Mom's Irish Soda Bread

My mother brought this to our St. Patrick's day feast and I haven't been able to get enough of it. Breakfast, lunch, dinner... I have no qualms about savoring the deliciousness all day long. My brown bread was not nearly so spectacular, but it never stood a chance next to the sweet, savory, well-crumbed soda bread.





Mom's Irish soda bread

2 cups of flour
1/3 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ cup currants
1 tsp of caraway seeds
1 Tablespoon butter
1 egg
2/3-1 cup of buttermilk


Sift dry ingredients. Add currants and seeds. Beat egg lightly, add 2/3 cup buttermilk and butter. Stir in dry ingredients. Add more buttermilk if needed. Make a stiff dough, but kneadable. Knead 8-10 times shape in a ball and cut ½’ deep cross on top. Cook at 350-375 for 40-50 minutes. Cool slightly and serve warm.

Taste of the Irish

I love to celebrate St. Patrick's day because my mom loves to celebrate St. Patrick's day. I have particularly fond memories of waking up in the room I shared with my sister to discover a Kermit-the-frog piggy bank my mother had placed on our pillows one March 17th morning. I love celebrating St. Patrick's day because it makes me think of my mother's mother, a woman I never really knew, but who's life-story I've pieced together from my mother's tales, aged family photos and my grandfather's fond remembrances.

The story begins with a "fiery Irish girl" named Mary Rose who lived in the same apartment complex as my grandfather. The only girl in her class at Sacred Heart's all-girls graduating class NOT invited to join the sisterhood, our cousin O'Donnell confessed as we came across a curling snapshot of my grandmother at age 16. She was one of 7 siblings but an orphan most of her life, never quite reached 5', had dark hair and bright blue eyes. Eyes that she passed on to my mother and sister, and held a touch of mischievousness even as she sat for her formal bridal portrait. She had a best friend named 'Mugsy', somehow made her way to Los Angeles and despite the Great Depression, managed to find love with an ornery engineer from Texas who lived in the aforementioned apartment complex.

I love celebrating St. Patrick's day because it gives me a sense of connection, a sense of roots and culture and of belonging - not just to a particularly green island in the north Atlantic, or pipes, flutes and fiddles, Guinness or Jameson's, but to family. Family I didn't necessarily know, but is a part of me and who I am - not just where I come from.

I also love celebrating St. Patrick's day with the tastes of my family history. Though I sadly don't have any recipes passed down from my grandmother for the occasion, I've been working on a few of my own. So far they include tasty Irish-inspired food and time with the family I'm lucky enough to have around. Last night was quite the feast, roasted lamb, shepherd's pie, mashed potatoes, red cabbage salad, brown bread and my mother's contribution of delicious soda bread and my dad's contribution of a few rounds of rummy. The ending was particularly sweet, though. A decadently moist and rich Guinness chocolate cake and David Liebovitz's milk chocolate Guinness ice cream. To really up the ante, next time I think I'll replace a tablespoon or two of the cream with Irish cream. And yes, you only frost the top so the cake resembles a pint of Guinness.

Chocolate Guinness Cake

from the New York Times

For the cake:

Butter for pan

1 cup Guinness stout

10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter

3/8 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups superfine sugar

3/8 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

For the topping:

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 cup heavy cream.

1. For the cake: heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch spring form pan and line with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, combine Guinness and butter. Place over medium-low heat until butter melts, then remove from heat. Add cocoa and superfine sugar, and whisk to blend.

2. In a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add to Guinness mixture. Add flour and baking soda, and whisk again until smooth. Pour into buttered pan, and bake until risen and firm, 45 minutes to one hour. Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely in pan.

3. For the topping: Using a food processor or by hand, mix confectioners' sugar to break up lumps. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth. Add heavy cream, and mix until smooth and spreadable.

4. Remove cake from pan and place on a platter or cake stand. Ice top of cake only, so that it resembles a frothy pint of Guinness.

Yield: One 9-inch cake (12 servings).

Far Bretton

I admit. I love custard. In any form, with just about any mix-ins. Fruit, chocolate, spices, lavender... I have yet to be disapointed. When I saw this recipe, I had never heard of a Far before, although I am a fan of baked custards and claufoutis, so it seemed like a no-brainer to give this a try.

Far Bretton

inspired by epicurious.com

2 cups milk
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, cooled
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2-3/4 c frozen wild blueberries

2-3 Tbs cognac or brandy

powdered sugar

Combine milk, eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt in blender jar. Blend 1 minute. Add flour and pulse just until blended, scraping down sides of jar. Cover and chill in jar (ideally) at least 3 hours and up to 1 day.

Place blueberries in cognac and let soak as long as your batter chills.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Butter 8-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides. Line bottom with parchment or waxed paper. Butter paper. Dust pan with flour, shaking out excess; place on baking sheet.
Reblend batter until smooth, about 5 seconds. Pour into prepared cake pan. Drop prunes and raisins into batter, distributing evenly. Bake cake on baking sheet until sides are puffed and brown and knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool cake completely in pan on rack.

Place piece of parchment or waxed paper on flat plate. Sift powdered sugar onto paper. Run knife around cake in pan to loosen. Invert pan onto paper, releasing cake. Remove pan; peel off paper. Place serving plate over cake and invert. Dust top of cake with additional powdered sugar.

Pear Tart

The pears at the farmers market this morning just called out to me -I answered their summons and made this scrumptious tart:


Pear Tart
inspired by Julia Child's Mastering French Cooking

Pate Brisee crust, baked for about 15 minutes
4-6 bosc pears, peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 c sugar
2 tbs butter
handfull of fresh or frozen cranberries

Sprinkle 3 Tbs of the sugar on the crust. Arrange the pears in the crust as you like. Here, I kept them in the shape of the pear but sliced them. It's more traditional to slice them horizontally. You can also simply arrange the slices in concentric circles within the crust. Place cranberries in center and in spaces between pears. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar on top and dot with butter. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Enjoy!

Bean Loaf

Oh yes, the family classic is finally making an apperance on the blog! This recipie has been a staple for family gatherings for a good decade and a half - a product of my mother's work in sustainable agriculture. The concept came from a community food project in Minneapolis, MN - and was lovingly tweaked over the years by my mother - happy to have something to please two vegetarian daughters come Thanksgiving. You can also go hog wild on molds here too - mom has tried a number fun shapes and sizes over the years. It's hard to beat the basic loaf pan, but have fun with it.

A note on beans - though some have predicted that beans will be the food of 2009 - it's hard not to appreciate the humble bean's enduring value to human kind. As a former staunch ovo-lacto vegetarian I can tell you, beans are your friends! Yes, even if you need beano to safely consume them in mixed company. Rice + beans = a perfect nutritional protien, what omnivores get from animal protien, you can get from non-animal sources (and lower calories per serving to boot!). These days especially, it's easy to appreciate the bean's stellar nutritional value and earthly prices. They also have a much longer shelf-life.

Even though I now eat organic, sustainably raised foul, I will always have a very special place in my heart and gullet for the humble and delicious bean.

Bean Loaf

4 c bread crumbs (fresh bread pulsed in food processor or blender is ideal)
3 cans of beans rinsed and drained (kidney, black, pinto, navy, butter beans all acceptable)
2 c shredded chedder cheese
1/4 c non-hydrogenated shortening or butter
1/2 c onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
1 eggs

In food processor or blender, pulse beans until smooth. Empty into large mixing bowl. Add bread crumbs, cheese, onion, egg, salt and pepper to taste and stir till combined. Pat down into well-greased loaf pan. Bake at 375 F for about an hour - melt the 1/4c butter or shortening & baste the loaf halfway through baking. Bake until a knife inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool on a rack, then turn over onto plate.

Enjoy!

Jambalayah and Bread Pudding

Publish Post

With temperatures the lowest they've been in a decade here, it seemed about time to warm things up in the kitchen. Why not with a flavorful taste from New Orleans? A great end to a day with a windchill close to zero!


Jambalaya
adapted from wholefoods.com recipe

2 tablespoons safflower oil, divided
2 (12-ounce) packages pre-cooked spicy Italian chicken sausage, sliced diagonally
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 green, 1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
2 1/4 cups rice
1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
3/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
1 (1-pound) bag frozen shrimp, thawed, tails removed
Hot sauce for serving

Method

In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over high heat. Add sausage and cook until lightly browned. Remove from pot and set aside. Add remaining oil, celery, bell pepper, onion and garlic. Cook until softened. Stir in tomatoes, broth, water, rice, thyme, salt and cayenne. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 35 minutes, stirring now and then. Add frozen okra and reserved sausage. Cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until rice is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add frozen shrimp and continue cooking until heated through. Taste and season with more salt or cayenne if desired. Serve with hot sauce.

Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

adapted from the Silver Palatte cookbook

1/2 loaf stale whole grain bagette
1 c heavy cream
1 c milk
3/4 c sugar
3 eggs
1 tbs vanilla

Slice or crumble bread in bite-sized pieces into large bowl. Soak bread in milk and cream for at least an hour. Combine sugar and eggs and vanilla in separate bowl. Once bread is soaked, pour egg mixture into bread and milk mixture, stir till combined. Pour into a well greased 8 x 8 baking pan and bake at 325 F for about an hour and 10 minutes or until browned and set.

Whiskey Sauce

1/2 c confectioners sugar
1 egg
4 Tbs butter
Whiskey to taste

Melt butter and sugar together in a double boiler over medium to medium-high heat. Once both are melted and very hot, remove from heat and add egg, stirring constantly. If the mixture gets lumpy, don't fret!* It's pretty forgiving. Add the whisky and stir till combined. Serve over warm bread pudding. Delicious!

Enjoy!


* A trick I learned from an early Moosewood cookbook saved my tukus in college the first time I ever attempted to make a custard sauce (when preparing it for over 40 people!). Use your handy-dandy food processor or immersion blender to smooth! It's that simple, and the texture comes out perfectly!

Millie's Cornbread

One of my mom's gradschool roommates has been a long-time friend of our family. She also happens to work in the world of sustainable food systems. This is one of her recipies that has become a family favorite. It is luscious, moist, with a golden gorgeous crumb, but a fraction of the fat and calories most traditional cornbreads have.

3/4 c cornmeal
1 c unbleached white flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
t tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 c sugar
2 Tbs unhydrogenated vegetable shortening or butter
1/2 c low fat sour cream or yogurt
1/4 c milk
1 egg, well beaten

Combine dry ingredients. Work shortening or butter in with a pastry cutter or your fingers till combined. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients. Gently mix wet ingredients into dry until just combined. DO NOT OVERMIX or bread will be tough. Smooth into 8 x 8 pan and bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until golden brown and solid through.