BEYOND CORNED BEEF Quality ingredients, tradition combine for elegant flair

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When you mention Irish cooking to most people, they think of corned beef and cabbage or boiled potatoes.

Not Noel Cullen.

The Boston University professor, who recently wrote “Elegant Irish Cooking,” thinks of saffron-scented seafood, creamy blue cheese soup with leeks, honey-braised pork tenderloin, or pan- fried salmon with sorrel, apple and scallion relish.

“I never had corned beef and cabbage in Ireland,” Cullen said during a recent phone interview. “I just think it’s an Irish-American phenomenon.”

Cullen was born in Dublin and worked as a chef in Ireland before coming to the United States in 1986 as part of Johnson & Wales University’s distinguished visiting chefs program. Eleven years ago, he started teaching in Boston University’s hospitality school.

When he came here, he found that there were many misconceptions about Irish food – that it’s bland, uncreative, and all about the boiled dinner.

“Really, it’s a labor of love for me,” Cullen said. “There’s been such bad press about Irish food, generally. People have a stereotypical image of potatoes and all that stuff. I just tried to redress that and it’s something I love doing.”

Cooking has been a love of Cullen’s for “as long as I can remember.”

“I have always had a passion for, and a love of, food and good cooking,” he writes in the introduction to “Elegant Irish Cooking.”

During his apprenticeship at Jury’s Hotel in Dublin and training at Cafe Royal in London, “good cooking” meant one thing: classic French cuisine.

When he returned to Ireland, he took a job as head chef at the Skelligs Hotel in a tiny town called Dingle, where an international cast was filming “Ryan’s Daughter.” Here, he strayed from his training and began to experiment with food.

“Very quickly, I learned not to compete with my guests’ superior repertoire of international culinary experiences, but rather to concentrate on what I could prepare and cook from the local fish, vegetables and produce,” Cullen writes. “This is when and where I believe I learned the nature of good cooking. I also discovered the single most important ingredient in good cooking is the quality of the basic ingredients, and that the less the chef does to it, the better.”

The recipes in “Elegant Irish Cooking” showcase fresh fish, meat and produce, from local seafood to herbs and greens. There are also plenty of “traditional” Irish ingredients – other than potatoes.

“Garlic, honey and many other herbs in Ireland were used since ancient times,” Cullen said.

Cullen peppers the book with history, both in the introduction and alongside the recipes. It’s fascinating, and sometimes surprising, even to someone of Irish descent.

Most everyone knows about the potato famine that devastated Ireland in the 1840s. But most people probably didn’t know that in ancient times, what is considered the “shamrock” actually was watercress. People who ate it supposedly gained the power to see fairies, plus it was known as a female aphrodisiac. Modern shamrock is a type of clover.

“My avocation is history, and a lot of history in Ireland goes back to ancient times,” Cullen said. “The golden age as the Irish know it was a time when the monks were the only people who were educated. They wrote down recipes.”

Over time, Irish cooks honed these recipes until they became the beautiful, elegant cuisine that graces the pages of Cullen’s book.

“Truly Irish cooking is progressive,” Cullen said. “It has progressed enormously in recent years, but it’s been progressing constantly since the Irish-American immigration.”

In Ireland, a healthy economy and a more demanding consumer have pushed that progression even further.

“People now have disposable income to dine in Ireland, and they have become very discerning about their food,” Cullen said.

While researching for “Elegant Irish Cooking,” Cullen drew from the knowledge of his friends and colleagues in Ireland, who are constantly inventing new twists on traditional dishes. Cullen was there to sample many of them.

“I enjoyed every one of them – that and Irish hospitality, which is legendary,” Cullen said. “People want to take very good care of you whether you eat at someone’s house or at a restaurant.”

And that hospitality may be the most important ingredient of all.

Pan-Fried Salmon with Sorrel, Apple, and Scallion Relish

This recipe was developed by chef Colin O’Daly of Roly’s Bistro in Dublin. Of the recipe, Cullen says, “That’s my favorite. I just love salmon.”

Many people regard sorrel only as an herb, but the leaves can be used for salads, soups and sauces, as well as in egg and fish dishes. Sorrel’s high acidity causes it to discolor when it is cooked in iron pots or when it is chopped with a nonstainless steel knife.

4 4-6 ounce salmon fillets, boneless and skinless

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Juice of 1 whole lemon

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

4 tablespoons butter, divided

2 Granny Smith apples, diced small

1 bunch scallions, chopped

1 small bunch sorrel, shredded (about 8 leaves)

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

1 lemon, sliced for garnish

Dry salmon on paper towels and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1-2 tablespoons butter to a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Place the salmon fillets (presentation side down) on the hot skillet. Fry until golden brown, turning at least twice.

In a separate saucepan, gently cook over medium heat in the remaining butter the diced apples and scallions (spring onions), about 2 minutes. Divide among 4 plates.

Place the cooked salmon fillets on top.

Sprinkle shredded sorrel and chopped parsley over the salmon. Garnish with sliced or quartered lemon wedges.

Note: Sorrel is sometimes available at Shaw’s on the Hogan Road in Bangor. If you can’t find sorrel, substitute spinach, spiced with grated nutmeg.

Serves 4.

Mullaghmore Lobster Souffle, Classiebawn

This lobster dish was first prepared by Cullen at Classiebawn Castle in County Sligo. Cullen says this is “fairly easy to prepare, as souffles go.”

3/4 cup unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups boiling milk

8 eggs, separated

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1? pounds cooked lobster flesh

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Lightly butter 2 large souffle molds (7-inch diameter) or 8 individual ramekins.

Over medium heat, melt butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in flour.

When flour and butter become a smooth paste, gradually whisk in boiling milk. Cool slightly.

One at a time, beat the egg yolks, into the milk mixture. Season with salt and nutmeg.

Cut lobster into 1/2-inch cubes. Add to egg mixture.

In a clean copper or stainless steel bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff. Fold gently, in thirds, into the egg mixture.

Pour the souffle mixture into souffle molds. Place into a water bath (water for the bath should be boiling to ensure immediate heat transfer to the souffles). Bake in preheated oven, 85 minutes for the larger souffle molds, 45 minutes for individual ramekins.

Serve immediately.

Note: A classic souffle dish is best, because the straight sides force the expanding souffle upward. Always position the rack in the middle of the oven for baked souffles.

Serves 8.

Cashel Blue Cheese Dressing

2 cups mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons finely diced onion

3 ounces Cashel blue cheese, crumbled (other blue cheese may be substituted)

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients, except blue cheese. Whisk ingredients until smooth (about 3 minutes). Fold in blue cheese.

Note: For a lighter dressing, use light mayonnaise and or light sour cream. This dressing will keep up to three weeks when refrigerated.

Makes 4 cups.

Grilled Guinness-Marinated Sirloin Steaks with Chived Potato and Tomatoes

Guinness is synonymous with great stout. Stout is a strong dark, malty-tasting beer and is Ireland’s most popular drink and a national treasure. The Guinness family began brewing its stout in 1759, on the banks of Dublin’s River Liffey at St. James Brewery, where it has been produced ever since.

For marinade:

11/2 cups Guinness stout

11/2 cups chicken stock

2 sprigs thyme

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon milled peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1/4 pound unsalted butter, cut in 4 pieces

For steaks:

4 10-ounce trimmed sirloin steaks

Ground black pepper, to taste

For chived potato and tomato:

2 large cooked potatoes, peeled and sliced lengthwise

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped chives

4 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cut in chunks

1 teaspoon pepper

To prepare marinade:

Combine all the ingredients except butter in a deep dish. Mix thoroughly. Totally immerse the trimmed steaks in marinade and refrigerate, 8 hours.

Pour the marinade into a saucepan and bring to a boil, skimming off foam that rises to the surface. Reduce marinade by half.

Remove from heat. Strain through a fine mesh strainer.

When slightly cooled, whisk in butter, one piece at a time, until it is totally incorporated in sauce.

To prepare grilled sirloin:

Grill steaks to desired doneness.

To prepare chived potato and tomato:

Rub potatoes with garlic, oil, salt, and freshly milled black peppercorns.

Lay flat on a sheet pan and grill on both sides until golden brown.

Overlap the potatoes into a circle. Place tomato chunks on top of potatoes and sprinkle with chopped chives.

Place grilled chived potato and tomato onto the center of a warmed plate. Lay the sirloin steaks to one side. Pour sauce around the steak.

Serves 4.

Bird Flanagan Potato Pancakes

These pancakes were developed at Dublin’s Gresham Hotel and were featured on the “Bird” Flanagan bar menu. “Bird” Flanagan was a celebrated Dublin character who once rode his horse into the lobby bar of Dublin’s famous Gresham Hotel and requested a drink for the horse.

2 medium potatoes

1 whole egg

4 slices lean Canadian bacon

1 tablespoon finely diced onion

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

2 tablespoons grated cheddar cheese

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Peel and grate raw potato; place in a bowl. Beat egg, and add to the potato.

Slice the raw, lean bacon into thin strips (julienne). Add to the potato along with the diced onion, parsley, pepper and cheddar. Combine thoroughly.

In a crepe pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Pour the mix onto the pan. Cook on both sides until golden brown.

Note: Once the ingredients have been combined for this dish, use immediately. Serve the potato pancakes while crisp.

Serves 4.