Dublin Coddle - Ethnic Foods R Us

Dublin Coddle got its name after the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland, and also the manner in which it is prepared, a sort of “coddling” the ingredients into a tasty meal, done so in an oven with water that cooks the dish in mildly boiling water.

(Photo Attributed to Author Coddle head at English Wikipedia)

Dublin Coddle Recipe-

Ingredients:

(serves 4 to 6)

4-1/2 lb. (2 kg) russet potatoes
2 large onions, peeled and thick sliced
16 oz. (450 grams) bangers (Irish pork sausages)
16 oz. (450 grams) rashers (Irish bacon, quite fatty)
17 oz. (500 ml) fresh water
1 ham stock cube
4 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
salt, to taste
Fresh coarsely ground black peppercorns, to taste
Dark beer (Guinness goes great with this, as an ingredient and also as a dinner drink with Coddle)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F (150 C).
Peel the potatoes and, if they are very large quarter them, if medium sized, halve them, if small, leave whole.
Chop the parsley and set aside.
Bring the water to a boil, and dissolve the ham stock cube in it, then reduce to a simmer while you prepare the rest of your coddle.
Broil the bangers and rashers until they are well browned, but don’t overcook, or they will become dry. Place them on paper towels and pat dry of excess oils with another paper towel.
Once dried of oils, chop the rashers into ¼” to ½” thick slices. Some people also prefer to chop the sausages into large chunks—that’s up to you.
In a large, ovenproof cooking pot (with a tightly fitting lid) begin layering in the ingredients: onions, rasher slices, bangers or banger chunks, and potatoes. Season each layer with a generous amount of freshly ground pepper, salt, and chopped fresh parsley.
Repeat this layering and seasoning process until all the ingredients are used up.
Now pour the bouillon seasoned water over the top of everything, place the pot on stove, and bring the liquid to a vigorous boil.
As soon as a good boil is attained, immediately turn the heat down to where your coddle is just at a lively simmer, and put the lid on the pot. If your lid is not a very tight fit, place a layer of tin or aluminum foil over the top of the pot, and then put the lid on.
Place the pot in the oven in the middle rack position (or lower, depending on the size of your pot) and cook for at least three hours—four hour is better, and even five is not too long. Check the pot now and then during the cooking time—you want there to be about an inch of liquid at the bottom of the pot throughout the cooking time. Add some water if and when needed.
During the last hour of cooking, check the liquid level and, if some is needed, add some dark beer. Some coddle cooks like to do this even earlier in the cooking time—me included!
Serve Dublin Coddle with dark beer, Guinness is a traditional favorite of the Irish, and another great accompaniment is some thick slices of freshly baked, still warm, homemade Irish Brown Bread, to sop up the yummy gravy.