Irish Bacon Recipes

Steps:

• Pat bacon dry and cook in 2 batches in oil (1 tablespoon per batch) in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, turning over once, until browned, about 4 minutes per batch (use caution; oil will splatter). Transfer with tongs to a paper-towel-lined platter and keep warm, loosely covered with foil.
• *Available at some butcher shops and Schaller & Weber (212-879-3047; schallerweber.com).

Steps:

• 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.

Steps:

• Cook bacon in a deep skillet over medium heat until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove bacon from skillet and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Reserve 1/4 cup drippings in skillet.
• Cook and stir cabbage in hot bacon drippings over medium heat until cabbage wilts, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Crumble bacon over cabbage. Stir and simmer until bacon is warmed, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with black pepper.

Steps:

• Place bacon in a large pot and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. If bacon is very salty, a white froth will form on surface of water. In this case, discard water and start again. Repeat process until no froth forms on surface of water; drain.
• Cover bacon with hot water. Cover pot and simmer until almost cooked through, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, slice cabbage across the grain into thin shreds; rinse with cold water if necessary. Add the cabbage to pot with bacon and continue cooking 20 minutes more.
• Remove bacon from pot; strain cabbage and transfer to a large bowl or serving platter. Add butter and season with pepper; toss to combine. Serve bacon and cabbage with parsley sauce and potatoes.

Steps:

• Peel the potatoes. Cut large ones into three or four pieces: leave smaller ones whole. Finely chop the parsley. Boil the water and in it dissolve the bouillon cube.
• Grill or broil the sausages and bacon long enough to colour them. Be careful not to dry them out! Drain briefly on paper towels. When drained, chop the bacon into one-inch pieces. If you like, chop the sausages into large pieces as well. (Some people prefer to leave them whole.).
• Preheat the oven to 300F / 150°C In a large flameproof heavy pot with a tight lid, start layering the ingredients: onions, bacon, sausages or sausage pieces, potatoes. Season each layer liberally with fresh-ground pepper and the chopped fresh parsley. Continue until the ingredients are used up. Pour the bouillon mixture over the top. On the stove, bring the liquid to a boil. Immediately turn the heat down and cover the pot. (You may like to additionally put a layer of foil underneath the pot lid to help seal it.).
• Put the covered pot in the oven and cook for at least three hours. (Four or five hours won't hurt it.) At the two-hour point, check the pot and add more water if necessary. There should be about an inch of liquid at the bottom of the pot at all times.
• To Serve. Guinness, bottled or draft, goes extremely well with this dish (indeed, adding a little to the pot toward the end of the process wouldn't hurt anything). Another good accompaniment is fresh soda bread, used to mop up the gravy!