Dublin Coddle (A St. Patrick's Day Alternative)

(This article was intended for March's La Brea Living Magazine but production difficulties prevented it from appearing.)

Coddle-ing Up to a New Tradition

My columns are often focused on reliving old family traditions or on comforting myself through the rollercoaster ups and downs life tosses my way. But, like each person in every generation, I discover new traditions. With St. Patrick’s Day fast upon us, I thought I would share one of my traditions. Made every year on St. Patrick’s Day since my first trip to Dublin, I have spent this traditionally heavy drinking night at home cuddled up with one Guinness, several slices of buttered, hot Irish soda bread, and a generous bowl of Dublin Coddle. Coddle is a baked dish of ham, sausage, red potatoes, and onions. Since the sausages are baked, their texture is similar to having been poached, rather than fried. When you travel to Ireland you will have a hard time finding this dish outside of Dublin, and inside Dublin you will find versions of it catering to tourists who wouldn’t know the difference between something cheap served to tourists and something hearty served to locals. Quite frankly – I am not sure I have ever learned the difference between the authentic and the tourist versions of this dish. Here’s what logic tells me: (1) I am not a fan of the flavor of things corned, e. g. corned beef and cabbage; (2) the finer the grind of the sausage meat, the less likely it is true to the original dish; and (3) American cured ham contains more salt than Irish, so avoid salting the coddle until the very last moment. Dale’s Dublin Coddle (serves 6-8) Ingredients: 2 large English Bangers (sausages) 1 package large link pork breakfast sausages 1 pound ham shank with skin and fat, cubed into 2 inch pieces 2 white onions cut into eighths still attached at the root end 1 pound red new potatoes cut to one inch diameter Parsley Salt Pepper Procedure: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Fill a one gallon pot with two quarts of water and place on high heat. Puncture the casing on the Bangers and sausages. Place in water. Cut a pound chunk of ham, including skin and fat, of the shank end of cured ham. Dice the chunk into two-inch cubes. Add the cubes to the pot of sausages. Allow the meats to simmer for 10 minutes and then remove from the water. Pick over the potatoes and cut the large ones down to one-inch diameters. Cut the onions into eighths, leaving the sections attached at the root end. In a large casserole with a fitted lid, place all the ingredients alternating between meat, potatoes and onions. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. When all the ingredients are in the casserole, ladle the hot water over the ingredients just to cover. Place in the oven, leaving the lid askew. Bake for 60 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Spoon into soup bowls and sprinkle generously with chopped parsley. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve with warm Irish soda bread. Brown Irish Soda Bread (serves 6-8) Ingredients: 2 1\4 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour, 1\4 cup more reserved 1\2 cup quick cook rolled oats 1\4 cup wheat germ 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. kosher salt 4 Tbls. Unsalted butter 1 1\2 cups plain, low fat yogurt Procedure: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a heavy baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper on the center rack. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, rolled oats, wheat germ, baking soda and salt. Whisk together until even distributed. Measure 1 1\2 cups of yogurt and set aside. Using one hand, mix the 4 tablespoons of room temperature unsalted butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is well incorporated. Scoop the yogurt out of the measuring cup with your mixing hand and mix it into the batter, which is very sticky. Once all the ingredients have been mixed together, knead the dough with your mixing hand while adding a sprinkling from the 1\4 cup of reserved flour. Knead for at least three minutes or until the stickiness disappears from the dough. Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface, shape into a ball, using a knife cut an “X” into the ball and place on the heated baking sheet. Bake for about 35 minutes or until golden brown and hollow to the knock. Serve with room temperature unsalted butter.