dutch oven dublin coddle

If you haven’t heard of this winter-weather stew, prepare to be amazed. It’s a traditional Irish dish that’s hearty, hardy, and easy. It’s one of my favorite snowy-day meals.

The main ingredients here are potatoes, onions, sausage, bacon, and chicken stock. Purists will say that’s all you need, and while those four things make a perfectly decent stew, we’re not looking for decent. We’re looking for great. So we add some garlic, some seasoning salt and pepper, and a tiny bit of dried thyme. You can skip the parsley if you want, but I love the color it adds.

You peel and chop your potatoes. You pop some bacon in the oven and, while it’s roasting, brown the sausage and cut it into big chunks. Then, you layer everything in your Dutch oven, pour chicken stock over the whole thing, cover, and bake for at least two hours. The broth soaks up all the flavors from the spices and meat, and the potatoes turn soft and pillowy. It’s comfort food at its finest.

This is not a delicate dish, so you could leave it in for three or four hours and it would be fine. It’s hard to ruin. The first time I ever made it, I used a pot on the stovetop and burned it so badly the pot was never the same. And it was still awesome. I left the burned bits on the bottom, but it gave the rest a very, um, authentic smoky flavor. I don’t recommend burning it. I just want to emphasize how little can go wrong here.

A few notes:

Potatoes: don’t chop them too small! I usually take a medium russet potato and cut it into three or four pieces. We want them to be tender, not disintegrating.

Sausage: I use bratwurst, but you can pretty much use any mild sausage. I wouldn’t recommend breakfast sausage, but people have done it.

Cooking method: I’ve made this with a dutch oven, a crock pot, and on the stovetop, and I’ve found that the dutch oven yields the best results. The next best option is a crock pot, but use less liquid (3-4 cups) and cook it on high for about 3 hours. The stovetop is the riskiest. Cook it in a sturdy pot on medium-low heat for at least 2 hours. Add more liquid halfway through. AND STIR, STIR, STIR. Don’t let it burn to the bottom. You will never get that off. Maybe use a pan you hate and want an excuse to get rid of.

Customization: This is so easy to customize. Throw in some chopped carrots or a handful of fresh herbs. Leave the skin on your potatoes if you want an even more rustic look. I’ve heard of people adding a little bit of milk, but don’t do that until the end. (Slow-cooking isn’t great for dairy.) A dash of liquid smoke could be great, too. All the smoky flavor without ruining any pots or setting off the fire alarm.

Make this on a snowy Sunday and serve with a loaf of crusty bread, like this one.

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Cook bacon in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until browned and crispy. Crumble and set aside.
2. While the bacon is roasting, brown the sausage. Heat a dutch oven or oven-proof pot over medium-high heat and add sausage. If you want, you can add a pat of butter here. That can help with the browning. Cook until deeply browned, 5-6 minutes on each side.
3. Remove sausage from pot. Scrape out any blackened bits and turn the heat down to low. Add a few tablespoons of bacon grease from the pan. Add flour and whisk until a roux forms.
4. Layer half of the potatoes on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with half of the garlic powder, seasoning salt, thyme, and pepper. Layer half of the onion slices, ¼ of the bacon, and ½ of the sausage on top.
5. Repeat with remaining ingredients, reserving the rest of the bacon. 
6. Pour chicken stock over everything and season liberally with parsley.
7. Bake at 300 for at least 2 hours. In the last 30 minutes, take off the lid and cook uncovered.
8. Sprinkle with reserved bacon and serve. It will keep for 3 days in the fridge.