Food Fare

NRV Food Fare Irish Vittles Compiled by Joanne M. Anderson

Honoring the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day is great fun, but we can enjoy Irish food and drink any time. Corned beef and cabbage may top the list of recognized foods, but actually the most popular meal in Ireland is still meat with two vegetables. Simple enough fare.

The Irish are, however, known the world over for boxty, soda bread and Irish stew, which stands apart for using lamb or mutton for the meat. If you have not heard of boxty, then perhaps you are still single, as an old Irish rhyme goes like this: 'Boxty on the griddle, boxty on the pan; if you can't make boxty, you'll never get a man'. Soda bread has a unique texture and often includes raisins, but no cinnamon. It was originally fried in a pan because Irish wheat did not play nice with yeast and rise, so this uses baking soda to react with buttermilk. They are simple breads which go with every meal or no meal at all, simply as an Irish snack food.

Boxty aka Irish Potato Pancakes

1½ cups grated raw potatoes 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes 1 egg 1 tablespoon skim milk salt and pepper to taste ¼ cup olive oil

Toss grated potatoes with flour, then stir in mashed potatoes until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk egg and skim milk; mix into the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drop in potato mixture and form patties about 2 inches in diameter. Fry both sides until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Drain on a paper towel. Serve warm.

Irish Soda Bread

• 4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour • 1 Tbl. sugar • 1 tsp. salt • 1 tsp. baking soda • 4 Tbl. butter

• 1 cup currants or raisins • 1 large egg, lightly beaten • 1 3/4 cups buttermilk Preheat oven to 400°. Whisk 4 cups flour with sugar, salt, baking soda. Work butter into flour mixture with fingers or pastry blender and add raisins or currants. Make a well in flour mixture and add beaten egg and buttermilk, stirring with wooden spoon until it’s stiff. Dust your

May the luck of the Irish Lead to happiest heights And the highway you travel Be lined with green lights.

hands with flour and knead into a rough ball. Shape a round loaf on a floured surface. It will be sticky and look shaggy like biscuit dough. Place the loaf in a lightly greased cast iron skillet or baking sheet and score an X on the top, which really looks more like a + sign. Bake about 35 minutes until golden brown and bottom sounds hollow. If skewer comes out clean, it’s done! Let it cool 10 minutes before slicing. It is best enjoyed warm from the oven.