Background

If you need the back-story please see my first post. But to catch you up quickly, I’m cooking my way around the world through a global food trip.

Last post we kicked off with our first destination, Dublin, Ireland and this is dish number two on the visit. For the first dish of the trip, I was talking about barmbrack, but I also wanted to do something a bit more substantial than a bread. Stews with meat and potatoes are a pretty commonly mentioned item in best-of lists for Ireland. A few lists mentioned coddle and I hadn’t heard of it before, but it showed up several times, so it seemed like a no-brainer to try.

Dublin Coddle

Coddle is basically a one pot stew. There are a lot of stews and one pot creations designed for the crock pot, but Coddle is a dutch oven dish. There are a few things about it that make it uniquely Irish but I could easily see this as an Americanized crock pot meal as well. Here’s the list of ingredients that are designed to cook the Irish way. 

1 lb of bangers
1 lb of rashers (Irish bacon)
8 medium Russet potatoes
2 white onions
32 oz ham stock
4 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Ground pepper, a lot if you like it, or light to season
Salt, only if your bacon or broth isn't salty
Notes
  • This time I got a lot of inspiration and guidance from Irish American Mom, but I also referenced Genius Kitchen and House of Nash Eats
  • This dish is all about good meats. You need two things Irish bangers and rashers, or Irish bacon.
  • Irish bangers are a very specific kind of beef/pork sausage with a rusk filling…basically twice-baked breadcrumbs.
    • The slang “bangers” refers to the they way they burst open when they are cooked.
    • You can’t find them everywhere, but there is a great Irish market in Tinley Park called Winston’s Market that has them and they are quite good.
    • Don’t overcook them in the pot or they get mushy!
  • Irish bacon is its own thing too.
    • American bacon=belly, Canadian bacon=loin, Irish bacon=back.
    • American bacon is cured and smoked, Irish bacon is brined.
    • Also, it is not super easy to find, I again recommend Winston’s Market.
    • You want fat…fat is good!
  • Ham stock. This stuff is magic! I’ve had beef, chicken, vegetable, etc. but never ham. Get it! I found LB Jamison’s ham soup base at Meijer.
  • I kinda guessed on pan sizes and it was almost too much for my dutch oven. Have a big one on hand or halve the recipe.
Process
  • Cut:
    • Rashers into 1 in strips
    • Onions into 1/2 in rings
    • Potatoes into chunks
  • Brown bangers in butter
  • Layer:
    • In order, onions, rashers, bangers, potatoes, salt/pepper, parsley
    • Repeat to make 2 layers
  • Pour in the broth
  • Heat to boil
  • Lower heat to simmer, covered for 2-3 hours or until potatoes are soft
Dublin Coddle

One thing that is pretty obvious from the photo above, this is not a pretty dish. The browned sausages and parsley improve the appearance a little bit, but honestly, looks don’t really matter. Once you start to eat it, you won’t really care what it looks like. The browned banger sausages have a unique flavor that is much milder than Italian, Polish or sage sausage. The rashers cook down and the fat renders into the ham broth. The potatoes and onions soak up all that flavor as it simmers away. Serve it in a bowl with the broth, like a stew, or just eat the meat and potatoes. Either way, it’s great. Leftovers are pretty amazing too and it seems to maybe get even a bit better for round two…and three if you make as big of a batch as I did.

Adjustments

So, if I am making this again, what would I do differently? A bit smaller size for sure, I barely got everything in the pot and the lid on. Fresh parsley…I actually used dried and I’m sure it would have tasted better fresh, and it would have been a bit more pretty to look at. I think I cooked it too long. The bangers get a bit mushy if they cook too long, and I think that is something that you need to monitor. I’d say cook until the potatoes are soft, and not longer.

So, what’s next? There is a lot more to do in Ireland, but I’m headed to England next. Yes, that is still the UK, but there is a lot of different stuff to try across the UK, so we’ll be making several stops before we stray too far.