Malachi McCormicks Irish Count

As charming as it is authentic, this volume, which is to be published on St. Patrick's Day, offers traditional Irish recipes along with ""an exploit, a bit of family lore, an apt proverb.'' Dismissing corned beef and cabbage as a New World dish, McCormick serves up colcannon as ``Ireland's true national dish,'' contemplating the resemblance of Queen Victoria's profile to that of a potato. In McCormick's affectionate hands, this hearty but lightly seasoned cuisine is well represented by savory pies such as steak and kidney, chicken and ham, and seafood pie with potato crust. Fish dishes include fried herring roe and cold poached salmon with poached leeks and mayonnaise. Rabbit stew, roast duck with potato stuffing and the dethroned corned beef and cabbage number among the meat dishes. There are breads and cakes like boiled fruitcake and such liquid embellishments as mulled claret and nonalcoholic blackcurrant punch. A native of Ireland, McCormick wrote Irish Traditional Soups and owns New York's Stone Street Press, which publishes handmade books of Irish and Celtic interest. Illustrated. (March)