We’ve eaten a lot of good meals in Dublin, but we’ve never had the dish called ‶Dublin Coddle.″ Since we won’t be at home — or in Ireland — on St. Patrick’s Day, we decided to mark the holiday a little early. We were looking for a homey, comforting dish and figured, what could be better than to be coddled? Dubin coddle seemed like the kind of dish that Pat (always called Patricia by her mother) would have grown up eating if her Irish grandmother had lived long enough to teach Pat’s mother and two aunts how to cook.

Lacking a family recipe, we consulted the websites of Irish chefs Donal Skehan (donalskehan.com) and Billy Parisi (billyparisi.com). We ended up adapting our own version using ingredients more available in the U.S. (‶Streaky bacon″ and ‶bangers″ don’t show up in our grocer’s meat case.) And given the dish’s roots as poverty cuisine when dispossessed farmers moved en masse to the city, we decided to tempt the fates of traditionalism and include some great winter storage carrots as part of the ‶veg.″

It was exactly what we needed on a cold evening in a colder than usual winter.

DUBLIN CODDLE

Serves 2

Following Donal Skehan’s lead, we brown both the bacon pieces and the sausages. We agree with him that pale sausages and rubbery bacon squares are less appetizing. In lieu of true Irish sausages, we find that savory chicken sausages work well, especially if they also contain a little spinach for color.

• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 6 slices of extra-thick bacon, chopped into squares
• 6 high-quality savory sausages
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/3 cup pearl barley
• 10 fingerling potatoes, peeled and cut in generous 1/2-inch slices
• 1 jumbo storage carrot, halved lengthwise and cut in generous 1/2-inch slices
• 1-2/3 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Set oven to 425°F.

Add oil to a large frying pan over medium-high, Fry the bacon, stirring to brown on all sides. Remove to paper towels on a plate to drain. Fry the sausages in the bacon fat, turning frequently to brown all sides. Place with bacon.

Distribute the chopped onion over base of a 3-quart Dutch oven or other casserole dish with an ovenproof lid. Add bay leaf, bacon and sausages, pearl barley, and a final layer of potato and carrot slices.

Pour in the chicken stock and place pot, covered, over high heat. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer (covered) for 30 minutes.

Remove the lid and dot the potatoes with butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Transfer pot to preeheated oven. Cook about 15 minutes or until the potatoes begin to brown. Stir in parsley before serving into wide bowls.