Irish Fare with American Flair
The Ides of March usher in St. Patrick’s Day along with a nod to traditional Irish cuisine. Inspired American chefs like Bobby Flay, Ina Garten and Ree Drummond give contemporary twists to classic Irish dishes.
Boxty Brunch With Bobby Flay
Cheesy Hash Browns
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 medium Spanish onion, diced
1 ½ lbs small Yukon gold potatoes
2 tsp. paprika
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 ½ cup grated, aged white Irish cheddar cheese
Chopped chives
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Heat the butter and canola oil in a cast iron pan over high heat until the butter begins to sizzle. Add the onion and cook until soft and slightly caramelized. While cooking the onion, put the potatoes in a large pot of cold, salted water, bring to a boil and cook until nearly tender. Drain well and smash with the back of a wooden spoon.
Add the potatoes to the onions, packing it evenly with the back of a metal spatula to form a cake. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the underside is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer potato mixture onto a plate or baking sheet without sides by carefully inverting the potato cake onto it. Carefully slide the potato cake back into the skillet and cook until the bottom is just set and pale golden brown, about 4 minutes. Spread the cheese on top, cover the pan with a lid and let it melt. Transfer the potato cake to a cutting board cheese-side up and cut into wedges. Garnish with chopped fresh chives.
Roasted Tomatoes with Bread Crumbs
6 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
Unsalted butter for greasing the baking dish
Olive olive for drizzling
Honey for drizzling
1 tsp. sweet paprika
1 cup Panko (Japanese) bread crumbs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. finely chopped, flat-leaf parsley for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Put the tomato halves in a lightly buttered baking dish, cut-side up, drizzle with olive oil, honey, and sprinkle with Panko. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and sprinkle with parsley. Drizzle with olive oil.
Sautéed Mushrooms
Canola oil to coat pan
1 pint cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed, cut into sixths
Salt and pepper
Heat the canola oil in a pan and saute the mushrooms until soft. Season with salt and pepper. For serving: Arrange on a platter the fried eggs, cooked bacon, cooked sausage, cheesy hash browns, roasted tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, toasted brown soda bread and butter.
For serving
4 fried eggs
Bacon cooked to a golden-brown crisp
Good quality cooked lamb, chicken or pork sausages
Brown soda bread, toasted — see Ina Garten’s recipe
Room temperature butter
Irish Guinness Brown Bread with Ina Garten
1 cup quick-cooking oats (not instant), such as McCann’s, plus extra for sprinkling
2 ¼ cups whole wheat flour, such as Heckers
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
2 ¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 (11- to 12-oz) bottle Guinness Extra Stout beer, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for brushing the pan
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Salted butter, such as Irish Kerrygold
Preheat the oven to 450ºF. In a large bowl combine the oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the beer, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. With your fingers, stir the batter from the middle of the bowl to the outside, until it’s well mixed. It will look more like cake batter than bread dough.
Brush a 9×5×2½-inch loaf pan with melted butter. Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle the top with oats. Put the bread in the oven, immediately turn the temperature down to 400ºF, and bake for 45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn the bread out onto a baking rack and allow it to cool completely. Slice and serve with salted butter.
Irish Apple Cake with Ree Drummond
For the streusel topping:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup old-fashioned oats
1 pinch of kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter, cubed
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, oats and salt. Using your fingers, rub the cold butter into the ingredients until the mixture is well combined and easy to pinch together. If the dough appears sandy, continue working the butter in until you can form it into a dough ball. Cover and refrigerate the streusel for at least 15 minutes before using or up to one day.
For the cake:
Baking spray with flour
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
⅔ cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 Tbsp. milk
3 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch round baking pan with baking spray with flour and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 2 parts, alternating with the milk, folding until just combined after each addition.
Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan. Top with the sliced apples, arranging them so they lie in an even layer. Remove the cold streusel from the refrigerator and break it into dime-sized pieces. Cover the apples with the cold crumbled streusel. Bake until golden brown, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a plate, remove the parchment paper, and turn it over again onto a wire rack, allowing it to cool completely, streusel-side up.
For the vanilla custard sauce:
5 large egg yolks
½ cup granulated sugar, divided
1 ¾ cups half-and-half
¼ tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. vanilla bean paste
For the vanilla custard sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and ¼ cup of sugar until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is lightened in color, about 1 minute. Place a fine-mesh sieve over another empty medium bowl. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the half-and-half, salt and remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Heat, stirring frequently, until steaming (do not boil). Whisking constantly, slowly pour about 1 cup of the warm half-and-half mixture into the egg mixture. Add the warm egg mixture back to the remaining half-and-half mixture, whisking to combine. Cook until the mixture starts to thicken, coat the back of a spoon, and an instant read thermometer registers 175°F to 180°F, 2–3 minutes.
Immediately pour the mixture through the prepared fine-mesh sieve. Stir in the vanilla bean paste. Set the bowl over a bowl of ice water and stir to cool the mixture to room temperature. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly over the vanilla custard sauce and refrigerate until fully chilled, at least 1 hour. Serve the cake in slices, drizzled with vanilla custard sauce, if you like.