An Irish Country Menu : For a St. Patrick’s Day celebration, an Irishwoman transplanted to Los Angeles suggestsa traditional menu based on her country upbringing.

Her name, lilting brogue and red hair should be enough to prove that Anne Murphy is Irish. For further evidence, check the green mailbox in front of her house and the green door that is divided in half, Irish country style, allowing one to swing open the top and chat comfortably with a caller. Inside this airy Beverly Hills house are more links to the Emerald Isle, like lacy half curtains, a cupboard filled with Waterford crystal and shamrock-decorated accessories ranging from place mats to salt and pepper shakers.

The dining room set is upholstered in tweed; the bar is topped with green marble, and an Irish den, papered in green, opens off the living room. In the kitchen, a magnet by the stove offers final proof: “Kiss the cook,” it says; “she is Irish.”

Anne Murphy, therefore, seemed the perfect source for an authentic St. Patrick’s Day menu. Furthermore, she is the wife of Jimmy Murphy, proprietor of Jimmy’s, the posh restaurant in Beverly Hills, and so is deeply involved with food. Anne Murphy is from Ballynagall, a rural spot in County Westmeath; her husband is from County Kilkenny. They met in London, were married in Los Angeles and return to Ireland every year.

The day of the interview, Murphy dressed in her Irish best: an emerald green suit, green dangling earrings and a brooch set with Connemara marble. Irish music played in the background, and at one point her spouse tapped out a few steps of a jig.

Pouring tea from a shamrock-printed Belleek pot, Murphy admits that she is fascinated by the “Irishness” that takes hold of Americans at this time of year. However, the corned beef and cabbage that most of us eat is not her idea of an appropriate dish. “It’s an American creation. I never heard of it when I lived there (in Ireland),” she said.

Instead, Murphy designed a menu around country favorites from her rural home. The main dish is lamb cutlets--single lamb chops pounded flat, coated with bread crumbs and baked until crisp outside but still pink inside. A garden salad based on watercress and lettuce harks back to the days when Murphy, her brothers and sisters plucked the makings from their garden. A creamy mustard dressing goes with the salad.

Because potatoes are quintessentially Irish, the menu includes Colcannon, a blend of mashed potatoes and cabbage. “This dish creates added intrigue when a plain gold ring, a coin, a thimble or a button is added to the mixture,” Murphy said. “Whoever finds the ring will be married within the year. The coin means wealth. The thimble means spinsterhood, and the button, a bachelor-to-be.”

In Ireland, the best Colcannon is made with new potatoes harvested in spring, she said. Here, the dish won’t be quite the same because it is impossible to duplicate the special, floury quality of the Irish potato. In Ireland, the spuds are called “laughing potatoes” because they pop open naturally, Jimmy Murphy said. He theorizes that some substance in the soil is responsible because the same potatoes grown in this country do not have the same character.

Hearty Irish soda bread, made with Irish oats, accompanies Murphy’s menu, and she had prepared a loaf for sampling, along with tiny scones to eat with butter and jam. The bread is still baked in countless farmhouses and homes all over Ireland and is served with every meal, Murphy said. Here again, a difference in ingredients--in this case flour--produces a different effect. “I think the bread rises higher in Ireland,” she said.

For dessert, Murphy veers from country foods to a sumptuous trifle, ornamented with almonds and fresh strawberries. In Ireland, trifle is the dessert, a sophisticated dish that is popular for weddings, she said. Murphy layers the cake with berries in a glass bowl, pours freshly made custard over the top and finishes the trifle with whipped cream, nuts and more berries. Soaking the cut up cake in Sherry is the key to the flavor, she said. It also provides a socially acceptable nip for Ireland’s teetotalers, her husband added with a wink.

ANNE MURPHY’S ST. PATRICK’S DAY DINNER

Lamb Cutlets

Colcannon

Steamed Baby Carrots

Garden Salad

Irish Soda Bread

Anne’s Irish Trifle

The Murphys suggest serving a light red wine such as a Beaujolais with this dinner.

LAMB CUTLETS

6 single lamb chops

2 eggs

2 tablespoons milk

Flour

Salt, pepper

1 cup fine dry bread crumbs

Oil

Trim fat from chops. Pound until flattened. Beat eggs with milk. Dust each chop with flour and salt and pepper to taste, then dip in egg mixture and sprinkle with crumbs. Shake to remove excess crumbs.

Saute in large skillet in small amount of oil for few minutes, then bake at 350 degrees until crumbs are crisp, about 15 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

COLCANNON

1 bunch green onions, including tops, chopped

1/4 cup butter

1 pound potatoes, boiled and peeled

Salt, pepper

1 pound cabbage, cooked and finely chopped

2 tablespoons whipping cream

Cook green onions in butter until tender.

Peel potatoes and cook in boiling salted water until tender. Drain. Return potatoes to saucepan and mash to puree, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

Add green onions, cabbage and cream and blend well over low heat. Pile into heated serving dish. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

GARDEN SALAD

1 bunch watercress

1 head butter lettuce

2 green onions, chopped

1 (8-ounce) can sliced beets, drained

Sliced tomatoes, optional

Sliced mushrooms, optional

Shredded cabbage, optional

Sour Dream Dressing

Wash and separate watercress sprigs. Wash and separate lettuce leaves. Place in salad bowl. Add green onions and as many beet slices as desired. Tomatoes, mushrooms and cabbage are additions for more color.

Toss with dressing to taste and serve at once. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Sour Cream Dressing

1 cup sour cream

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 hard-cooked eggs

2 teaspoons dry mustard

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons vinegar

Stir together sour cream and lemon juice. Mash eggs, mustard and sugar together until well blended. Gradually blend in vinegar and sour cream mixture, stirring until smooth. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

IRISH SODA BREAD

4 cups whole-wheat flour

3/4 cup imported Irish oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

Combine flour, oats, soda and salt in large bowl and stir to mix. Make well in center. Add enough buttermilk to make thick dough, mixing quickly and lightly with wooden spoon. Dough should be moist but not be wet.

With floured hands, place dough on lightly floured board and flatten into circle about 1 1/2 inches thick. Place on greased baking sheet. Slash large cross over top with floured serrated knife. Bake at 400 degrees about 40 minutes, or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped on bottom.

Place on rack to cool. Do not cut until cold. Keep wrapped in towel. Makes 1 loaf.

ANNE’S IRISH TRIFLE

Egg Custard

1 (1-pound) sponge cake

6 to 8 ounces raspberry jam

3/4 cup Sherry

Sliced strawberries

1 pint whipping cream

Sugar

Sliced almonds

Prepare Egg Custard and cool slightly.

Cut cake into 3-inch squares. Spread with jam, pierce with fork and place in large glass bowl. Cake should come to within 2 inches of top of bowl. Pour Sherry evenly over cake and let stand few minutes. Add layer of strawberries, then pour custard over cake and allow to settle. Whip cream, sweetening to taste with sugar. Top trifle with whipped cream, and decorate with sliced almonds and strawberries. Place in refrigerator 4 to 6 hours before serving. Makes 8 servings.

Egg Custard

2 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar

4 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine milk and sugar in saucepan. Heat to scalding. Gradually beat some of milk into eggs. Return all to saucepan. Heat and stir until custard thickens enough to coat back of spoon, being careful not to curdle. Remove from heat. Cool slightly, then stir in vanilla.

Food styling by Minnie Bernardino and Donna Deane / China from Fitz & Floyd