For the bacon, I love to use a loin piece — if you prefer streaky (belly) bacon, you can use that too. If you’re feeding a crowd, then a ham, which is the bacon leg, will be just great, though keep in mind the whole ham can take a few hours to boil before the glazing.

The glaze is made by mixing brown sugar, such as demerara, with a little orange juice. You can also use tangerine, apple or pineapple juice if you prefer. Spread it over the scored fat of the boiled bacon and then roast the bacon in the oven until the top is gorgeously caramelised. The glaze gives this dish that wonderful sweet-salty balance that bacon so loves.

I’ve also included a recipe below for an Irish whiskey sauce to serve with the bacon — it really turns this meal into a feast and, incidentally, is also delicious with the apple cake featured here today.

Any leftover bacon will be delicious served at room temperature with salads or in sandwiches, just remember to remove the cloves before eating.

For a sweet end to the meal, I’m sticking with the old classics and making an Irish apple cake. I never tire of this version below that my husband’s grandmother, Myrtle Allen, started making at Ballymaloe over half a century ago. Serve it with softly whipped cream and some crunchy brown sugar for a real treat.

Glazed bacon

Serves 4-6
You will need:
1.5kg loin of bacon or streaky (belly) bacon, either smoked or unsmoked, whole in the piece off the bone, with or without the rind
20 cloves
350g demerara sugar
Juice of 1 orange

1 Place the piece of bacon in a saucepan, cover it in cold water and bring to the boil. If the bacon is very salty, there will be a white froth on top of the water. In this case, it is preferable to discard this water, pour in fresh water to cover the bacon again and bring the water back up to the boil.

2 Continue to keep the water at a gentle boil for approximately 1-1½ hours until the bacon is just cooked. You can tell when the bacon is cooked by sticking a skewer into the centre of the piece. If the skewer comes out quite easily, then the bacon is cooked. To cook, the bacon will take about 20 minutes for every 500g.

3 When the bacon has been cooking for 50 minutes, preheat the oven to 250C (230 fan) 475F, Gas 9.

4 Once the bacon is cooked, drain it and place it in a gratin dish or in a small roasting tray. Remove and discard the rind, if the rind was still attached to the bacon when you got it. To make a pattern of squares or diamonds in the fat, use a sharp knife to score the fat in lines a couple of centimetres apart, running first one way, and then the other way. Now stud the scored bacon fat with cloves.

5 Place the demerara sugar in a bowl and add a couple of tablespoons of orange juice, or maybe a little more to make a thick paste. Don’t make it too liquid — see my Top Tip, below.

6 Quickly spread the thick, sugary paste over the bacon and bake the bacon in the preheated hot oven until the top has caramelised. I like to baste the bacon 2 or 3 times during this time. It will take approximately 15-20 minutes to caramelise on top.

7 Remove the glazed bacon to a carving dish. Carve it in thin slices lengthwise so each slice includes some of the eye and streaky piece of the loin.

Top Tip 

The demerara sugar and orange juice bacon glaze needs to be mixed and used immediately, as if it is made in advance, it gets too runny.

Irish whiskey sauce

Serves 4-6
You will need:
225g caster sugar or granulated sugar
75ml cold water
120ml hot water
3-4 tablespoons Irish whiskey

1 Put the caster sugar or the granulated sugar, whichever you’re using, into a saucepan with the cold water and stir with a spoon over a gentle heat until the sugar dissolves and the syrup comes to the boil.

2 Remove the spoon and do not stir. Continue to boil the sauce until it turns a nice chestnut-brown colour. Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately add the hot water. Allow to dissolve again over a gentle heat, then remove the saucepan from the heat and add the Irish whiskey.

3 Serve this Irish whiskey sauce hot or cold.

Fluffy mashed potato

Serves 4-6
You will need:
1 kg floury potatoes (such as Golden Wonders or Kerr’s Pink)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Approximately 150ml milk
25g butter

1 Scrub the potatoes, still in their skins, and place them in a saucepan of cold water with a good pinch of salt.

2 Bring the water up to the boil and cook for 10 minutes. Then pour all but about 4cm of the water out and continue to cook the potatoes on a very low heat so that they steam in the pot.

3 Do not be tempted to stick a knife into the potatoes — if you do, the skins will break and the potatoes will break up and get soggy.

4 About 20 minutes later when you think the potatoes might be cooked, test them with a skewer. If they are soft, take them off the heat.

5 Peel the potatoes while they are still hot and mash them immediately, either by hand with a masher or using the paddle attachment in a food mixer.

6 Meanwhile, heat the milk until it is boiling.

7 Add the butter, and some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to the mashed potatoes, but do not add any milk until the mash is free of lumps. When the potatoes are mashed and completely lump-free, add the boiling milk — you might not need it all or you might need to use more, it depends on the potatoes.

8 Taste the mash for seasoning and transfer it to a warm serving bowl. It will keep well for up to an hour in a warm oven; keep it covered with a lid or a plate.

Buttered cabbage

Serves 4-6
You will need:
½ to 1 head of green cabbage (such as Savoy cabbage)
25g butter
2 tablespoons water
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Remove the tough outer leaves from the cabbage. Cut the head of cabbage into four, cutting from top to bottom. Cut out the core, then slice the cabbage crossways into fine shreds, about 5mm thick.

2 Place the butter and the water in a wide saucepan on a medium heat. Allow the butter to melt, then toss in the shredded cabbage. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (also see Rachel Recommends, below). Cover the saucepan with a lid and cook the cabbage, stirring it every now and then, for 3-4 minutes until the cabbage has just softened. Taste for seasoning, adding more sea salt and freshly ground black pepper if necessary, and serve.

Rachel Recommends

If you fancy giving the buttered cabbage a little kick, try adding 1 teaspoon of coarsely crushed caraway seeds and a pinch of chilli flakes while it cooks.

Ballymaloe Irish apple cake

Serves 4-6
You will need:
110g butter, cold, cut in cubes, plus extra for greasing the dish
225g plain flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
110g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
100ml milk (approximately)
1 large cooking apple, 300g in weight
2 generous tablespoons caster sugar or granulated sugar

To serve, you will need:
Softly whipped cream
Soft brown sugar

1 You will also need a 25cm ovenproof plate or shallow gratin dish. Preheat oven to 180C (160 fan) 350F, Gas 4.

2 Grease the ovenproof plate or shallow gratin dish, whichever you’re using, with a little butter.

3 Sift the plain flour and the baking powder into a bowl and mix together. Add the cubed butter and rub in with your fingertips until the texture resembles breadcrumbs.

4 Add the caster sugar, the beaten egg and enough of the milk to form a soft dough. Pat out one half of the dough onto the greased ovenproof plate — don’t worry, it is supposed to be very wet.

5 Peel, core and slice the cooking apple in slices that are just approximately ½cm thick, place them on the dough and sprinkle them with 1 generous tablespoon of the caster sugar or the granulated sugar, whichever you are using.

6 Gently spoon out the remaining dough on top of the apple slices to cover them completely. Sprinkle the dough with another tablespoon of sugar, cut a slit through the middle of the dough ‘lid’ and bake the cake in the preheated oven for approximately 40 minutes or until it is cooked through and nicely browned.

7 Serve the apple cake with the softly whipped cream and a sprinkling of the brown sugar.

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