Irish Country House Cooking

 Ballymaloe Irish Stew

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I love that anyone can be a little Irish today!  

Our kitchen smelled just like an Irish country house today while I made Ballymaloe Irish Stew and White Soda Bread with Herbs.  Both recipes are by Darina Allen and can be found in her cook book Irish Traditional Cooking.  

These recipes were a new adventure for me because I traditionally make Corned Beef and Cabbage every year for St. Patrick's Day.  I was worried that this country stew might be a little bland for our palette.  I couldn't be more wrong.  It was better than good, it was delicious!  

Darina's Irish stew is simple comfort food at its best.  The recipe calls for lamb stock and I used Swanson's chicken broth instead.  The lamb flavored it perfectly and the end result tasted more like home-made stock.

 The stew is a simple dish to assemble and make.  The lamb shoulder chops, carrots and pearl onions are browned and then layered in a dutch oven.  Then the sliced potatoes are layered on top to steam while the stew cooks in the oven for about an hour.  From what I read, this is the traditional way you layer and cook an Irish stew. 

And since it's St. Patrick's Day, of course you need to have Irish Soda Bread.  Soda bread comes together very easily and with such simple ingredients:  flour, salt, baking soda and buttermilk.  You stir it all together with your hand and then tidy it up into a round loaf.

And according to Irish Folklore, you  must cut a deep cross in the bread to let the fairies out!  This way the fairies won't jinx your baking!

 Darina's Irish Soda Bread 

This holiday meal has been one of the most enjoyable meals I have ever made.  We loved this Irish stew so much that it is now going to be our traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner.  Thank you, Darina for your wonderful Irish recipes.  

And if you're not familiar with Darina Allen, do read up on her.  Darina is the most famous cook in Ireland.  She owns the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland.  And yes, I would love to visit the Ballymaloe House, Restaurant and Cookery School someday if we ever visit Ireland.