Irish Parsley Sauce Recipes

TRADITIONAL IRISH BACON, CABBAGE, AND PARSLEY SAUCE

Steps:

• Place bacon in a large pot and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. If bacon is very salty, a white froth will form on surface of water. In this case, discard water and start again. Repeat process until no froth forms on surface of water; drain.
• Cover bacon with hot water. Cover pot and simmer until almost cooked through, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, slice cabbage across the grain into thin shreds; rinse with cold water if necessary. Add the cabbage to pot with bacon and continue cooking 20 minutes more.
• Remove bacon from pot; strain cabbage and transfer to a large bowl or serving platter. Add butter and season with pepper; toss to combine. Serve bacon and cabbage with parsley sauce and potatoes.

PARSLEY SAUCE

Steps:

• Place milk, parsley stems, carrot, and onion in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and season with salt and pepper; let simmer for 4 to 5 minutes.
• Remove saucepan from heat and strain; discard solids. Return milk to saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Whisk in roux until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon; season with salt and pepper. Add chopped parsley and reduce heat to very low; simmer for 4 to 5 minutes.

TRADITIONAL ENGLISH PARSLEY SAUCE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
• Stir in the flour and mustard (if using).
• Stir thoroughly to form a thick paste.
• Cook gently for 2 to 3 minutes more, watching the heat to ensure the paste does not burn. This will cook off the taste of raw flour in the finished sauce.
• Gradually whisk in the milk.
• Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, frequently whisking to make sure there are no lumps. The sauce should be quite thick but still pouring consistency. If too thick, add a little more milk.
• Add the fresh parsley and stir well.
• Season with a good pinch of sea salt and a few black pepper grinds. Taste and add more as needed.
• Keep the sauce warm, on low heat, until needed. If keeping sauce warm for more than 15 minutes, laying a piece of buttered parchment paper on the surface will prevent a skin from forming. If a slight skin does form, whisk thoroughly over heat, and it should disappear.
• Serve and enjoy.

COLCANNON FILLED CABBAGE PURSES WITH IRISH PARSLEY SAUCE RECIPE

Steps:

• Carefully remove leaves from a large head of cabbage. Remove stems and thick veins gently with an extremely sharp pairing knife to avoid tearing.
• Trim the greens from one bunch of scallions. Reserve the white ends for later use.
• Blanch cabbage leaves and scallion greens in boiling salted water for approximately 5 minutes or until leaves are pliable and greens are wilted. Transfer gently to a large bowl filled with water and ice. This will shock the greens and allow them to retain their color.
• If desired, place 1/2 cup of the blanching water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low and simmer until reduced by 1/2 to make a knock-off cabbage stock for the parsley sauce.
• place a tablespoon of colcannon in the center of the leaf and fold edges up to form a purse. Tie with blanched scallion greens and place gently in a steamer basket.
• When all leaves have been formed, place steamer over simmering water and steam pursed for 10-12 minutes or until filling is heated through.
• (Alternate cooking method: Place purses in a shallow oven proof dish with 1/4 inch of vegetable or cabbage stock and bake, loosely covered with foil at 350°F for approximately 8 minutes.)
• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir together to form a loose roux. Stir continuously for 1 to 2 minutes, until flour smells just slightly nutty but has not browned. (A white roux) Add stock gradually, stirring constantly. Once fully incorporated, add milk. Bring to a low boil and stir constantly for approximately 3 minutes or until sauce coats the back of a spoon.
• Stir in parsley and add salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve immediately.
• Spoon a good bit of parsley sauce onto the center of a serving dish or bowl. Arrange purses in sauce. Drizzle a tiny bit of sauce over purses.
• Serve immediately.
• When eating this dish, take a piece of the purse and cover in a good nit of the sauce. Each component of this dish is a bit bland on its own, but when the flavors are combined, it's phenomenal.

IRISH PARSLEY SAUCE

Steps:

• Gently melt the butter in a saucepan (non-stick is easier). Don't let it sizzle.
• Add the flour, salt, and white pepper (black pepper at a push, but you'll be able to see black specks in the sauce).
• Stir, over gentle heat, with a wooden spoon for a few minutes to let the flour cook and to amalgamate everything. If you don't cook it long enough at this stage, the sauce will taste floury.
• Add a little milk to the flour and butter mix (you have now made a roux) and stir again. When it is amalgamated, add a little more milk and mix again. Add more milk, little by little, until you have a thickish creamy sauce. Cook the sauce for 5 minutes over gentle heat, stirring to stop it sticking. If you get lumps, press them with the wooden spoon against the side of the pan to mash them. If you need to, use a whisk, but be careful not to scratch a non-stick pan. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
• For a richer sauce, add a little hot sauce to a raw egg yolk in a cup, mix well, then reintroduce into the main sauce.
• Add the parsley, stir and serve immediately.