Eating through the Six nations #3: Ireland vs Scotland (Bacon n Cabbage and Cock-a-leekie soup)

I was supposed to put this post up yesterday, as that was when the game was played, but it was the 27th, which meant it was the day to post my Daring Baker stuff. So here it is :)

There are a lot of differing opinions as to what is the true traditional Irish dish. Some say lamb stew, more say its bacon and cabbage. Either are yummy dishes in my opinion :) Bacon and cabbage is much less work.


Bacon and Cabbage 
Bacon
Cabbage
Potatoes
 

 So all you do is put the bacon in a large pot and cover with water.

Bring the water to a boil, then dump out the water (this removes a lot of the salt in the bacon), re top-up with water and boil until the bacon is cooked. Meanwhile, slice up the cabbage and give it a good rinse

When the bacon is nearly done (after about 1.5 hrs on the second boil), add the cabbage and cook it right in with the bacon. The cabbage takes on the porky-salty-yummy flavour. Plus its more cost-efficient than boiling a second pot. 

Slice up the bacon, mash the potatoes you cooked at the same time (in a different pot), drizzle a little parsley sauce over it and enjoy!

VERDICT: Nom-nom-nom! Pretty yummy component for the Irish portion of this post!


Now for the Scottish:


Cock-a-Leekie Soup (From Traditional Scottish Recipes)

3lb chicken
3 slices streaky bacon
1lb stewing beef
2lb leeks
1 large onion (I had two small ones)
5 fluid ounces Scotch whiskey
4 pints water
1 tbsp dried tarragon (I used a few springs of fresh tarragon as I couldn't find dried anywhere)
salt and pepper

Mix the whiskey, tarragon and sugar in the water (hmmm ... no sugar listed in ingredients, so I left it out). Chop up the bacon and place the chicken, bacon and beef in a large bowl and pour over the whiskey marinade. Leave to soak overnight. Place the entire mixture in a large soup pot. Chop up the leeks (reserving one) and onion and add to the pot. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for two hours, removing any scum as required. Remove the chicken from the pot, remove skin and bones. Chop the meat into small pieces and return to the pot. Cut up the beef, if required. Add the last chopped leek and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

VERDICT: Never again. Sugar may have made a difference, but there was a strong whiskey taste that I am not a fan of. There was no alcohol left after the long boiling time, so no worry of getting tipsy, but it tasted like a lump of whiskey with the texture of chicken. So not such a fan of this traditional Scottish dish. But that's ok, at least I tried it :)

Result: Ireland 21 - Scotland 18

So, what was one dish you tried but won't be attempting again?


Peace,

Jenn x

Eating through the Six Nations #2: Ireland vs France (Leek and Potato Soup, Beef Bourguignon)

Today was going to be a tough test, for both my cooking skills and the Irish team. For the last few years, the French rugby team has been very strong and a huge challenge for the boys in green to overcome. Really though, if you compare, Ireland has a meagre population of around 4 million, while France is in excess of 62 million. That this little island can even compete with a country that has more than 15x the amount of people to make their rugby team from is impressive. But whatever the stats, today was going to be a difficult game. France were the defending Grand Slam champions too, so it would have been really nice to unseat them. I was a little tense leading up to the game and made sure all the windows were closed as I didn't want to scare my neighbours when I screeched and jumped around during the game as I am prone to do.

To take some of the pressure off I decided to make Beef Bourguignon a la Julia Child. I do not recommend that you try this recipe if you are looking for a way to wind down. Unless this sort of recipe is therapeutic for you.

But first the Irish recipe. So the potato is the quintessential Irish ingredient, right? Potato and leek soup is pretty popular here and something I really enjoy personally. Its really easy too.

Leek and Potato Soup (adapted from Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cookery Course)

25g butter
225g potatoes, peeled and diced
55g onions, finely diced
175g white parts of the leeks, sliced
salt and pepper
425ml chicken stock

Melt the butter in a heavy pot. When it foams, add the potatoes, onions and leeks, turning them to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cover and sweat for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are soft but not coloured. Add the stock, bring to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are just cooked.

Liquidise until smooth and adjust seasoning to taste. You can add milk or cream if you like but I didn't feel it needed it.

Yummy!!!

The soup was delicious! I haven't tried to make potato and leek from scratch before as I'm not a fan of having butter or oil in my soups but I will be making this one again. It was really, really good. It would be great on a chilly, rainy day with a slice of brown bread. And it came together very quickly, start to finish in about 30 minutes.

The main course did not go so quickly. I started around 2:30 and we ate at 7:30. It was a lot of work.

I read Julie and Julia over Christmas and I really enjoyed it. I haven't seen the movie and had never heard of Julia Child (gasp!) but the way Julie Powell writes and how she found a satisfaction cooking Julia's recipes that she couldn't find in life just spoke to me. And I of course loved all the food talk :) The one recipe that really stayed with me was the beef bourguignon. It sounded like a pain in the butt, but was apparently delicious and worth the effort. Once I googled it, there were lots of references to Julia Child's recipe, and I felt like a real dunce for not having heard of her. Ha ha. 

The recipe out of the book was a little hard to follow, so I keep looking for others who made it that may have a smoother description of the recipe. I found one here that looked good and easier to follow. I must have read it at least 8 times (seriously!) to make sure I could organize myself.

It came out really tasty. The meat was fall-apart tender and the sauce turned into a rich beefy-winey-bacony-gravy. The onions were browned in butter and oil before being simmered in stock. They were gorgeous. It was a really tasty dinner, but to be honest I doubt I'll make it again. For the amount of time it took (and to be honest, I'd rather drink the wine than simmer beef in it) and the cost of it (about €35), I'll stick with my Irish stew. That being said, it was tasty and I'm glad I did it.

There's something going on with my uploader so I can't show you any more pictures. I'll give it another go tomorrow.

Result: France 25 - Ireland 22

Hmm ... maybe I wasn't more impressed with the beef bourguignon because France won ... ah no. Its a great recipe. If you have 3lb of stew meat and a bottle of red wine going begging give it a go. Do it for Julia :)

So tell me: are you a fan of Julia Child?


Peace,

Jenn x

Rugby Six Nations

There's a competition that goes on every year over here. The national rugby team for six countries in Europe compete for the Grand Slam (win every game). The participating countries are England, France, Italy, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Each country plays the remaining 5 countries and to win the Grand Slam means ultimate bragging rights. There is also a mini-tournament within the Six Nations between Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales called the Triple Crown - whoever of the four teams beats the other three takes it. The Triple Crown isn't nearly as exciting as the Grand Slam, but its better than nothing. It beats the Wooden Spoon, which means you won no games at all.

The schedule of games is pretty demanding, as all six teams play either every weekend or every other weekend. For example, the tournament kicks off this evening with England and Wales as the first match. Tomorrow Ireland will meet Italy just before France takes on Scotland. The weekend rotates around rugby and its just fantastic. There is a huge following here for Irish rugby so its infectious fun. Its a game of strategy, strength and skill and it really has to be played by the entire team. One star can't carry a team and I think its the best example of team sport I've ever watch.

So why am I talking about rugby? Well cooking will be involved :) For each time Ireland plays I'm going to make a traditional dish from Ireland and the team we're playing. For example, tomorrow I'm going to make traditional Irish stew for dinner and a Tiramisu for desert (we're playing Italy). I'm not sure at the moment what traditional fare I could prepare for Wales or Scotland, so if you have any ideas I'm all ears. Not Haggis though. I'm not that adventurous. Once was far more than enough!

I hope this all made sense. I'm really looking forward to cooking through the Six Nations and I hope you are too!

Have a wonderful day!!


Peace,

Jenn x