Celebrate St. Paddy’s Day with traditional Irish food
It’s one of the few connections Kerry Lynch has to her father.
He left this world when she was just a “wee one” of 9 months. So she remembers him from the stories her grandmother and aunts told. She thinks of him whenever she hears someone sing an Irish ballad. And she celebrates the Lynch family heritage with the food from her ancestors’ homeland.
Lynch’s husband, Jack Geraghty, former Spokane mayor, has similar connections to Ireland. His grandfather emigrated from Belmullet in County Mayo when he was 12. He raised a dozen kids and put himself though law school while driving a beer truck and later became a Washington State Supreme Court justice. Cooking traditional Irish food at home reminds him of those from which he came. Three years ago, the Geraghty family even put together a family cookbook of some of those favorite recipes.
Together, Lynch and Geraghty helped start the Spokane-Limerick Sister City Society to celebrate the connection between the United States and their forefathers’ home. That was 15 years ago, and today it has some 250 members. Lynch has served as the group’s president for the past five years.
For St. Patrick’s Day, they offered to share some of their favorite recipes they’ve adapted from family favorites. So, draw those you love near for food and fellowship just as the Irish do for this holiday.
Lynch tweaked her grandmother’s recipe for Irish Soda Bread. The whiskey-soaked raisins make this bread nearly irresistible. Geraghty experimented to come up with an unusual twist on traditional Irish stew. Jack Geraghty’s daughter Sheila created this recipe for Colcannon that is enjoyed each year at the Limerick Irish Dinner. And for good measure, they’ve shared a family recipe for corned beef.
Grammie’s Soda Bread
From Kerry Lynch
1 1/2 cups raisins or currants
1/2 cup Irish whiskey
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 well-beaten eggs
Soak raisins or currants in Irish whiskey for three hours.
Spread two tablespoons butter in either a pie plate or cast iron skillet. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift dry ingredients together. Add currants or raisins and whiskey mixture to dry ingredients and stir.
Mix together eggs, buttermilk and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Add to dry ingredients and mix lightly – do not overmix; it will toughen the bread.
Spoon batter into pan and smooth. Cut a cross into the top of the bread (see note) and dot with remaining butter.
Bake 60 minutes until golden and enjoy.
Note: The Irish cut a cross into the top of the bread to let out evil spirits, Lynch says.
Yield: 1 loaf
Approximate nutrition per serving (based on 16): 243 calories, 5 grams fat (3 grams saturated, 20 percent fat calories), 4.6 grams protein, 40.8 grams carbohydrate, 39 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 320 milligrams sodium.
Camp Jack Lamb Stew - Moroccan Style
From Jack Geraghty
2 pounds lamb stew meat (1-inch chunks)
Olive oil
Garlic salt, to taste
Coarse ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup dry white wine (or chicken broth)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1 cup small pearl onions
2 (15-ounce) cans whole white potatoes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
In a large cast-iron or aluminum pot, brown lamb chunks in olive oil until golden, seasoning with garlic salt and pepper to taste. Remove to a plate and set aside.
In same pot add wine and bring to a slight boil. Whisk in peanut butter and mustard, stirring until creamy in texture. Bring to slight boil.
Add onions, potatoes, garlic and carrots; return to slight boil.
Stir in lamb chunks, bring to simmer and cover. Simmer for about an hour and a half or until lamb is tender. Check liquid from time to time during simmer. You may need to add more wine or water, but be careful not to lose the creamy texture of the sauce.
Yield: 6 servings
Approximate nutrition per serving: 547 calories, 28.8 grams fat (8 grams saturated, 47 percent fat calories), 47 grams protein, 26.7 grams carbohydrate, 124 milligrams cholesterol, 4.5 grams dietary fiber, 1,300 milligrams sodium.
Mary Jo’s Old Country Glazed Corned Beef
From Kerry Lynch
4-5 pounds lean corned beef
1-2 cloves garlic (unless spiced, see note)
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1/3 cup ketchup
Cook corned beef in a Crock-Pot or on the stove on low for 5 hours; cut off any fat. (Or, prepare according to package directions.) It will reduce in size. Combine sauce ingredients and cook until butter is melted. Baste corned beef with 1/4 of the sauce and cook uncovered in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Pour additional sauce on the top and serve. This corned beef is best served carved across the grain in slices rather than in the more traditional stringed and cubed fashion. It is very, very tender.
Note: Lynch and Geraghty recommend that you throw away the spice packet that comes with some corned beef, or rinse off the spices if you buy a corned beef that is already rubbed with seasonings.
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Approximate nutrition per serving: 497 calories, 35 grams fat (16 grams saturated, 65 percent fat calories), 34 grams protein, 9 grams carbohydrate, 126 milligrams cholesterol, no dietary fiber, 409 milligrams sodium.
Colcannon
From Sheila Geraghty
1 pound kale or green cabbage, stalks and core removed and shredded
1 pound unpeeled potatoes
6 scallions, finely chopped
2/3 cup cream
1/2 cup butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
Boil the cabbage/kale until tender, about 10 to 20 minutes. Boil the potatoes until tender. Place the scallions and cream in a pan and simmer on low 5 minutes.
Drain the cabbage and mash. Drain the potatoes; peel and mash. Add the hot cream mixture, beating well until soft and fluffy. Beat in the cabbage. Season with salt and pepper and half of the butter. The colcannon should be a speckled green color.
Make a well into each serving and add a pat of butter.
Yield: 8 servings
Approximate nutrition per serving: 278 calories, 20.9 grams fat (12.8 grams saturated, 65 percent fat calories), 3.9 grams protein, 21 grams carbohydrate, 59 milligrams cholesterol, 3 grams dietary fiber, 35 milligrams sodium.