Serves 4
Irish residents used to make Dublin Coddle with whatever meat was in the fridge. It's meant to be a catch-all dinner of lamb, beef, or pork with potatoes and onions. It has evolved into a dish of sausages, bacon (Irish bacon is meaty and less smoked than ours), potatoes, onions, and carrots. Everything is layered in a dish and sent into a low oven for hours. In this stewy version, the bacon is browned first to release the fat. You can also use Canadian bacon with a little oil in the pan because it's so lean. Pork sausages brown in the bacon fat, then you pour most of the fat off before cooking onions. Whisk a little flour into the onions to absorb that remaining fat. Add chicken stock to make a light sauce, then tuck potatoes and carrots into the pan. Let it bake for 50 minutes, then turn up the oven heat and brown the top for 10 minutes. The dish seems like it might be heavy, but it isn't. Lovely aromas in the kitchen afterwards.
| 4 | thick slices of bacon, halved |
| 4 | large sweet pork sausages, left whole and pricked well over all |
| 2 | medium onions, thinly sliced |
| Salt and pepper, to taste | |
| 1 | tablespoon flour |
| 4 | cups chicken stock |
| 4 | medium Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn potatoes, cut into 2-inch chunks |
| 4 | medium carrots, cut into 2-inch lengths (thick ends halved lengthwise) |
| 1 | bay leaf |
| ¼ | cup chopped fresh parsley |
1. Set the oven at 375 degrees. Line 2 plates with paper towels.
2. In a large flameproof casserole or Dutch oven over medium heat, render the bacon, turning often, until it is golden brown and crisp. Transfer to one of the plates.
3. Add the sausages to the pan and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Transfer to the other plate.
4. Remove the pan from the heat. Tip the pan to one side and spoon off all but 2 tablespoons bacon fat from the pan (use another time to fry eggs). Return the pan to medium heat. Add the onions with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for 8 minutes, or until they start to brown.
5. Stir the flour into the onions and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Pour in the stock gradually, stirring constantly, to prevent lumps from forming. Turn the heat to high. Let the mixture come to a boil, stirring.
6. Add the potatoes, carrots, bay leaf, and bacon to the pan. Set the sausages on top. Let the mixture return to a boil.
7. Cover the pan and transfer to the oven. Bake for 50 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender, and a meat thermometer inserted into the sausages registers 160 degrees.
8. Turn the oven temperature up to 450 degrees.
9. Uncover the pan. Return the pan to the oven. Continue cooking for 10 minutes, or until the sausages start to brown. (Total baking time is 1 hour.)
10. Taste the cooking juices for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if you like. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the parsley.
Sheryl Julian
Serves 4
Irish residents used to make Dublin Coddle with whatever meat was in the fridge. It's meant to be a catch-all dinner of lamb, beef, or pork with potatoes and onions. It has evolved into a dish of sausages, bacon (Irish bacon is meaty and less smoked than ours), potatoes, onions, and carrots. Everything is layered in a dish and sent into a low oven for hours. In this stewy version, the bacon is browned first to release the fat. You can also use Canadian bacon with a little oil in the pan because it's so lean. Pork sausages brown in the bacon fat, then you pour most of the fat off before cooking onions. Whisk a little flour into the onions to absorb that remaining fat. Add chicken stock to make a light sauce, then tuck potatoes and carrots into the pan. Let it bake for 50 minutes, then turn up the oven heat and brown the top for 10 minutes. The dish seems like it might be heavy, but it isn't. Lovely aromas in the kitchen afterwards.
| 4 | thick slices of bacon, halved |
| 4 | large sweet pork sausages, left whole and pricked well over all |
| 2 | medium onions, thinly sliced |
| Salt and pepper, to taste | |
| 1 | tablespoon flour |
| 4 | cups chicken stock |
| 4 | medium Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn potatoes, cut into 2-inch chunks |
| 4 | medium carrots, cut into 2-inch lengths (thick ends halved lengthwise) |
| 1 | bay leaf |
| ¼ | cup chopped fresh parsley |
1. Set the oven at 375 degrees. Line 2 plates with paper towels.
2. In a large flameproof casserole or Dutch oven over medium heat, render the bacon, turning often, until it is golden brown and crisp. Transfer to one of the plates.
3. Add the sausages to the pan and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Transfer to the other plate.
4. Remove the pan from the heat. Tip the pan to one side and spoon off all but 2 tablespoons bacon fat from the pan (use another time to fry eggs). Return the pan to medium heat. Add the onions with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for 8 minutes, or until they start to brown.
5. Stir the flour into the onions and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Pour in the stock gradually, stirring constantly, to prevent lumps from forming. Turn the heat to high. Let the mixture come to a boil, stirring.
6. Add the potatoes, carrots, bay leaf, and bacon to the pan. Set the sausages on top. Let the mixture return to a boil.
7. Cover the pan and transfer to the oven. Bake for 50 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender, and a meat thermometer inserted into the sausages registers 160 degrees.
8. Turn the oven temperature up to 450 degrees.
9. Uncover the pan. Return the pan to the oven. Continue cooking for 10 minutes, or until the sausages start to brown. (Total baking time is 1 hour.)
10. Taste the cooking juices for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if you like. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the parsley.
Sheryl Julian can be reached at sheryl.julian@globe.com.