Irish Soda Bread

March 16th, 2011

St. Patrick’s Day is known for Corned Beef and Cabbage, but it is also known for Irish soda bread.  In this case I have made a brown soda bread.  The recipe came from Margaret M. Johnson, noted Irish- American cook and cookbook author.  According to her, the American version of soda bread is sweeter and more of a cake-like consistancy with raisins and caraway seeds.  True Irish soda bread, be it brown or white, is a hearty bread best served for breakfast with smoked salmon.  Her brown Irish soda bread is full of whole wheat flour, steel cut oats, and wheat germ.  It is a quick bread, relying on only baking soda and powder for leavening and uses buttermilk and an egg for the wet ingredients.  I had the ingredients mixed and the bread in the oven within 15 minutes.

Ireland is surrounded by some the cleanest water in the world and according to Margaret Johnson, seafood is one of the nation’s specialties.  One of her favorite Irish breakfasts is this Irish brown soda bread with smoked salmon and horseradish sauce.

Give this a try for breakfast on St. Patrick’s Day.  May the luck of the Irish be with you.

BROWN SODA BREAD (Margaret M. Johnson from Cooking Light Magazine)

Cooking Spray
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup steel-cut oats (such as Mc Cann’s)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Coat a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.  Combine flours and next 6 ingredients (through salt).  Combine buttermilk and egg; add to flour mixture.  Stir just until combined.

Spoon the mixture into prepared pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Invert bread onto a wire rack and cool completely.

HORSERADISH CREAM (Epicurious)

1 cup sour cream
6 tablespoons white horseradish (about 4 ounces)
1 tablespoon finely chopped dill pickle
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives or green onion tops

Whisk all ingredients in small bowl to blend.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

I am joining Kathleen of Kathleen’s Cuisine for her 3rd annual St. Patrick’s Day blog crawl.  Check out all of the St. Paddy Day recipes.

Printable recipe

Popovers

October 28th, 2010
The second Barefoot Blogger recipe of the month is popovers.  It was chosen by Tara, our fearless  BB leader, of Smells Like Home.  You might be interested in following Tara on the Foodbuzz Project Food Blog Contest.  She is still in the running and on her 6th challenge.  Go to Foodbuzz and give her your vote.  Thanks Tara for choosing this recipe.  I have never made popovers before.  I had to go out and buy a popover pan, but they are not terribly expensive and it was an excuse to have one more kitchen gadget.  Most popover pans have 6 large cups.  I bought a 12 cup mini popover pan.  I like the smaller size much better.  If given a regular size popover I would eat the whole thing.  With the smaller size I am not tempted to eat two.
I trust Ina Garten’s recipes,  but since I have never made popovers before I wanted to do a little research on them before I made them.  On the surface the recipe seems rather bland; just milk, eggs, flour and a little butter.  I found another recipe for popovers that included a little baking powder to give them more lift and using bread flour which is higher in protein.  The protein in the flour also contributes to the rise. There was a tablespoon of Dijon mustard in the recipe also.  I liked the flavor additive.  So this was the recipe that I made.  Go here for Ina’s recipe. 
The popovers were spectacular in the way they puffed and they had a nice texture on the inside.  If you follow a few steps that are important you will have perfect popovers.  Be sure the pan is hot when you add the batter and never open the oven while the popovers are baking.
PERFECT POPOVERS
1 3/4 cups whole milk
2 cups bread flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Note:  The key to making great popovers is having the eggs and milk at room temperature or warm before mixing.  It is also important to let the batter sir for an hour before baking it.  Popovers do not freeze well and pre-made batter has a tendency not to work properly the next day.
Place the milk in a bowl and microwave on high for approximately 1 1/2 minutes, or until warm to the touch.  Spoon the flour into a cup and level it off with a knife.  In a large bowl, sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together.  
In a blender combine the eggs, milk, melted butter and Dijon mustard; process approximately 10 seconds until blended.
Add flour mixture to egg mixture in blender.  Process approximately 10 to15 seconds or until just combined. Let rest for an hour if you can.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Place oven rack on the middle rung and heat an empty popover pan for 5 minutes, or until it is hot.  Once oven is the correct temperature and the empty popover pan is hot, quickly remove the popover pan from the oven; lightly spray the popover cups with a nonstick spray.
Fill the popover cups a little over 1/2 full.  Immediately place the pan back into the oven.
Bake without opening the door for 15 minutes. (A little less for mini popover pans).  Reduce heat to 375 degrees F. and bake for another 20 minutes or until deep golden brown on the outside and airy on the inside.
Remove popovers from the oven and unmold onto a rack.  Pierce the sides with the tip of a sharp knife to let steam escape and serve immediately with lots of butter.
There is change in the air as Fall progresses.  There is a magical golden glow on our porch in the late afternoons and the mornings are glorious.  After three days of rain this is what our view was like yesterday morning.

It will soon be time to return to Florida.  I hate to leave all of this beauty.   


Jalapeno Corn Muffins

October 4th, 2010

I woke up this morning one year older.  David is on his motorcycle trip.  What’s a girl supposed to do?  Make corn muffins for breakfast.  They make me happy.  This recipe in particular is a good one.  I love the heat of the peppers and the subtle sweetness from the brown sugar.  They are crusty on the outside and complex on the inside.  Sort of like me.

Later today I am leaving for Cary to spend my birthday with my Granddaughter and Rachel’s other Grandmother.  Mimi and Nana get to share babysitting duties while Michael and Kristen are out of town.  I am looking forward to it.

Give these muffins a try.  With the cooler weather they would be perfect with a bowl of chili or soup.

JALAPENO CORN MUFFINS ( Martha Stewart )

8 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup buttermilk (I used regular milk)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoon thawed frozen corn kernels or fresh corn

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Brush the cups of the muffin tin (12 cup) with the melted butter and set aside.  Whisk together the buttermilk, eggs and sour cream in medium bowl until combined and set aside.  Whisk together the dry ingredients and the jalapenos and corn in a large bowl.

With a rubber spatula, fold buttermilk mixture into corn meal mixture until well combined.  Fold in the melted butter.  Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool in tin 5 minutes.

Note:  My batter made 18 muffins and I cooked them for only 15 minutes.

Printable recipe

New Year’s Day Dinner

January 3rd, 2010


Happy New Year everyone. We started New Year’s Day in the traditional way that we have followed for the last ten years. We have a group of friends who spend New Year’s Eve and Day together. We are a motorcycle gang. Don’t laugh. We are tougher than we look. We’ve ridden the Canadian Rockies and the Beartooth Pass, the Million Dollar Highway and the Grand Tetons. The guys have been to Sturgis. What more credentials would you need? We are also good cooks and our gatherings always include fabulous food.

The New Year’s Day menu has always been a traditional Southern spread and each of us has a specialty. Pork has to be on the menu. Pigs forage forward with their noses so eating pork represents moving forward in the new year. For years I have been making my Fall-Apart Tender Slow Roast Pork. The recipe came from Shirley Corriher. We also have collard greens and blackeyed peas which represent wealth and good luck. Barbara is the collard greens queen, but she couldn’t be with us this year so, shhh, don’t tell anyone but we fixed Glory brand canned seasoned collard greens. Jackie makes the black eyed peas and Rosa’s cornbread which is rich with butter and absolutely decadent. Rosa was David’s secretary for many years and a talented Southern cook. We always have a potato casserole and Cynthia made a rich and luscious Gouda and Asiago scalloped potato with a panko crumb crust. Karen makes wonderful coleslaw and a refreshing Pea salad. Our dessert this year was compliments of the Cheesecake Factory.

Since I am always taking pictures of food, everyone got into the act this year. This obsession is catching.

Here are few of our favorite recipes.
FALL-APART TENDER SLOW ROAST PORK (adapted from Shirley Corriher)
4 to 5 lb Pork Butt
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place pork in pot with lid. Sprinkle pork heavily with Worcestershire sauce; turn it over and sprinkle other side heavily as well. Take handful of brown sugar and smush brown sugar crust all over meat. Turn meat over and smush brown sugar all over other side. Pour apple juice in bottom of pan, not over meat. Cover and place pot in oven. Turn oven down to 275 degrees and cook 4 hours until meat literally falls apart when you try to lift it with a fork. Break meat apart a little and push it down into drippings. Sprinkle with salt. This salt cannot be omitted; it is vital to bring out meat flavors.
SCALLOPED GOUDA-ASIAGO POTATOES (Cynthia)
3 lbs potatoes peeled and sliced
2 cups shredded Gouda cheese
1 cup shredded Asiago cheese
1 tsp garlic juice, from minced garlic jar
1/4 to 1/2 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavey cream
Panko crumbs to cover top.
Layer potatoes in casserole and sprinkle each layer with salt and pepper and cheeses. Add nutmeg and garlic juice to milk and heavy cream. Pour over casserole. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Cover with panko crumbs and continue cooking until potatoes are tender and panko crumbs are browned and the cheese is bubbly.
ROSA’S CORN BREAD (Jackie)
2 cups Joy Brand self-rising cornmeal
4 eggs
1 stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup oil
3 Tbls sugar
1 cup buttermilk
In a large bowl mix corn meal, eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar, and melted butter. Pour into a large cast iron skillet and place inside a 350 degree oven and bake for 25 minutes.
PEA SALAD (Karen)
1 can French style green beans, drained
1 can shoepeg corn, drained
1 can tiny English peas, drained
1 small jar chopped pimentoes, drained
1 medium yellow bell pepper chopped
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup vinegar
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup oil
Mix vegetables in bowl. In another bowl stir together dressing until sugar is dissolved. Pour dressing over vegetables and refrigerate until ready to serve.
It is wonderful to bring in the New Year with good friends and I consider all of you good friends also. I look forward to our sharing good food and good times in 2010.

Gazpacho with Shrimp and Rosemary Flatbreads

June 24th, 2009

This is a day early to be posting for Barefoot Blogger Thursday but yesterday was a hot day so a cool soup seemed to be a very good idea for dinner. Meryl of My Bit of Earth selected Ina Garten’s Gazpacho for the second Barefoot Blogger recipe of the month. I decided to take Ina’s wonderful soup recipe and embellish it with shrimp and this flavorful flatbread to make it a complete meal.
There are many things I like about this dish. The chunky vegetables add lots of texture and taste. I did alter the recipe slightly by using only one red pepper instead of two and by using only a half of a red onion instead of the whole onion. If the soup had more time to rest in the refrigerator the onion and pepper would have mellowed, but since I was serving it in less than two hours I didn’t want too much of the raw taste. Another advantage is that the soup is quick to put together. Most of the chopping is accomplished in a food processor. To give the dish added flavor, I used V-8 juice instead of regular tomato juice. They now have a heart healthy low sodium variety of V-8 juice that I really like.
When I serve soup I have to have bread and these crispy rosemary flatbreads are one of my favorites. I have blogged about them before but sometimes a good thing is worth repeating. They are very easy to put together and they look beautiful and taste as good as they look.

The meal was perfect, eaten on the porch on a sultry evening. Even the shrimp were easy. I bought them already cooked from the supermarket. Thank you Meryl for selecting another great Barefoot Contessa recipe.

GAZPACHO
1 hothouse cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled
2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded ( I used 1)
4 plum tomatoes
1 red onion (I used 1/2)
3 garlic cloves, minced
23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups) (I used V-8 juice)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 Tbls kosher salt ( I omitted )
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Roughly chop the cucumber, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1 inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not over process!
After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.
CRISP ROSEMARY FLATBREADS – Gourmet July 2008
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary plus 2 (6 inch) sprigs
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup olive oil plus more for brushing
Flaky sea salt such as Maldon
Preheat oven to 450 degrees with a heavy baking sheet on rack in middle.
Stir together flour, chopped rosemary, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in center, then add water and oil and gradually stir into flour with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Knead dough gently on a work surface 4 to 5 times.
Divide dough into 3 pieces and roll out 1 piece (keep remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap) on a sheet of parchment paper into a 10-inch round (shape can be rustic; dough should be thin).
Lightly brush top with additional oil and scatter small clusters of rosemary leaves on top, pressing in slightly. Sprinkle with sea salt. Slide round (still on parchment) onto preheated baking sheet and bake until pale golden and browned in spots, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer flatbread (discard parchment) to a rack to cool, then make 2 more rounds (1 at a time) on fresh parchment (do not oil or salt until just before baking). Break into pieces to serve.
Flatbread can be made 2 days ahead and cooled completely, then kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

Printable recipe – Gazpacho

Printable recipe – Crisp Rosemary Flatbreads

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »

© Penny Klett, Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen. All rights reserved.