I may not have students to cook for yet in Oklahoma, but I still have Hubby. We’ve made a pact to eat lunch together every Friday so I’m bringing back my Friday international lunch. This week I was cooking Irish. First I researched some Irish dishes and while doing so learned some interesting facts about traditional Irish cooking such as:

• Traditional Irish recipes are simple. Because of a less affluent past as a country, most traditional dishes require few ingredients to keep the cost down.
• Adding whiskey to a dish does not make it traditionally Irish. My guess is that if a dish is made with whiskey it is probably an American’s doing.
• The traditional Irish cook does not let any of the pig go to waste. Tripe (pig’s stomach) and crubeens (pig’s feet) are commonly used in traditional Irish dishes.
• One food has stayed a staple in Irish cooking for as long as they’ve been cooking – the potato.

On Friday, I decided to make an Irish dessert called Apple Amber a traditional sweet made from one of the few fruits that can survive the Irish climate. Unfortunately, my attempt at meringue was not too successful yesterday but I blame that on the lack of a mixer in my executive apartment. (Don’t worry, I’m going to buy one this weekend so I can try again.) However, the pie was pretty tasty and worth another go.

You can try your hand at Apple Amber by using this recipe on European Cuisine. If you’ve never made meringue before, I also highly suggest reading this tutorial by What’s Cooking America (super informative).

Ingredients for this pie are simple: 1 lbs apples, pie crust, eggs, lemon, and sugar

You have to grate the apples, a first for me, but kind of fun.

Ignore my miserable meringue but the pie was still pretty tasty!