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Hey guys it’s Alicia and I have a really fun recipe for you today. I’m starting my Irish recipes. If you don’t know what I’m talking about I’ve been doing a series of posts of international recipes you can find German recipes here and my Ecuadorian recipes here from February. I still actually have one Ecuadorian recipe left. March is Ireland.
And today we have a twist on a classic Irish dish. Irish Bacon and Cabbage Pie
So in Ireland there’s a dish called bacon and cabbage and it’s a sliced boiled ham with boiled cabbage. But I found this Donal Skehan recipe where he made it into a mini pies.
I really like this idea so I thought I would make a larger version. Preparing the Bacon
His recipe calls for bacon joint and I didn’t know what that was. I looked it up and I found that in Ireland and other parts of Europe much of the pig is referred to as bacon (as opposed to what Americans think of as bacon) except for the leg because that is ham. Specifically, a bacon joint is from the front end of the pig and marbled with fat. So I decided I would just get some pork shoulder and brine it with some seasonings commonly used in Irish cooking.
I prepared the brine 3 days before I planned to make the pie. I let my pork marinate in the brine that whole time. When it was done I boiled it in enough water to cover the pork, until the pork was just done. The meat came out very tender and juicy. It was quite delicious. I didn’t want to over cook it because I knew it’d be getting a bake in the oven. Later when I realized he had a video (after I had already bought my ingredients) I saw that he was actually using ham! Ham would be good in this recipe as well. But I do really like the flavor my pork got from the brine. Preparing the Bacon and Cabbage Pie
For the crust of my pie I used the recipe we shared with you before, Mom’s Pie Crust. A classic recipe in my family. I made the dough and then refrigerated it while I prepared the filling for the pie. This made the dough a bit easier to handle.
The filling is full of vegetables and a beautiful white sauce. Not too many spices but the mustard adds something special to the filling. It doesn’t taste mustardy, yet you can taste it. I know that doesn’t make sense but if you make it you’ll see what I’m talking about. It’s a very subtle flavor that adds depth to the sauce.
And it’s so delicious! My husband was skeptical at first because everything is basically boiled and there weren’t many spices besides salt and pepper. But he kept telling me “This is so good babes!” And he went for seconds so I consider this a win. I made my pie based on Donal’s recipe but changed a few things, so I include here my version of a Bacon and Cabbage Pie.
Check back next week for another Irish recipe and later this week for another Ecuadorian recipe!
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This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support. Alicia here! I'm finally back. You probably thought I abandoned the blog and my culinary travels, but in reality we got hit with the flu at my house and then my back went out. Such a time to be alive. But we did actually make an Ecuadorian meal every week this month as promised. And I will be sharing all of them with you this week! In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, each month this year my family is choosing a different country from our heritage and making a traditional meal from that country each week. Then I am sharing our recipes and meals on the blog! Last month was Germany and it was so delicious! Check out my previous posts from January. Ecuadorian Encebollado This month we decided to do Ecuador. My husband is from Ecuador and lucky for me Ecuadorian food is really flavorful and delicious. He's from Guayaquil, which is a coastal city, so that means a lot of seafood. Another plus for me because I love seafood! We have shared some non-seafood Ecuadorian recipes previously on the blog (here, and here), and I will have one more non-seafood recipe this month for you! The dish I'm sharing with you this post is Encebollado. It's one of my favorite dishes. It's a soup that is actually commonly eaten for breakfast or lunch (or brunch) in Ecuador. Whenever I suggest it for dinner my husband is says it's weird to eat for dinner. It is a warm soup though, despite being for breakfast. Tuna, yucca, and onion are the main ingredients in this delicious soup. The strong onion flavor is a great contrast to the subtle flavors of the yucca and tuna, and a great compliment to the lime juice added in right before serving. We usually make this from the can. Every time some one comes from Ecuador or we go, this is my favorite thing to bring back. So currently we have 8 cans of the soup in our pantry. But we have also made it from scratch on occasion. At these times my husband will call home and get the recipe from there. But today we decided to link you to Laylita's recipe. The only difference between her recipe and what we do is that we don't use pickled onions. We just add fresh red onions to the soup and let them soften in the broth (they still have a little crunch though). When you eat encebollado make sure you have plenty of lime. I like a lot of lime juice in mine (at least one whole juicy lime) while my husband enjoys it with a smaller amount.
Traditionally eaten with a crusty bread roll, plantain chips, and a nice cold Coke.
Alicia here taking over Lindsey's Renny's Recipes regularly scheduled post, and posting about a delicious dessert I have made.
This is my last German recipe post as part of my international meal planning posts. It has been so fun trying new foods, and it's made me excited to visit Germany one day. Next month is Ecuador, and although we have posted a few Ecuadorian recipes on here before, these will be dinner recipes that you'll most definitely want to try. So stay tuned next week for that. Black Forest Cake
But back to today's dessert, Schwarzwälderkirschtorte, This means Black Forest Cherry Torte in Germany. Invented in the 1920's by a Josef Keller, this is a decadent cake with dark chocolate, sour cherries, and Kirsch (usually). Kirsch is a kind of cherry brandy, making the cake not suitable for children (usually).
If you've been following our blog awhile you may have noticed that we don't drink alcohol, so you can consider this recipe a ''dry'' Black Forest Cake. A delicious treat the whole family can enjoy. In place of the Kirsch, I used tart cherry juice. It was mixed with apple juice, but I soaked the cherries in the juice, which deepened the cherry flavor. I've linked to the juice I used. This cake was soooooo good. My husband said it is worth the calories to have a piece. I must say that I agree. Plus it's got cherries, so that's fruit and all the antioxidants in the chocolate, I mean, can we really say this cake is all that unhealthy. ;)
If you want to make this cake be sure to plan accordingly. This is an all day, if not an overnight two day kind of cake. I think I took about 4-5 hours of active time working on the cake. So that's not including the cherries soaking for about 6 hours. If you want really deep flavors, allow the cherry juice to soak into the cake overnight before icing it on the outside.
Another issue I ran into was that I added too much liquid to my frosting for the filling. It was still delicious, but it did get a little runny and grainy. So add your cherry juice a little bit at a time in order to not have my same problem. It was good with the ratio I put in the recipe.
My final tip is to use your food processor (if you have one) to shave your chocolate. I tried doing it by hand on my cheese grater and it produced beautiful chocolate swirls, but also was really awkward and took forever. I put the grater blade (big side up) in my food processor, and it wasn't as beautiful but was so much easier and faster. In the center of my cake I used a dark chocolate bar cut into triangles to make an abstract kind of forest. I think it turned out pretty cute.
I loved this cake, I'm already thinking about when I should make it again. It was so good. I know you can't see from the pictures, but the special dark cocoa made the layers almost black. And the flavor was so deep and complex. I think it would be a great Valentine's Day dessert.
This is my last German dinner post! Just to recap, each month I am choosing a country and then once a week cooking a meal from that country. January has been Germany. See my previous posts on this adventure here, here, and here!
It has been a very delicious and fun experiment so far. And as a bonus I have made a German dessert that I’ll be sharing with you on Thursday! I’m taking over Renny’s Recipes this week, so stay tuned. Today’s dish is rinderrouladen and potato dumplings. Both of today’s recipes are from Germanfoods.org. Rinderrouladen
A rouladen is a roll-up and a rinderrouladen is a beef roll-up. It’s so good you guys and I didn’t even make it right (I think)! I really was trying to make an original recipe for you here but I feel like it still needs perfecting. As such, I will just link you to one of the base recipes I used and tell you my tips for it. Hopefully in the future I can update this with the recipe. (Because I will be making this again.) It was so delicious!
It’s a really thin cut of beef round or chuck. I used bottom round and chuck to try them both. Then rolled up inside is bacon or ham, caramelized onions, and a pickle. Then it's braised in beef stock for about an hour. I couldn't tell the difference between the two different cuts of meat.
Here are my tips:
This could be a great thing to make for a special occasion, like Valentine’s Day at home, a birthday, or anniversary.. The meat can be kind of expensive so it’s not an everyday meal. Potato Dumplings (Thüringer Klöße)
I have never in my life made dumplings, nor watched anyone make them. And though I have had these before and really liked them, mine turned out like weird mashed potatoes with toast stuffed inside. Also mine came out huge and only half the batch came out of the water in tact. I think watching a video of someone making these would have been beneficial for me.
Don’t get me wrong they were still good with the gravy, but I wished I had just made mashed potatoes. I’m calling it user error. I didn’t use the recipe I’m linking too, but I wish I had because it seems more detailed in the instructions. Because I need to practice these more I have no tips for you. But if you try them let me know how they turn out. I found a mix for them on Amazon that I might have to try.
Have you tried any of the German recipes yet? Stay tuned for a German dessert on Thursday! |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
June 2024
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