Irish Home Cooking for the Holidays

With the holidays rapidly approaching, many will be making trips home and looking forward to family traditions and perhaps even making a few new ones!

Food is central to most holiday celebrations and Christmas in Ireland is no different. There are several home-cooked recipes that are the taste of Christmas for many. Irish Soda bread, Irish coffee, Christmas cake, and even the humble crisp sandwich are all holiday staples in many Irish homes. We’ve pulled together some cherished holiday recipes for you to try out in your home this Christmas.

Irish Soda bread for holiday breakfasts, lunches or dinner!

A popular one for St. Patrick's Day and Easter too, this bread is a year-round staple in many Irish homes and can grace the table at breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the holidays.

Many will say Irish soda bread is best served with butter and jam and a hot cup of tea for a simple and deliciously filling breakfast or snack. This certainly holds strong memories for me as a child - I would have this as a treat in my Granda's house. But this versatile bread is also the perfect accompaniment to a hearty soup or stew on a cold winter’s day, or a smart but simple appetizer served with wild Irish smoked salmon.

Here is one of our favorite soda bread recipes that we use at home, adapted from the famous Ballymaloe Cookery school. Easy to put together in a few minutes and baked in less than 40 - even a novice baker like myself can manage it! And if you are feeling adventurous, you can also add any number of things to the mix to give it an entirely different flavour: raisins for something sweet, thyme and a sprinkling of cheese for savoury, or seeds for some added crunch. You can make it your own!

Irish Soda bread.

Ingredients

• 450g (1lb) white flour, preferably unbleached
• 1 level teaspoon salt
• 1 level teaspoon bread soda/baking soda/bicarbonate of soda (all different names for the same thing)
• 350-400ml (12-14fl oz) approx. sour milk or buttermilk to mix

Method

1. Sieve the dry ingredients together in a bowl and make a well in the center.
2. Pour most of the milk in and using one hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more milk if necessary. The dough should be soft, but not too wet and sticky.
3. Turn it out onto a well-floured worked surface once lightly mixed. You don't want to overwork the dough - it should be a little rough and ready!
4. Wash and dry your hands before flipping it over gently and patting the dough into a round shape about 2.5cm (1 1/2 inches) deep
5. Using a sharp knife, cut a cross into the top all the way out to the sides to let the fairies out (and also to help the loaf bake through)!
6. Put on a lined baking sheet or seasoned cast iron pan and bake in a hot oven, 230ºC/450ºF/Gas Mark 8 for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6 for 30 minutes or until cooked.
7. The loaf should be brown on top and have a hollow sound when you tap the bottom when it is cooked. Leave to cool before serving.
8. Serve with tasty Irish butter and jam, a chunky stew or soup, or cream cheese and salmon if you are feeling fancy
9. Leftover bread (if there is any - highly unlikely!) can be wrapped up and saved at room temperature for a few days, or in the fridge for a week.

Irish Coffee for kicking back

All the merry-making at this time of year can be tiring! A creamy, subtly sweet Irish Coffee can be just the ticket to revive flagging spirits. The story goes that the very first Irish Coffee was made in the winter of 1943 in Foynes, Limerick. Because of WW2, Foynes was then one of the largest civilian airports in Europe and a common transatlantic stopping point for important political figures of the day as well as Hollywood stars.

One evening, bad weather turned a flight back to Foynes. Feeling sorry for the stranded travellers, chef Joe Sheridan whipped up a special drink. Silence reportedly descended as everyone enjoyed his invention. When one asked if it was Brazilian coffee, Sheridan was quick to respond that no, “It’s an Irish Coffee!"

You can still enjoy an Irish Coffee in Foynes to this day at the Flying Boat & Maritime Museum. But if that seems like a long way to go, you can also try making one yourself. My family and I enjoy this recipe every year after Christmas Dinner. The Irish coffee is meticulously made by my father-in-law who has spent a lifetime perfecting it! They are REALLY delicious, and very more-ish. But be warned: more than one or two of these, and you may be no good to anyone the next day!

Ingredients

• Cold Double Cream = shaken or whipped lightly but still pouring consistency. Definitely no spray cream!
• Hot Coffee - whatever you like but ideally good and strong!
• Sugar - my father in law likes brown sugar as it gives a caramel like sweetness, but any type will do
• Whiskey - again everyone has their pick - Paddy’s is ours (a bartender's tip), Powers or Jameson are traditional and Black Bush can lend a nice spicy twist!

Method

1. Heat your glass with boiling water. Just make sure you have your metal spoon in there to prevent cracks or keep turning the glass, especially if it is on the thinner side! You can leave it to stand while you whip your cream. This step is really just to keep the coffee piping hot. It can be skipped if you are under time pressure.
2. Whip your cream lightly with a whisk. Or use my father-in-law's trick of shaking it up in a half-filled bottle. You want the cream to be thick but still be able to pour it! Leave it in the fridge until you are ready to keep it cool.
3. In your empty heated glass, add a spoonful of sugar and fill the glass ¾ full with piping hot coffee.
4. Stir to dissolve the sugar fully. Be sure not to skip this step or your cream will not float! You won't be able to stir once the cream is in!
5. Add 1 shot of whiskey, again giving a gentle little stir to mix. Some use Baileys here instead, for an Irish Cream Coffee, but whiskey is the original and best in our opinion!
6. Turn a metal spoon upside down inside the glass, holding it at an angle with the tip at the top of the coffee. Slowly pour the chilled shaken cream over the back of the spoon. Gently and slowly lift the spoon as you go, filling the glass to just below the rim.
7. Don’t mix! You want there to be two distinct layers - light and dark.
8. You can sprinkle the top with nutmeg as a festive flourish or even a little chocolate for an extra treat. It isn’t at all traditional, my father-in-law wouldn't have it, but it tastes nice.
9. Wait for it to cool just a little so you don’t burn your tongue on your first sip! This is the hardest step! Enjoy!

Christmas Cake for the 12 days of Christmas

Every household in Ireland has a recipe for Christmas Cake. And if they don't make it themselves, you can be sure there’s a friend or relative that does it for them. They may all have slight variations but they are all typically spicy, moist, and stuffed to the brim with fruit and nuts. The spices and fruit are all important as they reportedly represent the gifts brought by three wise men.

This recipe requires serious planning. Christmas Cake is traditionally made several weeks before the big day so it can be “fed” whiskey to ensure it packs a punch. Before serving the finished cake is often iced with marzipan or white icing and elaborately decorated with ribbons, holly sprigs and anything else that strikes the maker’s fancy.

All this work combines for a cake that looks as dramatic as it tastes. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but it wouldn’t be Christmas without one! Not for the faint of heart, making a Christmas Cake is a labour of love that will take weeks. Several of the My Irish Jeweler team are lucky to enjoy this recipe every year! The cakes are artfully made, decorated and gifted by Gemma's talented and extremely industrious mother-in-law! We have no idea how she manages it but we look forward to this cake every year.

Ingredients

• 450g (1 lb) sultanas
• 225g (1/2 lb) raisins
• 225g (1/2 lb) currants
• 100g (4 oz) candied cherries, halved or whole, not chopped
• 50g (2 oz) mixed candied peel, finely chopped - you can leave these out if you can’t find it
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice (a Christmas spice that is equal parts allspice, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• grated zest & juice of 1 lemon
• grated zest & juice of 1 orange
• 4 tablespoons Irish Whiskey - whichever you like but Jameson is traditional

All of the above should be soaked together overnight before being incorporated into the mix. Don't skip this step! Your finished cake will be dry rather than moist if you do.

• 1 large apple finely grated
• 100g (4 oz) slivered almonds
• 1 tablespoon Golden syrup
• 280g (10 oz) Irish butter - this needs to be butter and it should be salted
• 225g (8 0z) soft brown sugar
• 5 eggs
• 280g (10 oz) plain, all-purpose flour
• 50g (2 oz) ground almonds
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (add an extra pinch if you had to use unsalted butter above)
• 2 more tablespoons of Irish Whiskey for pouring over the cake when cooked

Method

1. Soak your fruit, in spiced whiskey, and fruit juices overnight
2. Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F) - this cake cooks for a long time!
3. Line your 8 or 9-inch cake tin with greased baking paper - we grease this with butter to make sure the cake comes out easily!
4. Whisk butter and sugar together in a large bowl until it is creamy and a light color
5. Mix in the eggs one at a time making sure each is totally incorporated before adding another. If your mix isn't coming together at this stage add in a spoonful of your flour and mix again and that should help.
6. Mix your flour salt and ground almonds together in a smaller bowl
7. Fold your flour mixture into your butter sugar and egg mixture - this part should be done with a wooden spoon and certainly not a mixer or your cake will be chewy.
8. Finally, fold in your soaked fruits. This will take some real elbow grease as the mixture should be thick and pretty sticky! In many homes, this work is shared and everyone in the family gives the mix ‘a stir’, making a wish for the coming year. Traditionally, the youngest goes first.
9. Spoon or pour your mixture into your lined baking tin and smooth off the top of the cake with a wet spoon making it dip slightly in the center - this should give you a level cake after it rises.
10. Place a circle of baking paper over the top of the cake if you like to make sure it doesn't brown too much and put it in the oven for 3.5 hrs!
11. Resist the urge to check on the cake - just enjoy the Christmassy smell!
12. Take the cake out and check if it is cooked by putting a skewer into the center. If it is dry when it comes out the cake is done. If there is cake mix sticking to the skewer put it back in for another 15 to 20 mins. Repeat this step until the cake is cooked - we told you it's a labor of love!
13. Let the cake cool in the tin overnight.
14. Take the cake out of the tin carefully the following day using a knife to peel off the paper.
15. Turn the cake upside down and skewer it in 5 or 6 places to make small holes.
16. Using a teaspoon, ladle the 2 oz of whiskey into the holes to “feed” the cake.
17. Wrap the cake in greaseproof paper tied up with string or an elastic band
18. Repeat steps 15 to 17 each week and ideally several times in the run-up to Christmas - spooning over a small amount of whiskey (or brandy if you prefer). We recommend flipping the cake each time so whiskey is added from top and bottom to make sure every part gets a good “feed.”
19. Re-wrap the cake each time - again a lot of work but worth it!
20. You can leave the cake un-iced with just a dusting of icing sugar. Or ice your cake with a layer of marzipan and royal icing anything from 24 hrs to 1 week before Christmas.
21. Decorate it however you like with cake ornaments, dried fruit, holly leaves, ribbon etc.
22. Serve on Christmas day on its own or with whipped cream, custard or even ice cream and enjoy your hard work! A hot cup of tea, coffee, or even Irish Coffee go well too!
23. Enjoy this cake for each of the 12 days of Christmas and Nollaig Na mBan. If there is any left over after all that, it should keep for weeks (and some say months) wrapped in tinfoil in a cake tin.

The not so humble Crisp Sandwich

Now I know what you are thinking! A crisp sandwich is hardly cooking! (Side note for our North American friends - we mean chips when we say crisps). Surely something so humble has no business on a holiday menu. Perhaps you may be right. But believe me when I say that the crisp sandwich has reached the status of an Irish institution!

They are immensely popular at Irish weddings, much to the bemusement of guests from farther afield. My wife and I recently helped some German guests at a family wedding make their first ever crisp sandwich. They seemed to enjoy it! And they certainly enjoyed watching the glee with which all the Irish guests tucked in!

And it is not just weddings where the crisp sandwich is popular. It's very easy to make and takes just three ingredients. Given that many people have large multipack boxes at home for the holidays, the crisp sandwich is a popular holiday snack - I'll certainly happily put away one or two over the holidays! Best eaten late into the festivities on Christmas night, New Years, or any time you need a quick pick me up!

Ingredients to make one crisp sandwich

• 2 slices of soft white sliced bread - whatever type you like so long as it's soft. In Ireland, Brennan's Bread is traditional
• 1 x packet of crisps - cheese and onion crisps are traditional and there are all-out scraps among people in Ireland over whether it is Tayto Cheese and Onion or King Cheese and Onion that make the best sandwich. Either will do. If you can't find cheese and onion, sour cream and onion will do in a push.
• Irish Butter - Kerrygold or whatever you can get your hands on!

Method

1. Give a generous spread of butter on each slice of bread - this will add the moisture and without it, you are in for a DRY sandwich
2. Open your packet of crisps and carefully pour them out onto one of the slices, butter side up
3. Take the other slice and carefully lower it onto the crisps, butter side down
4. Mash the crisps down a little with your hand, so it all holds together
5. Eat!

Below is a controversial clip of Jamie Dornan demonstrating the techniques involved, making his version of a crisp sandwich for Jimmy Kimmel (about 9 mins 50 seconds in if you want to skip). This clip caused - mostly! - mock outrage in Ireland when it first aired for his use of mayo instead of butter, and the highly irregular addition of ham! But we salute him for making the crisp sandwich his own and sharing this wonder with the world! Good man, Jamie!

Are you inspired?

Have you been inspired to make any of these Irish Holiday treats? Let us know how they turned out in the comments below or indeed if there is a traditional recipe that you think we should include.