St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner. It’s a little known fact outside Ireland that we short-of-stature and long-on-wit exchange gifts in advance of World Day of Drunkenness. I was lucky enough to be brought within the scope of benevolence of Pat Whelan, master butcher, advisor and innovator in all things meat related. This led to my cooking the internationally famous, traditional Irish staple of Bacon and Cabbage. But, I couldn’t leave it there. I had to put a modern twist on it. Hence, Bacon and Cabbage Two Ways. Sticking strictly with tradition, I served it with parsley sauce and floury potatoes. Also, with a ring of irony to it, I served it with a big dollop of English mustard.
Ingredients:
- Cured loin of bacon, prepared bone-in for flavour.
- Cured belly of bacon.
- Potatoes
- Cabbages (2)
- A very big handful of parsley
- 1 pint of milk
- 1 generous knob of butter
- 1 dessert spoon of flour
- English mustard powder.
Not many people know this. When St. Patrick was working as a shepherd near Tara in County Meath, he stole pigs from a local farm, butchered and salted them. He then cooked them wrapped in the outer leaves of the now extinct giant wild Irish cabbage. He paid for his return ferry trip to Wales with the proceeds. He even had the temerity to hide all the snakes of Ireland in the back of his wagon. This is in fact how St. Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland and invented Bacon and Cabbage. The parsley sauce and mustard are a modern addition to this uniquely Irish dish.
Side note on making mustard: Make your own from mustard powder. Anything else tends to be mustard flavoured sauce. These are generally a poor imitation of the real thing. They will bring a tear of regret rather than a tear of sinus burn to you eye. The real stuff doing the opposite. Painful, but fantastic.
To give this dish a modern twist, I cooked the bacon loin sous vide. That is I took it out of its vacuum sealed plastic bag, vacuum sealed it in another plastic bag and cooked it for three hours at 62ºC.
To stick with the traditional, I baked the cured pork belly in a tin-foil tent in a moderate 160ºC oven for 90 minutes.
I chopped the cabbage and, maintaining as much tradition as possible, I boiled it in water.
I then put the milk, butter and flour into a saucepan over a moderate heat. I stirred until the white sauce cooked. I then chopped and added the parsley.
When everything was cooked I drained the cabbage and added the bacon juice from the tinfoil tent.
The bacon loin was cooked to perfection. It carved beautifully.
Next, carve the bacon belly into strips.
Assemble the two kinds of meat, potatoes and cabbage on plates. Pour over the parsley sauce.
Have an excellent St. Patrick’s Day, whether you spend it part comatose from green beer in a New York gutter or sitting with family and friends, enjoying this most excellent non traditional, yet truly traditional and authentic (of course it is!) Irish St. Patrick’s Day dish.
Mad Dog | 13th March 2015
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I’m sure St. Patrick would be proud of your dish, especially with two types of bacon 😉
Conor Bofin | 13th March 2015
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Thanks MD. I just thought we had to do something to promote one of the few ‘Irish’ dishes that stand out from the crowd.
Karinna | 13th March 2015
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Very tempting!
Conor Bofin | 13th March 2015
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Thanks Karinna,
It was a fantastic early St. Patrick’s Day celebration for us.
goatsandgreens | 13th March 2015
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Oh, this is WAAAYY so enticing!
Conor Bofin | 13th March 2015
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Thanks. Well worth the bit of multi-cooking effort. Lovely tasty bacon.
frugalfeeding | 13th March 2015
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Fabulous ingredients, Conor. I’m making porter cake this weekend in celebration. Though I hope we smash you in the rugby. Unfortunately I’m cycling so can’t actually watch it :(. Distraught.
Conor Bofin | 13th March 2015
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The rugby has us all in a state of angst. It should be the match of the championship. You guys have home advantage and an immensely strong back line. We have an improving forward set with real power and ball carrying capacity. It should be a cracker.
I’ll be out on the bike on Sunday. I have committed to doing Paris toNice in September. Lots of training needed.
Porter cake sounds particularly appropriate to the day that’s in it.
Happy St.Patrick’s Day!
Conor
Eha | 14th March 2015
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Thanks for the advance notice! Paris > Nice put down in the Diary: sometimes watch, sometimes not – this year for certain 🙂 !
Conor Bofin | 14th March 2015
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Hi Eha,
Not that P2N! I am probably 30 years too old to compete. This is far more sedate. Though, I intend doing Mont Ventoux on the way.
Eha | 14th March 2015
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Oh, and there I was hoping !! Well, take it as a compliment 🙂 ! Mont Ventoux will be an accomplishment to remember: good training meanwhile!!!!!
Adam | 13th March 2015
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Another winner. Have a great St. Patrick’s Day, Conor.
Conor Bofin | 13th March 2015
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Thanks Adam.
You do too.
Best,
C
Linda Duffin | 13th March 2015
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I can almost taste that from here. Makes me wish I was back in Dublin. Have a great St Patrick’s Day and raise a glass of something suitable for me. Lx
Conor Bofin | 13th March 2015
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I have no idea what I’ll be doing on St.Patrick’s Day. Since the kids are now adults, the need to attend the parade is part of history. Perhaps a whiskey by the fire?
Linda Duffin | 13th March 2015
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Sounds like a plan.
StefanGourmet | 13th March 2015
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Very nice mix of tradition and innovation, Conor. Have a great St. Patrick’s Day!
Conor Bofin | 13th March 2015
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Thanks Stefan,
Looking forward to the day off, if truth were told. We are mad busy at present.
Have a good one,
Conor
StefanGourmet | 13th March 2015
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Did you get my e-mail about coming over for seafood & wine? I’d like to set the dates this weekend.
Conor Bofin | 13th March 2015
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I did. I will reply by mail. Things a bit hectic.
Gerlinde | 13th March 2015
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What a way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Your parsley sauce adds makes the meal perfect. Be careful not to fall off the chair when taken such a gorgeous photo.
Conor Bofin | 13th March 2015
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Thanks Gerlinde,
If I stay off the Guinness, I’ll be fine!
Best,
C
Debbie Spivey | 13th March 2015
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Just the other day I was wondering what I could make (blog-worthy) for a St. Patrick’s Day meal that I actually like. I always see corned beef and cabbage or Shepard’s pie recipes everywhere this time of year and I just don’t want that. I thought of you and just knew you could answer my question. Funny, I didn’t even have to ask. I enjoyed the tidbit of information about St. Patrick and his pigs. What a little thief!
Conor Bofin | 14th March 2015
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He was not the Saint that they have him in his press releases.
Yinzerella | 13th March 2015
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Bacon makes everything better!
I think that the sous vide has changed your life.
I am going to have a low-key St. Patty’s day with some corned beef and cabbage. Like New Year’s Eve, this is a day when all the amateur drinkers are out. I graduated to the big leagues years ago.
Conor Bofin | 14th March 2015
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I like your style. I never looked at drinking as an organised sport. Over here, while there are a lot of us at it, it tends to be very unruly and without a referee.
foodisthebestshitever | 13th March 2015
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Dear good lord Conor, this makes me want to swear out loud.Rain, hail or shine I am going to make this for St. Patrick’s Day… and then go and steal all of the snakes! 🙂
Conor Bofin | 14th March 2015
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Excellent. Your comments always make me smile. Perhaps you could do something about those toads you have down there? A bigger menace than the snakes, I hear.
foodisthebestshitever | 14th March 2015
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Valid point. I’m on it!
anotherfoodieblogger | 13th March 2015
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I can’t tell you how many pictures I’ve taken of food while standing on a chair! (On particularly lazy days I’ve gone so far as to instead put the food on the floor! The dog goes outside for those shots.) Your Bacon Two Ways has me drooling, by the way. Very nice!
Conor Bofin | 14th March 2015
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I should have added that that lot was on the floor. The hound in this house is better behaved than yours. She stays in her bed, watching me as if I were mad. She may be on to something.
Tara Sparling | 14th March 2015
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I fully intended to come away from reading this post with a new appreciation for bacon, Conor, but I’m afraid I ruined everything by being gobsmacked at your mustard revelation. I’m going straight out to replenish the powder in the morning. I do hope this doesn’t get me thrown out of the country for Paddy’s Day. I might go into exile out west just in case.
Conor Bofin | 14th March 2015
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It really does prove that we are a very tolerant race, open of heart and generous of spirit. It’s either that or it goes very well with the bacon….
katechiconi | 14th March 2015
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I shall be mournfully wishing for bacon and cabbage whilst heading south on the back of a motorbike. I know what St Patrick did with all those snakes… He sent them to Australia, along with everyone else’s poisonous spiders, jellyfish and toads. I will also politely refrain from mentioning rugby…
Conor Bofin | 14th March 2015
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Don’t mention the rugby today. Those Welsh coal miners dug deep.
Michelle | 15th March 2015
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I look forward to your St. P’s day post every year. You’ve never let me down! So glad I now know the real story. 😉
Conor Bofin | 15th March 2015
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There are so many stories out there Michelle, it’s my duty to get the truth out there (play X Files music. Fade under).
moylomenterprises | 15th March 2015
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It’s been a while since I made a cabbage dish…looks delicious! I’m inspired…perhaps not to make this exact dish but to make something cabbage-related. Thanks!
Conor Bofin | 15th March 2015
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Plenty of Vitamin B. Nothing beats a cabbage type dish for St. Patrick’s Day.
moylomenterprises | 15th March 2015
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Great fun fact! Thanks for the reminder and inspiration. Picking some up tmrw!
FrugalHausfrau | 16th March 2015
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That looks so lovely, but my favorite part? That you didn’t waste those juices and poured them over the cabbage! 🙂 Oh, and the Coleman’s. I love the kick it has. Funny, we were taught in school all about St. Patrick, but so nice to get the real story from a real Irishman!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 🙂
Conor Bofin | 16th March 2015
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One does have to be careful not to believe some of the misinformation out there about St. Patrick.
FrugalHausfrau | 16th March 2015
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lol – one should use a bit of discernment concerning legends and Saints, and Bacon & Cabbage as well, it seems.
Conor Bofin | 16th March 2015
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All you need to do is trust your source…
Happy St. Patrick’s Day,
Conor
Karen | 16th March 2015
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I wish I could sit at your table and experience a real and very traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal. I usually make corned beef and cabbage but this year I’m traveling and will have to forgo my usual tradition.
Conor Bofin | 16th March 2015
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A change is as good as a rest, as they say.
Happy St.Patrick’s Day Karen.
The Quincho Project | 16th March 2015
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Thanks – Have just committed that Parsely-Bechamel sauce idea to memory for future use. In the states, St Patrick’s is another excuse for a pub crawl (as if they needed one). I generally hide indoors until its over.
Conor Bofin | 16th March 2015
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Not a bad strategy. I’ll take the bike up the mountains in the AM. It’s indoors for me too after that.
laurasmess | 17th March 2015
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Looks amazing Conor. Haha, as I read this I am wearing green and sitting in an office full of likeminded green people. This is how Australians celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Afterwards I shall go to the pub for a pint… but at least I’m making a proper beef and Guinness pie.
I think very few of us know the actual significance of St Patrick’s Day and the fact that it’s not just created to popularise shamrocks. Thanks for letting us in on the significance of the occasion for your family and for ‘real’ Irish!! Your bacon dish and all the trimmings look absolutely delicious!
Conor Bofin | 17th March 2015
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Thanks Laura. I have a mental picture of you. Enjoy the pint and the stew.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day,
Conor
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