Irish Recipes

Here are some Irish recipes, from the Herald-Leader archives, to serve at St. Patrick’s Day parties.

Pastry cases filled with apples in Irish mist
12 frozen puff pastry shells
1 1⁄2 teaspoons Irish mist
5 ounces whipping cream, whipped
Pastry cream:
10 ounces milk
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla 
3 medium eggs
1⁄2 cup sugar plus 1 tablespoon
4 tablespoons flour
Apples:
4 apples
1⁄2 cup sugar
Juice of half a lemon
1 1⁄2 tablespoons Irish Mist liqueur
Prepare pastry shells according to package directions. Cool. Remove top and scrape out soft pastry inside.
To make pastry cream: Boil milk. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Separate yolks and whites of two eggs. Set egg whites aside.
Beat the two yolks and one whole egg together. Pour boiling milk on to eggs and quickly beat in sugar and flour. Transfer back to saucepan and place on low heat. Stir until custard is thick and cooked. Strain through sieve into a clean bowl. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into custard. Cool.
To make apple mixture: Peel, quarter and cut apples into 1⁄8-inch slices. Place in saucepan and add sugar, lemon juice. Cover pan tightly and cook over gentle heat until apples are soft, but not broken. Cool and stir in liqueur.
Stir the whipping cream, the liqueur and some of the apple mixture into the pastry cream. Fill the pastry shells 2⁄3 full with the mixture. Fill to top with apple mixture. Replace lids and dredge with confectioner's sugar. Serve with whipped cream. Makes 12 servings.

An authentic Irish dinner of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes becomes a healthful one-pot meal.

Colcannon and corned beef soup
1 cup (packed) parsley sprigs
1 cup water
3 leeks, with 1-inch dark green part, split, cleaned, sliced
2 large onions (about 1 pound), quartered, sliced
2 Golden Delicious apples, cored, chopped
10 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 pounds baking potatoes (about 4), pared, quartered, sliced lengthwise
1 pound green cabbage, chopped fine
3⁄4 pound sliced deli corned beef, cut into thin strips
3 tablespoons sherry
1⁄2 teaspoon each ground cardamom and nutmeg
1⁄4 teaspoon ground mace
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Few drops hot pepper sauce
1 bunch kale (about 1 pound), leaves stripped from stems and chopped fine, stems discarded
1⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice
3⁄4 teaspoon salt, optional
Prepared mustard
In blender, process parsley with water until pureed; reserve in refrigerator in covered container at least 1 hour and up to 2 days. In large pot, place leeks, onions, apples and 2 cups broth. Cooked covered over medium-high heat 50 minutes. Let stand to cool slightly. Puree in food processor or blender and return to pot.
Add remaining broth, the potatoes, cabbage and half of corned beef to pot; reserve remaining corned beef for garnish. Heat to simmering; reduce heat to medium. Simmer covered until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Mash some potatoes into soup, leaving some pieces whole. Stir in sherry, spices and kale; heat to simmering. Simmer covered just until kale is tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in reserved parsley mixture and the lemon juice; simmer uncovered 2 minutes. Add salt, if desired. Ladle into bowls and garnish with reserved corned beef and, if desired, small dollop of mustard.

Main dish pies are a Celtic tradition. This beef dish simmers for an hour and a half. It can be done ahead of time and refrigerated.

Steak and stout pie
Pastry for double crust 9-inch pie
4 slices bacon, coarsely chopped
4 medium onions, coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
2 pounds stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 12-ounce bottle Guinness Stout
3 tablespoons Tabasco green pepper sauce
1⁄2 cup chopped parsley
Line a 9-inch pie plate with half of prepared pastry. Bake according to package directions. Cool. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook bacon and onions in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add to Dutch oven or ovenproof casserole.
Combine flour, salt and pepper in large bowl. Add meat; toss to coat well. Heat oil in skillet; add beef pieces, a few at a time, and brown on all sides. Remove to Dutch oven.
Place Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add raisins, sugar, stout and pepper sauce and bring to a boil. Cover and bake in oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Stir occasionally and add more stout or water if gravy appears too thick.
Remove beef from oven and increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Stir parsley into beef mixture; spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Roll out remaining pastry into circle, forming top crust. Cut slits or shamrock designs to allow steam to escape. Place on pie, flute edges as desired.

Place pie on baking sheet and bake until crust is golden, about 14 to 16 minutes. Remove pie from oven and let it sit for 15 minutes before cutting. Makes 6 servings.

This is Gina Lynaugh's recipe for Irish soda bread.

Irish soda bread
2 cups flour
1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stir together flour, baking powder, salt and soda. Stir in buttermilk to make a soft dough. Knead dough lightly and shape into a round loaf. Place on greased baking sheet and bake 45 minutes or until golden. Makes 1 loaf.