Bacon and Cabbage with boiled New Potatoes

My husband and I lived in Ireland for a year, and while we were there, this was my all time favorite Irish food.



I came to understand that saying that is the cultural equivilant of saying that Macaroni and Cheese is your all time favorite food, but then, I like that too.

By the way, if you like Mac and Cheese and you haven't tried CookBad's Shockingly Good Mac and Cheese, you really need to right now.

This recipe is from Epicurious.com. It was slightly different then the other ones that I saw, because instead of using a side of bacon, it used a pork shoulder that soaks in brine for a day. I have recently found out that I love meat soaked in brine, so I thought I'd give it a try.

1 gallon water
3 cups coarse kosher salt
1 6 1/2-pound bone-in pork shoulder roast (Boston butt), excess fat trimmed
3 large heads of garlic, halved crosswise
1 1/2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
1 large head of green cabbage, cut into 6 wedges
1 pound carrots, peeled, cut crosswise in half, then quartered lengthwise
Fresh thyme sprigs
Spicy mustard


Combine 1 gallon of water and salt in heavy large pot. Stir until salt dissolves. Add pork. Cover and refrigerate 1 day.
Bring pork in salt water to boil. Boil 10 minutes. Carefully drain salt water. Fill pot with enough cold water to cover pork. Bring water to boil over high heat. Add garlic and peppercorns. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover; simmer gently until pork is very tender, about 3 hours. Transfer pork to large pan. Cover; keep warm.
Add cabbage and carrots to cooking liquid. Boil until vegetables are almost tender, about 15 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Before continuing, rewarm over medium-low heat.) Using slotted spoon, transfer vegetables and garlic to serving platter.
Cut pork into thick slices; arrange on platter with vegetables. Spoon some hot cooking liquid over pork and vegetables. Garnish with thyme. Serve with mustard.

We hadthis with a glass of Guiness to make it that much more authentic and it was a perfect way to celebrate St Patrick's Day.

I cannot say enough good things about this recipe. The pork came out so tender that it fell apart while I was cutting it, and the veg were very mildly flavored by the cooking water (mmmm... hot ham water). The potatoes were just boiled and then slathered with butter, salt pepper and parsley.

I don't think I'm going to be able to wait till next St. Patrick's day to have this again.