

Next time I need to mark the cross deeper so it shows.

I enjoyed the soda bread more.  There’s just something about fresh baked bread of any sort.  It’s good in a soul satisfying way.  It’s a simple pleasure – bread warm from the oven slathered with quality butter – that speaks of hearth and home.  Soda bread is quick and easy to make, so I’ll be make more of it in the future.  Maybe I’ll have it with my next bowl of homemade soup – a classic combination in my book.

These two recipe came from the Avoca Café Cookbook if you’re interested to looking for them.

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