Hello John!
Maybe I was dreaming, but didn't you say this on Friday March 07 1997
 JP> I am going to a party very soon for ST. Patricks day.  The host asked
 JP> that everyone bring a traditional Irish dish.  Tough.
 JP> Does anyone have any good ones?
Several. The difficulty I have is deciding what to choose for you. Given the 
importance of the potato in Irish life, I think I'll start with three potato 
dishes. Colcannon, Champ and Boxty. Colcannon is (or can be made) very like
the english Bubble & Squeak, and that's one of the all time greats. So having 
sent these, I'll think about starters. (The first recipe doesn't say it's 
Irish, but there's almost no difference, an Irishman might use leeks instead 
of onions).
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MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.04
      Title: Colcannon -the northern Bubble & Squeak
 Categories: Side dish, Vegetables, British
      Yield: 1 Recipe
      1    Bowlful potatoes; *
      1    Bowlful cabbage; *
      1 lg Onion; sliced or chopped
           Dripping, lard or butter
           Salt, pepper
  NB * cooked, lightly in the case of the cabbage.
  "It is best to make this from freshly cooked vegetables, best of all
  from cabbage and potatoes straight from the garden. J.G."
    Push the potatoes through a mouli-legumes, sieve or ricer. Chop the
  cabbage. Mix the two together thoroughly. Cook the onion in the fat
  in a frying pan - a non-stick one if possible. When it is soft and
  lightly browned, press in the potato and cabbage to form an even
  layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. When it is nicely coloured
  underneath and crusted, cut into pieces - with a wooden spatula if
  you're using a non-stick pan - and turn them over to form a fresh
  layer. Repeat until you have a green and white marbled cake, specked
  with crisp brown bits.
    Turn it onto a heated dish to serve, with lightly fried slices of
  beef if you like. We sometimes have it with sausages. Or have it on
  its own with a bit of butter.
   Note. Brussels sprouts and other forms of cabbage can also be used.
    Recipe "Jane Grigson's Vegetable book"
    MMed IMH c/o Georges' Home BBS 2:323/4.4
MMMMM
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.04
      Title: Champ (Or Poundies) (Irish)
 Categories: Side dish, British, Vegetables
      Yield: 8 servings
      4 lb Potatoes
    1/2 lb Chopped scallions
     10 fl Milk
      4 oz Butter
           Pepper
  Champ is served piled high on the dish, with a well of melted butter
  in the center.  It is eaten with a spoon from the outside, each
  spoonful being dipped in the well of melted butter.
  Peel potatoes and cook in boiling water.  Simmer milk and scallions
  together for five minutes.  Strain potatoes and mash thoroughly.  Add
  hot milk, and the scallions, salt and pepper, and half the butter.
  The traditional implement used for pounding potatoes was a wooden
  masher, pestle-shaped, called a "beetle."  The poem says:
  There was an old woman
  that lived in a lamp;
  she had no room
  to beetle her champ.
  .
  She's up'd with her beetle
  and broke the lamp,
  and now she has room
  to beetle her champ.
  From: Spohara@inetg1 (O'hara Shun Ping
MMMMM
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All the Best
Ian
--- GoldED 2.50+
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