Irish Pizza

I might have mentioned that my friend Marcia and I tried to eat lunch in every available restaurant in Skibbereen (that’s Ireland, in case you don’t know) during our recent trip. We came close, but I guess we saved a few for another trip. One of those stops was the café at the Drinagh Co-op.

The cafe in Skibbereen

My cottage lies within the village of Drinagh, north-east of Skibbereen. It’s tiny, with one main street and a population of about six hundred as of the last census. According to Wikipedia, it has “a tennis court, post office, two churches, one primary school, two pubs, two grocery stores, a gym, a hardware store, and a creamery” (funny thing—Wikipedia did not mention the funeral home or the one-person police station). Recent update: the post office (about 100 square feet) will be closing this month. And one of the grocery stores, the hardware store and the creamery are part of the Drinagh Co-op.

The Co-op was founded in 1923 by a local curate and some local farmers, and is now one of the largest independent cooperatives in Ireland. It has ten branch offices throughout West Cork and employs almost 200 people. It produces milk products, supplies food for livestock, as well as home and gardening products and building and farming goods—and appliances. I love the place: so far I have bought a stove, stovetop, washer and dryer at the massive appliance store and a waterproof jacket for milking cows (okay, I don’t have any cows, but the jacket is very waterproof, which is useful).

All this may make the village sound industrial, but there’s still only one main street, and it’s very peaceful—even though they collect milk from local farmers in large shiny tanker trucks. 

Yes, that's a milk truck. 

But I digress. Back to the pizza!

The café in Skibbereen is small and fun—when I was last there, it was school opening week, so there were lots of families with children wearing school uniforms, as well as teens and twenty-somethings and older women having lunch together in the middle of the week. You point at the food you want behind a counter, and a server heats it up (if need be) and delivers it to your table. I pointed at something that looked tasty but which I couldn’t identify, and the server said, “you want the pizza?” Guess what: it didn’t look like any pizza I had ever seen. But it tasted good, and I decided to try making my own. Basically it’s a typical pizza crust (though this one was oval), with tomatoes, cheese, bits of ham, and . . . sliced bangers!

This was the original version

Irish Pizza

Ingredients:

pizza crust (all right, I cheated and bought some ready-made pizza dough at my market, and split it in two pieces)
chopped canned tomatoes (slightly chunky is good—not too soggy)
grated cheese (while the Drinagh original used cheddar (I think) I opted for Gubbeen, a locally-made semi-soft and flavorful cheese that I love)
a couple of slices of cooked ham (the sandwich variety, not too thick. In this version the ham was cut into squares about 1 inch a side)
two or three bangers, sliced into half-inch rounds

Instructions:

Grease a baking sheet well or line it with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.

Dust your surface with flour and roll out your dough into elongated ovals about 8-10 inches long and six inches wide. (Note: this dough was really elastic, and kept wanting to shrink, so the result was thicker than I hoped. But it tasted fine!)

Coarsely grate your cheese and slice up your ham and bangers.

Assembling the pizzas:

--spread a thin layer of the tomatoes on each crust (do not overlap the edges)
--lay your pieces of ham over the tomatoes
--sprinkle the grated cheese over the top
--distribute the banger pieces over the whole

Bake in the middle of the preheated oven until the edges of the crust are golden and the cheese has melted (about 25 minutes). Cool for a few minutes on a rack. It’s best eaten warm, but it keeps well (and reheats well) if you can’t finish your piece.

I was one of those kids who hated anything spicy or unfamiliar, so I’m guessing this would be a hit with the children I saw in the café. If you’re a person who likes a spicier pizza, sprinkle with red pepper flakes or something. 

Can you wait? The Lost Traveller, coming in January 2019.

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Bangers and Mash

I’ve got deadlines circling around my head like planes coming in for a landing at a crowded airport, and my thoughts of cooking lean toward “what do I have in the fridge?” and “what is quick and easy?” Plus we’re limping through another heat wave, which further discourages complicated cooking.

One of the ingredients I know I have is Irish bangers. Huh? Bangers are sausage that seem to contain more bread product (which can vary) than meat, but I am ridiculously fond of them. They’re hard to find—only one local market seems to carry them, and then only frozen—so when I find any I usually buy a couple of packages.

Ingredients list

But for the Irish and English and even a few Australians, they are simply comfort food: sausages and mashed potatoes, usually accompanied by onion gravy.

Note: there are lots of recipes online, which range from simple to ridiculous. Gordon Ramsey has one, as does Ina Garten. Some people add herbs, or even cabbage. Me, I opted for simple and traditional. 

BTW, one source I read claimed that the term “bangers” originated because the sausages used to burst (or go “bang!”) when they were cooking, because of the dried bread mixed with the meat. Who really knows?


Bangers and Mash

Ingredients:

1 pound potatoes (the floury ones, not the waxy ones—you want a soft mash), peeled and cubed (another note: all the good healthy stuff is in the peel—you won’t mind if I leave it on the potatoes, will you?)

4 links of pork sausage (bangers—each serving takes two)

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1 tsp dry mustard powder
salt and pepper to taste

Gravy:

2 medium onions, sliced
3 Tblsp butter
3 Tblsp flour
2 cups beef broth

Instructions:

Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer, and cook about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.

Drain the potatoes and put them back in the saucepan. Add 3 Tblsp butter and 1/3 cup milk and mash (if they’re too stiff, add more milk). Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.

Heat 3 Tblsp butter in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted, add the sliced onions and cook, stirring often, until the onions are browned (about 15 minutes). 

Flour added

Sprinkle the cooked onions with the flour and mix until the flour is evenly distributed. Stirring constantly, pour the beef stock over the onion mixture. Bring to a simmer (still stirring!) over high heat, then lower to medium and cook until thickened (about 6 minutes). Taste and add salt and pepper if desired.

Finished gravy

Heat a thin layer of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Turn down the heat to medium-low, Place the bangers in the skillet and brown on one side (about 5 minutes), then turn them over and cover the pan. Cook another 5-6 minutes.

Place a pile of mash on each plate. Place two bangers on each pile of mash, then top with the onion gravy. 

Serve with brown ale and strong mustard.

This is a very forgiving recipe. Use whatever sausage links you have on hand. Slice or dice your onions. Swap chicken stock for beef stock. Add some red wine to the gravy if you’re in the mood.

It ain't exactly gourmet, but it sure tasted good! Enjoy!

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