An Irish American Thanksgiving – turkey with watercress sauce

Turkey in front of the fire

Kimberley Riccio

In Ireland, the Thanksgiving was celebrated with the autumn harvest of October and November. When the Irish settle in America, they brought an Irish touch to an American holiday.Thousands of Irish landed in the cities of the eastern seaboard and, unable to travel any further into the continent, most settled in the eastern colonies and established new lives in America. They settled together, forming wholly Irish communities. Those arriving in Philadelphia, who were unable to find employment there, found their way to other towns along the Brandywine river and eventually settled in Wilmington, Delaware. The Irish spread out throughout the city of Wilmington and the state of Delaware, working in the various industries and establishing churches and schools, and continued to flourish. Their small homes with gardens and farm yards provided many of their Sunday and holiday dinners. Many of the foods they served at the Thanksgiving were Irish mashed potatoes (colcannon),whiskey carrots, acorn squash, turkey with watercress sauce, and sage and onion stuffing.

Roast turkey with Watercress Sauce

1 (10lb) turkey

Salt and pepper

5 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. olive oil

6 cloves garlic, crushed

2 bunches watercress, trimmed and chopped

2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

1 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Season the turkey all over, inside and out. Melt 4 tbsp. of butter with the oil over medium high heat in a heavy roasting pan that is large enough to hold the turkey. Put the turkey into the pan, breast side down and cook for about 4-6 minutes to brown it.

3. Remove he turkey from the pan and add the onions and garlic. Place the pan over 2 burners on the stove top and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Return the turkey to the roasting ban breast side up and bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until done. If the bottom of pan starts to dry out during cooking add a little water to prevent the onions from burning. Test for doneness, insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh; the temperature should be 175 degrees. Alternately, pierce the same place with a skewer. If the juices run clear, the turkey is cooked.

4. Remove the turkey from the pan and set aside to rest for about 15 minutes.

5. When ready to serve the turkey, pour the pan juices through a sieve into a small bowl. Press the onion through. Melt the remaining 1 tbsp of butter in the roasting pan over medium heat, and then add watercress and parsley. Stir will and cook for about 1 minute. Add the pan juices and cream, stir well and cook about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

6. Carve the turkey and serve the sauce on the side.

A warm Wilmington Irish onion soup

Irish Onion Soup

The French of Wilmington have nothing on the Irish when it comes to onion soup! A flavor of the Irish in Wilmington during the cold of January and February, this warm and hearty onion soup has a flavor all its own. The soup is made with Irish stout giving it a rich color and a unique malty flavor. Topped with Gruyere Cheese or keep it Irish with a Kerrygold Irish cheese.

2 tbsp unsalted butter

3 large yellow onions, sliced

2 large red onions, sliced

4 shallots, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tbsp dark brown sugar

3 cups low sodium beef stock

1 cup of Irish stout (Guinness or Murphy’s)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup of cheese for topping

1. In a large saucepan over a medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion, shallot and garlic. Cook for about 12 minutes until the onions are soft. Add the bay leaves, basil, thyme, sugar, stock and stout. Bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a low. Cover and simmer for about 25 mins. Season to taste.

2. Preheat the broiler. Arrange 8 crocks on a baking sheet. Ladle the soup into the crocks and sprinkle with cheese. Place under the broiler for about 1 minute to melt the cheese. Once the cheese starts to brown, remove from the oven. And serve immediately with crusty bread.

Irish Halloween ale

Halloween Lamswool Ale

All the good harvest and Halloween food would need to be washed down and an old drink that was drunk is called Lambswool. The name Lambswool is believed to be a corruption of the Irish Gaelic, “La Mas Nbhal” meaning ‘Feast of the Apples’, it was pronounced “Lammas-ool” and this eventually evolved into Lambswool. Various recipes exist for this drink but the bases of it are: Roasted crushed apples, which are added to milk, hot spiced ale, cider and or wine. Sugar is then added according to taste. Bits of toast can be added if desired.

Lambswool Ale

· 1.5 Litres (3 x 500ml bottles) of traditional real ale – or traditional cider

· 6 small cooking apples, cored (Bramley apples)

· 1 nutmeg freshly grated

· 1 tsp. ground ginger

· 3 to 5 oz. brown sugar (demerara) depending on how sweet you like it.

1. Preheat the oven 120C
2. Prepare the apples in advance: time it so they are ready when you want to put them into the lambswool to serve.
3. Core the 6 apples fully, getting rid of the pips. Lightly grease the baking tray. Place the apples on the baking tray about 6cm (2 inches) apart – they will swell up a little. Bake the apples at 120C for about an hour or so – so they become soft and pulpy and the skins are easy to peel away.
4. In a large thick bottomed saucepan (which is quite tall to avoid splashes when whisking) add the sugar. Cover the sugar in a small amount of the ale (or cider) and heat gently. Stir continuously until the sugar has dissolved. Then add in the ground ginger and grate in the whole of the nutmeg. Stir, and keeping the pan on a gentle simmer, slowly add in all the rest of the ale (or cider). Leave for 10 minutes on a gentle heat as you deal with the apples.
5. Take the baked apples out of the oven to cool slightly for 10 minutes – they should now be soft and pulpy.
6. Break open the apples and scoop out the baked flesh into a bowl, discarding the skin. Then take a fork and mash this apple pulp up, while it is still warm, into a smooth purée with no lumps. Add the apple puree into the ale (or cider) lambswool, mixing it in with a whisk.
7. Let the saucepan continue to warm everything through for thirty minutes, on a very gentle heat, until ready to drink. When warmed through use the whisk again for a couple of minutes to briskly froth the drink up and mix everything together. The apple will float to the surface, and depending on how much you have whisked it, the more it looks like lamb’s wool.
8. Ladle the hot Lambswool ale into heat-proof mugs.

Maple Irish whiskey carrots for an Irish-American Thanksgiving

Maple Irish whiskey carrots

There’s an old saying that God invented whiskey so that the Irish wouldn’t rule the world. In fact, divinely inspired, the Irish themselves created the family liquor. Missionary monks brought the technique of distillation to Ireland in the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The earliest reference to whiskey in Irish literature is a 1405 report that a chieftain died of a profusion ofuisge beatha – literally “water of Life”.

Irish whiskey is used in many dishes in Ireland and in America. Today, the Irish Americans of the Brandywine Valley, and indeed in Wilmington, cook a great deal with Irish whiskey. Many of fall Irish dishes that have been incorporated into the American Thanksgiving are made with Jameson or Bushmills Irish whiskey. Such a dish is the Maple Irish Whiskey Carrots.

The Irish-American Thanksgiving dinner is a time to have those delicious vegetables with all the good and gooey sauces. There is no holding back and serving those healthily veggies. It just will not work! Thanksgiving is a special dinner that needs those special dishes. One such vegetable dish is the maple whiskey carrots. These carrots are sweet, gooey, and simply delicious.

Ingredients:

1 tsp. Dijon Mustard

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

½ cup maple syrup

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. rosemary leaves

¼ cup Jameson Irish whiskey

2 pounds carrots

1. Clean and peel carrots. Cut into rounds about ¼-inch think.

2. Combine mustard, salt, pepper, maple syrup, garlic, and rosemary in a small pan over a medium heat.

3. Cook for 5 minutes at a simmer. Remove pan from heat and stir in whiskey. Return pan to heat and simmer for another 8 minutes. The syrup should be thick and bubbly. Set aside in a warm place. Do not allow to cool off.

4. Bring water to boil in a large pan over a high heat. Place carrots in boiling water and cook until tender. Drain carrots and place them in a serving dish.

5. Add syrup glaze to carrots and mix gently to coat.

6. Makes about 6 servings.

Traditional Irish Dankey Stew

In most Irish farms, the traditional main meal of the day was dispensed from the soup or stew pot which simmered over the stove during the day. There was no real distinction between a soup and a stew, as they were as hearty and robust as the people could afford to make them, adding whatever ingredients were available at the time – hence the expression ‘pot luck’. If a choice of ingredients was available, they would make dishes like the still-famous Dankey stew. ‘Dankey’ means slightly drunk, so it is not surprising that one of the main ingredients of this stew is a hefty measure of Irish stout. Since this not only adds a rich flavor but also tenderizes the meat, it was often added to stews, especially at a time when the water was not always safe to drink and everyone in the family would tend to drink beer of one kind or another.

DANKEY STEW

3 celery sticks, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

2 large ends of mutton chops

2 onions, quartered

1 tablespoon pickled mushrooms, minced

2 1 ⁄2 cups Irish stout

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

1 ⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 potatoes, sliced

1 ⁄4 cup pearl barley, soaked in a cup of cold water

2 tablespoons salted butter

Since the traditional mutton is no longer readily available, you can use lamb for this recipe; you may need to reduce the cooking time slightly.

Arrange the celery and carrots in the bottom of a large flameproof casserole dish, place the meat on top and finish with the onions. Stir the pickled mushroom into the stout, and then pour it over the ingredients and season with salt and pepper.

Cover with layers of potato slices. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer at the lowest possible heat for about 1 hour, or cook in a preheated oven at 300 degrees for about 1 to 2 hours. Add the barley into the stew and cook for a further 1 hour. Stir in the butter and allow it to melt before serving.

Irish Halloween tradition – the Bram Brack cake

Halloween bram brack cake

The Halloween custom we have come to enjoy has come a long way from its origins in Celtic Ireland. Once a serious Pagan holiday, we have transformed it into a fun, party holiday. The holiday originates from a 2,000 year old Celtic festival call Samhain. Samhain, pronounced sow-wen, is a Celtic word meaning "summer's end." It is also the Irish Gaelic word for the month of November. Samhain is the last harvest festival as well as the end of the year on the Celtic calendar. Ancient Celts believed that the on October 31st, the dead mingled with the living. The Celts lit bonfires in honor of the dead and to keep them away from the living.

On the Halloween holiday all manner of beings are playing about and mixing with the living; ghosts, fairies, and evil spirits. Children and adults wore Costumes and masks to mimic the evil spirits or placate them.

Samhain became "the evening of All Hallows". Traditional activities for Halloween include costume parties, Jack-o-lanterns, trick-or-treating, reading scary stories and providing special foods. Irish immigrants carried versions of these traditions to the Mid-Atlantic region of North America in the nineteenth century.

One food tradition is the Bram Brack Cake also known as Soul Cakes. During the Medieval era of Ireland, children would go from house to house singing songs and asking for Soul Cakes. For each cake gathered, they would then say a prayer for a deceased loved one from the family who gave the cake. These prayers helped lost souls or those in purgatory into Heaven. Many historians believe this may have been the beginning of our modern day trick'or'treaters.

Bram Brack is a special fruit cake or bread baked and handed out at Halloween. In Wilmington, the Irish Americans make these tasty treats for adult and children Halloween parties. Wilmingtonian tradition says that each member of the family or friends gets a slice. The slice might contain another treat; such as a coin, ring or piece of rag. Tradition has it that each represents a sign for the future. A coin will give a prosperous year, a ring is a sign of romance or marriage, and the rag brings a bad financial future.

Ingredients:

4 cups flour

1 cup milk, room temperature

1 1/4 cups sultanas (golden raisins)

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 (1/4 oz) package dry active yeast,

1/2 cup candied orange or lemon peel

1 cup dried currants

3/4 tsp nutmeg

1 egg

1 each of Halloween gifts (a small ring, rag, and coin wrapped in parchment paper).

Method:

1) Cream the yeast with 1 teaspoon of the sugar and 1 teaspoon of the milk. Allow mixture to froth. Sift flour, spices, and salt together, and then cut in the butter.

2) Add the rest of the sugar to the flour mixture and blend well. Add the milk and egg into the yeast mixture. Combine the yeast and flour mixtures.

3) Beat well with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes. The dough should be stiff but elastic.

4) Fold in raisins, currants, and candied fruit or peel. Add the Halloween gifts and mix well. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until dough has doubled.

5) Divide dough in half and place each in a greased 7" cake tin. Cover pans and let dough rise again for 30 minutes.

6) Bake tins in a 400 degree oven for about 1 hour.

7) Glaze cake tops with 1 tablespoon honey dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water and return to oven for 3 minutes or so to set glaze.

8) Cool on wire rack. Serve in slices, buttered, with freshly whipped cream, or similar topping.

Warning: The Halloweens gifts could be small enough to choke on. Make sure everyone is aware that these little gifts are in the cakes. Supervise children if they are eating or poking through a piece in search of these extra treats.

Irish Whiskey Cocktails

Cocktails are a big hit all over the world. Creating a whiskey cocktail is a fun to kick-start any party. The Irish whiskey makes a good foundation for four favorite cocktails; The Jameson hourglass, the James WTR, Whiskey sour and the Hot whisky punch.

Murphy's Paddy, Dunphy's and Tullamore Dew Whiskeys are make around Dublin and Cork. Jameson's is made Dublin and is exported throughout the world.

There are three types of Irish whiskey: single malt, pure pot stilled and a column and pot still blend of grain and malt. All are distilled three times and matured in oak barrels.

Hot whisky punch -- serves 1 Google image edited by Kimberley O'Dea

Hot whisky punch -- serves 1

Stick cloves into a lemon slice and put into a large stemmed glass with a handle. Add 1/4 Tbsp. Irish whiskey and 1-2 Tsp. demerara sugar. Put a teaspoon in the glass to prevent the hot water from cracking the glass. Pour boiling water to fill the glass. Stir well to dissolve the sugar and serve.

Jameson hourglass -- serves 1 Google imaged edited by Kimberley O'Dea

Jameson hourglass -- serves 1

Pour 1 1/2 Tbsp. whisky into a tall glass and add ice. Pour in two measures of cranberry juice and a measure of orange juice. Stir and finish with a dash of fresh lime.

Jameson WTR (What's the rush?) -- serves 1Google image edited by Kimberley O'Dea

Jameson WTR (What's the rush?) -- serves 1

Pour 1 1/2 Tbsp. Whiskey into a tall glass with ice. Add 5 Tbsp. lemonade and a dash of apple juice. Stir and decorate with a slice of orange.

Whiskey sour -- serves 1 Google image edited by Kimberley O'Dea

Whiskey sour -- serves 1

Mix 1 1/2 Tbsp. whiskey and 1 Tsp. sugar with the juice of 1 lemon. Shake over ice and strain int a chilled glass. Twist a strip of lemon peel over the drink and drop into glass. Serve with a cocktail cheer on a toothpick or cocktail stick.

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