For comfort food, it's hard to beat Irish pub food. We have had many wonderful meals from this book. And this is how I make some of them.
Skink soup (skink means broth)
2 stalks diced celery
4 small carrots thinly sliced
1 small leek, halved lengthwise and sliced
4 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1 cup diced cooked chicken
½ cup peas
4 green onions, sliced
1 egg yolk
½ cup cream
4 leaves of butter lettuce, shredded
Simmer the first three vegetables and the bay leaf and seasoning in the stock until tender. Add the chicken, peas, and green onions and simmer about 8 minutes more. Beat the egg yolk and cream together and stir into the soup. Add the lettuce just before serving.
Pot roast pork
2 to 3 lb. pork tenderloin, browned all over in oil and butter, set aside
1 chopped onion
½ tsp. thyme
½ cup apple juice
½ cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper
Saute’ the onion in the same pan as the pork, return the meat and add the seasonings and liquid. Simmer covered for half an hour. Add:
8 celery stalks, chopped
and simmer another 30 to 40 minutes. Lift out the meat to rest on the cutting board.
Stir together:
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2/3 cup cream
and add to the pan juices, stirring until thickened. Pour over the meat on the plates.
Rarebit (which means tasty morsel)
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
2 Tbsp. butter
¼ cup whole milk or cream
1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. dry mustard
salt and pepper
Stir together in a small saucepan over low heat until smooth.
Place 4 slices of hearty bread under the broiler until toasted on one side. Flip them over, pour the cheese sauce over them, and broil again until bubbly and lightly browned. Top with chopped pickles and serve hot.
Any leftover of this cheese sauce would go admirably on pasta.
Colcannon
4 large floury potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks
½ small head of green cabbage, finely chopped
Boil together in salted water until potatoes are done. Drain. Mash with a potato masher with 4 Tbsp. butter, ½ cup cream, and salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in 6 chopped green onions.
Sticky carrots
Grate a 1 inch piece of peeled ginger. Saute’ it in ¼ cup oil and 3 Tbsp. butter, then add 1 pound of sliced carrots and cook, stirring. Mix 2 tsp. sugar, ½ tsp. pepper and 1 tsp. salt, sprinkle over the carrots while stirring. Add ½ cup chicken stock and simmer until carrots reach desired doneness. Sauce should be reduced and syrupy.
Bacon, beet, and blue cheese spinach salad
Cut 6 strips of bacon into 1 inch pieces and fry until crisp. Drain on paper towel. Toss 4 cups of baby spinach with 1/2 can of sliced or diced beets, the bacon, a few ounces of blue cheese (feta also works) and ½ cup toasted hazelnuts.
Beat 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tbsp white wine vinegar, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and onion powder or finely minced onion, dress the salad just before serving.
Blackberry soup with buttermilk custards.
This is awesome. Lightly sweet and tangy and creamy. It's also quite tricky to unmold the custard and get it neatly into the fruit soup for a pretty picture.
heat ½ cup whole milk and 1 packet of unflavored gelatin, whisking, until well dissolved. Stir in 1 cup buttermilk, 1 cup cream, and ½ cup sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Pour into 4 small molds and chill overnight.
Cook together 3 cups blackberries, 1 ½ cups red wine, 1/3 cup sugar, and 2 whole star anise for 15 minutes. Remove and discard the anise and puree, then press through a strainer, discarding the seed mass left behind.
Cool.
Pour fruit soup into individual serving bowls and carefully unmold the custards, placing one in the center of each bowl.
What yummy comfort food is cooking at your place this chilly December day?