Monthly Archives:

March 2007

Food & Drink

Agnes McCafferty’s Irish Scones

  •  1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  •  1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 pound dark seedless raisins
  • 1-1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
Heat oven 375 degrees.  Grease a loaf pan with unsalted shortening.

In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Stir in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is the consistency of coarse corn meal.  Stir in raisins.  

Place buttermilk, egg and baking soda in a small bowl and beat together with a fork until blended.  Add egg mixture to dry ingredients, stirring until blended.  Turn out dough onto a floured board, and knead lightly until smooth.  

Place dough in pan and with a sharp knife cut an X one-half inch deep into the top.  Bake 70-75 minutes or until done.  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan.  Cool completely before cutting.
March 13, 2007 by
News

A Moment for Memories

The National Irish Famine Memorial—the imposing bronze tableau at Front and Chestnut—is four years old. For those of us who were there when they unveiled sculptor Glenna Goodacre’s tribute to the victims of An Gorta Mor (The Great Hunger), it seems like they only just lifted the heavy concealing drapes down at a riverside warehouse in Chester to the applause of Delaware Valley Irish-American dignitaries and the skirl of the pipes. Not long thereafter, workmen moved the statue to its current location, once again with great ceremony.

Yet we’ll gather once again Saturday morning to recall the millions who lost their lives to famine in Ireland or were forced to emigrate from their homeland. The commemoration also recognizes the accomplishments and contributions that the Irish have made to Philadelphia, to Pennsylvania and to our nation.

The hour-long ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m.

On hand will be:

Pennsylvania State Representative William F. Keller
Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street
James Donaghy, Deputy Managing Director, City of Philadelphia
CBS TV 3 anchor Larry Mendte
Irish Memorial Board Members
and members of the Irish-American community in Philadelphia, Timmy Kelly, Theresa Flanagan, McDade Irish Dancers.
Philadelphia Emerald Society Pipers, along with McDade Irish Dancers, will open the event. The ceremony will be followed by the annual tradition of planting shamrocks in a ceremonial planter and a wreath-laying at the monument.

The event will follow the Annual 5K Run to benefit the National Irish Memorial Maintenance Fund. Come early and watch the run. (It starts at 8:30 a.m.) Better yet, come out and run. For details, consult the race Web site.

March 13, 2007 by
News

You Saw The Parade … Now Look at the Pictures

Long parade, right?

Long parade, right?

Funny the people you run into at the parade.

Toward the end of the route, standing at curbside along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, we bumped into Smokin’ Joe Frazier’s daughter Jackie.

Why was she at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade? Running for something, of course. But she insisted that there’s a bit of Irish in her.
“Dad always said we were mutts,” she explained.

Hey, one way or another, we all are. (And who are we to argue with Joe Frazier?)

Anyway, we’re just starting to post our photos (and soon, videos) of the parade. Here’s a bunch to start you off, with a promise of more to come.

And maybe you’ll run into someone cool.

March 13, 2007 by
Food & Drink

Brunch Potatoes

By Brian Duffy

  • 4 baked potatoes diced
  • 4 slices Irish bacon
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 2 green onions, sliced thin
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 T chopped parsley
  • 3 T butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Preheat a large sauté pan to medium high heat and add butter, onions, bacon, pepper. Cook for 8 –10 minutes or until bacon is cooked and all items begin to sweat. Add remaining ingredients and season for taste.

Transfer to oven for 10 minutes. Remove and serve.

March 12, 2007 by
Food & Drink

Ulster Fry (A Classic Irish Breakfast)

By Brian Duffy

A classic Fry Includes but is not limited to:

  • 2 Bangers (sausage)
  • 2 Rashers (Irish bacon)
  • Roasted Tomato
  • Heinz Beans
  • 2 Fried Eggs
  • Black & White Puddings
  • Oil or Butter for frying

Variations Can Include:

  • Vegetable Rolls (Ground Sausage with Green Onions)
  • Soda Farl (flat version of Irish soda bread)
  • Potato Farl
  • Mushrooms
  • Wheaten Bread

The key to this is to cook in the proper order:

Fry bangers until cooked through; remove and set aside.

Slice tomato in half and place the cut sides in the pan. Meanwhile, cook the rashers until crispy. Remove and set aside.

Slice the pudding about 3/4” thick and fry on both sides until brown.

Remove the tomato and hold with the rest of the fry.

Add the beans and warm through. Remove and set aside.

Add a little butter with remaining drippings and fry the eggs, basting with the butter.

Transfer all items to a plate and arrange accordingly. Garnish with Aunt Eileen’s Wheaten Bread from The Shanachie or your own recipe.

March 12, 2007 by
Food & Drink

Farmer’s Breakfast Casserole

By Brian Duffy

  • 3 cups frozen shredded hash browns, 24 oz. bag
  • 3/4 cups Monterey jack cheese, shredded
  • 3/4 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1/3 cup mild salsa
  • 1 cup ham, or Canadian-style bacon, diced
  • 1/2 cup green onions, sliced
  • 1/2 cup cabbage, thinly sliced
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 12 oz evaporated milk, canned
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

Make Ahead (day before)

Grease a 2-quart square-baking dish. Spread the potatoes evenly in the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle with cheeses, ham, salsa and green onions. Combine the eggs, milk, pepper, and salt and pour over the potato mixture in dish. Cover and refrigerate. To serve, bake, uncovered at 350°F for 50 to 60 or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Optional: Add extra shredded cheese to the top during the last 15 minutes of baking. Serves 6.

March 12, 2007 by
Food & Drink

Get Your St. Paddy’s Day Started Off Right

By Brian Duffy

After your first trip to Ireland, tell the truth: The sight you talked about the most wasn’t the Cliffs of Moher, Blarney Castle, or the Guinness Factory. It was the breakfast.

The Irish really know how to build a great old-fashioned stick-to-the-ribs (and arteries) morning meal. On your plate you’ll find eggs, bacon, sausage, butter, beans, bread, and even blood pudding—enough food to get you through the day ’til a late supper. About day three of your tour, and you’re asking for the Special K and skim milk.

But, oh, how good it is while you last. This year, as part of The Shanachie’s St. Patrick’s celebration, we’re serving an Irish breakfast, including the three recipes I’m including here. (As our special gift to our patrons, we’re also going totally smoke-free, just like Ireland.) And you don’t have to serve these savory dishes just in the morning.

Our motto: Breakfast—it’s what’s for dinner.

March 12, 2007 by
People

Get Into the Irish Spirit

Once again, our friends have shared some delectable recipes with us to help you celebrate St. Paddy’s Day the right way. 

This year, many of them contain spirits. For example, cookbook author Margaret M. Johnson’s “Gaelic Steak” is dressed with sautéed mushrooms and onions in whiskey sauce. It’s from her latest book, The Irish Spirit: Recipes Inspired by the Legendary Drinks of Ireland (Chronicle Books, 2006) 


We also got non-alcoholic contributions from Bill McLaughlin, president of the Irish American Business Chamber and Network in Philadelphia and Wayne’s Agnes McCafferty, a longtime member of the Mayo Association of Philadelphia. 

Thanks to all!
 

And New Jersey bartender and author Ray Foley’s “Shamrock Cocktail,” one of the more than 300 Irish cocktail recipes from his book, “The Best Irish Drinks” (Sourcebooks Inc., 2006), contains a healthy dose of Bushmills (my grandmother’s favorite Irish whiskey).

March 12, 2007 by