Guinness stew and corned beef and cabbage will work just fine for St. Patrick’s Day, but these well-worn options only just skim the wide array of classic Irish comfort meals. Truth is, even a leprechaun might confess that boiled vegetables and corned beef is only on his plate for the holiday. This year, kick up your St. Patrick’s Day menu and try a Dublin coddle. The stew-like dish is the ultimate in comfort food and made with beloved bangers (sausages) and rashers (bacon).
“Dublin coddle is a traditional Irish dish which is intended to use up leftovers. The result is a warm, comforting stew,” said Liz Bartlow Breslin. She and her husband Patrick own The Celtic Knot Public House in Evanston.
On one of their trips to visit Patrick’s hometown in County Down in Ireland, they brought back an Irish recipe book as a souvenir for chef and kitchen manager, Carlos Perez. “As a gift and thank you for his hard work,” Liz said. “He looked through it and found a recipe for the coddle, something we had never tried on our menu. Delicious! Carlos says that he likes to cook traditional dishes for our Irish guests who are away from home, to bring them a little of that comfort.”
To make the Dublin coddle, Perez sautés chopped onions, thyme, bay leaf and ground black pepper with bacon and sausages until tender. He places everything in a pot with water, carrots and potatoes. Then, he slowly cooks everything in the oven at 275 to 300 degrees for two hours, stirring occasionally. He adds a little salt and pepper before serving it — with a satisfying slice of warm homemade Irish brown bread. “That’s it! Pretty simple,” Liz Breslin said.
While the Dublin coddle is always on the menu at The Celtic Knot Public House, it is only available for a short time at the Harp and Fiddle in Park Ridge. Owner Declan Stapleton said the coddle will be a featured menu item for the month of March. It’s a recipe of his mother’s, slightly tweaked for more color and flavor.
“It has a fresh comfort food feel to it and this coddle warms the cockles of your heart with a nice kick added from the inclusion of Wisconsin charred bratwurst,” he said. “We found adding some more vegetables (like brussels sprouts and red peppers) and a little bit of heat improved the visual appeal and in winter people enjoy a tad spicier dish. It also distinguishes it from other comfort dishes we feature such as Guinness stew and shepherd’s pie.”
Creative variations on the classic coddle won’t work for everyone. Chef Marcus Mooney with Tommy Nevin’s Pub in Evanston, where Dublin coddle is on the menu in March, suggested trying out different ingredients until you find the perfect combination. That’s what’s so nice about the flexibility of the coddle. It’s a backdrop for bringing in an array of favorites. Mooney works from his grandmother’s recipe. “Trial and error is always a great way to learn to cook an item,” he said. “Where most ingredients work well together some items just do not work and can overwhelm the dish.”
Mooney, who grew up watching his grandma make coddles, said they were typically end-of-week fare that expedited the use of leftovers from the meals of the week. “Traditionally, a coddle would always have sausage, rashers, stock and hearty root vegetables in it which resulted in a wonderful aroma resembling that of a chicken soup. Because they were a hodgepodge of items that stewed the ingredients were very flavorful and tender,” he said.
Dublin Coddle
1 cup onions, diced
1/4 tablespoon thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, ground
1/2 pound Irish bacon (rashers)
1/2 pound Irish pork sausages (bangers), thick-cut
4 1/2 cups water
1 cup carrots, diced
11/2 cup red potatoes, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
