Liver and bacon casserole...

I'm a HUGE fan of liver - especially lamb's liver. It has very delicate and slightly "herby" taste to it. It's not very popular in Poland, as lamb is not the most popular meat (mainly because of the high price) but fortunately in Ireland it's widely available and not so expensive.

Word of advice - find a good butcher, a really good one! I normally do all my "meat shopping" in the same place, but my butcher's shop is not in town and on this occasion it wasn't on my way at all. Thinking - all butcher shops should be the same and a liver is just a liver, I bought it somewhere else... Well, won't do my shopping there again! It wasn't "cleaned" and I feel cheated - if you've ever seen a liver, you know that besides cutting it into slices it should be trimmed - it was not! I've spent good 10 minutes trimming my liver and surprise, surprise - after that "operation" I had to discard a bit. I know that profit margins might not be the biggest and that there's some work involved in it but... Qualified butcher would do what I have done in half the time! Yes, it would be "lighter" on the scales and they would make less money because of it, but... they wouldn't lose a client! So find a good butcher and stick to him/her! Even if you have to pay that little bit more - it will pay off in the long run, trust me.

Back to my dish - I know that title says "casserole" and you can't(!) cook liver for too long, as it will get really tough and not nice at all, but the way this dish is cooked guarantees you soft, delicate liver full of flavor!

The above dish is based on a recipe from "The Spanish, Middle Eastern & African cookbook" by P.Aris.

How to make it...

Black pudding Spanish way...

Ireland meets Spain - on the plate anyway. This little dish, with hardly any cooking at all, is great idea for a little starter. I believe that every country in the world has its own version of black pudding, every version little different - depending on the ingredients, herbs available at hand. Only in Poland I know that there are at least 2 different version of black pudding, depending on the region you live in, so I can only imagine all those different versions around the world.

Intrigued by that I've done a little bit of online research and... Some black puddings out there sound fantastic! I only wish I could try them all... Some of the more interesting are:

Taiwan - pig's blood cake made of pork blood and sticky rice is served on a popsicle stick;

Vietnam - blood sausage, boiled or fried, made with pork blood, pork fat, basil;

Spain - morcilla de Burgos which contains mainly pork blood and fat, rice, onions, and salt. Other varieties introduce breadcrumbs, pine nuts, and almonds.

Iceland - made from lamb's blood and suet, rye flour and oats, traditionally stuffed into pouches sewn from the lamb's stomach;

Chile - may contain a variety of ingredients, such as chopped onion and spices, cabbage, peppers, watercress, rice, meat or even dried fruit or nuts.

"Black pudding, blood pudding or blood sausage is a type of sausage made by cooking blood or dried blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled. The dish exists in various cultures from Asia to Europe and the Americas. Pig, cattle, sheep, duck, and goat blood can be used depending on different countries. In Europe and the Americas, typical fillers include meat, fat, suet, bread, cornmeal, sweet potato, onion, chestnuts, barley, and oatmeal. In Spain, Portugal and Asia, potato is often replaced by rice." - by wikipedia.org

How to make it..

Ragu: Meat sauce, Bolognese style... based on recipe by Marcella Hazan.

Spaghetti is one of the most favourite dishes in my house. I always want to freeze a portion, so I can have it as a quick dinner during the weak, when I get back from work but... there's usually nothing left to freeze... This recipe intrigued me from the very beginning as I've never made my spaghetti sauce with milk. I must admit - I was missing something really good. The meat is only sauteed, not browned and the milk makes it extra soft and delicate. Long, slow cooking creates creamy, thick and slightly sweet tasting sauce. A great recipe, easy to make - you just have to leave it bubbling away so the time can do its wonders!

This recipe comes from a fantastic cook book "The Irish beef book" and was inspired/based on Marcella Hazan's famous ragu recipe.

How to make it...

"The Irish Beef Book" by Pat Whelan & Katy McGuinness (book review)...

"The Irish Beef Book"

by Pat Whelan & Katy McGuinness

Hardback (256 pages)

Chapters: Introduction; Steaks; Roasts; The Classics; Quick; Long & Slow; Burgers, brisket, meatballs & dude food; Pasta & Pizza; Pies; The other bits. 

"Many supermarkets now offer little choice beyond steak and mince, and I think that over the past few decades the knowledge of what to do with the less familiar cuts has been lost. That's one of the reasons I wanted to write this book, to share the recipes and tips I have accumulated over the years, so that everyone can learn to enjoy the rich diversity of wonderful meals that can be prepared using the best of Irish beef." - Pat Whelan

I think there are no better words to start this review, to describe purpose and character of this great cook book, than Pat's original words. I think it was a long overdue, that Ireland finally had a cook book almost entirely about one of its greatest food products - beef. I just couldn't wait to lay my hands on it and start flipping through the pages. Pat and Katy share values that are close to my heart too - respect for tradition, skills (which are unfortunately being forgotten in today's world) and respect for the animal itself.

Introduction is quite long (in comparison to other cook books) but there's a reason for it. Pat explains/describes his passion for Irish beef, for good quality meat and tells us a little bit about his background and family business - a butcher shop. It's a very interesting introduction to the recipes which are to follow and he also teaches us about basics when it comes to choosing your beef - as well as good quality butcher.
Selection of the recipes in the book will give you ideas and  help you to deal with not so popular cuts like: shin (which I think is overlooked way too often!), oxtail, beef cheeks, liver etc. But you'll also find many recipes for so popular steak. Recipes are easy to follow, clear and use ingredients that you will find around your house (lots of vegetables like carrots, parsnip, potatoes; also pasta and many herbs to name few). You can easily half or double the amounts given and trust me - you would want to do the latter and make use of your freezer! You'll find recipes for light lunch, Sunday family dinner, a weekly quick supper, a friend's get together and many more.

All in all - a fantastic collection of "all beef" recipes (not only those of Pat & Katy's), a reference to which I'll be going back again and again, a must have if you're a "carnivore" ;) and would like to eat/use more of a beef than steak alone (and it has so much more to it!) also a fantastic idea for a present!

The only thing that I wasn't very fond of in the book are... photos. Way too dark for me and I think they weren't doing any justice to the dishes. But I guess it's a personal thing, a matter of opinions.


Some of the recipes I've already tried:

Braised steak stew

 Quick buttermilk cornbread

Ragu sauce, spaghetti bolognese









About the authors:
Pat Whelan is the fifth generation of his family to be involved in farming and meat production and has established a reputation as the foremost butcher in Ireland, recognised as an Irish Food Hero by Rick Stein. From his farm at Garrintemple, Pat supplies all the beef and lamb to his family business, James Whelan Butchers, with shops in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, Avoca Monkstown, and Avoca Rathcoole, Co. Dublin. Pat was also Ireland’s first online butcher. His rigorous approach to animal husbandry and devotion to exemplary standards and the craft of butchery has earned him numerous accolades. As chair of the Tipperary Food Producers, Pat is a key member of the flourishing Irish artisan food community. Pat lives in Clonmel with his wife and three children. Pat is the author of An Irish Butcher Shop.

Pat & Katy (photo by independent.ie)

Katy McGuinness is a restaurant critic and food writer. Her work has been published in the Irish Times, The Irish Independent, The Sunday Tribune, Image and Image Interiors. She is a contributing editor at The Gloss and writes regular food features for The Sunday Times. Katy is a member of the Irish Food Writers Guild. - by gillmacmillanbooks.ie


I received a free copy of this book to review from Gill & Macmillan Books. All thoughts and opinions stated in this post are 100% mine.