Irish Soda Bread

It seems the only time I make Irish soda bread is when I make corned beef.  It goes perfectly with the broth that the corned beef cooked is in (which in my case would be beer); I can't imagine corned beef without it. Everytime I make it I wonder why I don't make it more often. It looks like a wonderful and rustic loaf of bread.

Irish soda bread is an easy bread to make and I usually have all of the ingredients for it (except the buttermilk). This time I even had the buttermilk, because I recently made a limoncello pound cake. The trick to this bread is (1) don't over handle it; (2) don't add the buttermilk to the dry ingredient until the oven is preheated; and (3) check the bread after 30 minutes to determine if it is done.

Irish Soda Bread
3 1/2 Cups (440 g) of Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp of Sugar
1 Tsp of Salt
1 Tsp of Baking Soda
8-10 oz. (about 250 ml) of Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450F/230 C/gas mark 8 If using a convection oven preheat to 425F/220C. Lightly flour a baking sheet and set aside. In a large bowl throughly shift together the dry ingredients.

The ingredients are ready to go

Once the oven is preheated, add 3/4 of the buttermilk and gently mix together. Add more buttermilk if needed. You are trying to get a "raggy" consistency.


 Quickly knead the bread on a lightly floured surface for about 90 seconds. Shape the bread into a slightly domed circle.

 Place the dough on the cookie sheet. Cut a cross across the circle. The cut should go halfway through the dough.

Bake for 30-45 minutes (convection 23-34 minutes). Check after 30 minutes (convection check at 23 minutes) by picking up the loaf and tapping the bottom. If you hear a hollow sound, the bread is done. Cool on a rack.

Beer Potato Pancakes

St. Patrick's Day is my favorite holiday. Ok- it helps that it's my birthday and that I'm part Irish. Every year I have corned beef and cabbage. This year I decided to blog my dinner, so I thoroughly confused my family by having our St. Patrick's Day dinner several days early. Maybe this year we will go to an Irish pub for my birthday and someone else can cook. I can almost taste the Black Velvet (half Guinness and half hard cider) that I am going to order.
This is the first year that I added potato pancakes to our meal, and I am glad I did. I love potato pancakes and I used the leftovers for corned beef hash the next morning.
The beer you use in this recipe is important because you will taste the beer in the potato pancakes (at least I did). When we cook with beer, we usually have a debate over which beer to use. Strange, we don't have a debate over any of the other ingredients - but the beer you chose makes that much difference and there are so many to chose from. It is a wonderful problem to have.
For this recipe, I recommend a light lager or ale. Specific beers I would use: Harp's Lager (in keeping with the St. Patrick's Day theme),  O'Malley's Cream Ale, Shiner's Dortmunder Style Spring Ale, Leffe's Belgium Blonde (Pale Ale), Boulevard Pale Ale, and  Blue Moon Belgium White Ale. I happen to love all of these beers so it is likely that we will have one or more of them in our house.  I don't cook with a beer that I wouldn't drink - Please note- If I left a beer off that you would recommend, I am in the middle of the country and I am limited to the beers in my region. Please add your recommended beer to the comments section.

Beer Potato Pancakes

1 Onion (170 g)
3 Potatoes (785 g)
1 Large Egg, Beaten
3 Tbsp of Unbleached All Purpose Flour

1 Cup (250 ml) of Ale or Lager
2 Tbsp of Vegetable or Canola Oil

Grate onions and potatoes (either by hand or in a food processor). Beat an egg in a medium size bowl and add the potatoes and rest of the ingredients to the egg (except the oil).


Add the oil to a skillet on medium-high heat. Add potato mixture to the hot skillet and cook on one side until the edges are turning brown. Flip the pancake and cook until crispy. We serve with sour cream. This recipe makes a lot of potato pancakes, which is good because I have uses for the leftovers.

Lavash

Katie holding up a piece of lavash

The first thing my husband (who by the way is a huge Monty Python fan and remembers every line from every movie he has ever seen) said to me when I told him I was making lavash was "Fetchez la vache!" To which I, of course, responded "moooooooooo!" Once I explained that lavash was not part of the Holy Grail but in fact a Middle Eastern flat bread that we know as cracker bread, he was quite excited about trying it. As a side note, we had to watch the "French Taunting" scene from the Holy Grail again. Ok- maybe we had to watch the whole movie again but whose counting?

This recipe comes from a cookbook our friend, Gail, lent us. It is a great book and it has changed the way I think about bread. The cookbook focuses on using your bread machine for all or some of the process. For instance, the lavash you make on the dough cycle and then finish it in the oven. The cookbook is The Cook's Encyclopedia of Bread Machine Making by Jennie Shapter. It ended up ordering the book online. I changed the recipe slightly because I did not have millet seeds and I wanted to cook the bread on a pizza stone.

Lavash

1 Cup of Water
3 Tbsp of Strained Plain Yogurt
3 Cups of Unbleached White Bread Flour
1 Tsp of Salt
1 Tsp of Rapid Rise Active Dry Yeast

2 Tbsp of Milk
2 Tbsp of Sesame Seeds
(I prefer a topping of olive oil and garlic brushed over the lavash and then topped with Parmesan or Asiago Cheese)

Pour the water and yogurt into your bread machine, followed by the flour and salt. Place a small indentation in the middle of the flour (not touching the salt and not down to the water) and add the yeast. (Note- If your bread machine requires that dry ingredients go in first, reverse the order).

Set the bread machine to the dough setting (use basic or pizza dough setting). Press start. It takes my bread machine an hour and forty minutes on the dough cycle.

Risen dough

At this point preheat your oven to 450F/230C/gas mark 8. Place the surface you are baking the lavash on in the oven. When the dough cycle is finished take the dough out and place on a lightly floured surface.

Gently punch the dough and then divide into 10 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and then flatten into a disc.

Place under an oiled piece of plastic wrap and let rest for 5 minutes.

After the dough has rested, roll each ball of dough out until it is very thin.

If the dough starts to tear, let it rest for a few minutes after rolling. Stack the lavash between pieces of oiled plastic wrap.

I like lavash topped with olive oil, garlic, and cheese

Brush the lavash with milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds or brush with olive oil and garlic and sprinkle with cheese. Bake the lavaah for 5-8 minutes or until puffed and starting to brown. If you use a pizza stone, you should check the lavash after 4 minutes.

Baking on the pizza stone

If you use a convection oven, reduce the temperature to 425F/220C/gas mark 7 and check after 4 minutes.

Finished lavash

Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Ricotta Stuffed Shells

This was one of my favorite meals when I was a kid. It was an added bonus that I got to eat the leftover shells. This is usually the meal I make and take to friends, because it freezes nicely and is easy to heat up. It also helps that it is delicious. I also think it is a perfect meatless meal for Lent.
You can use your own tomato sauce or even jarred tomato sauce with the shells.  I use my vodka tomato sauce: (http://foodwonk.blogspot.com/2011/02/vodka-pasta-sauce.html) (I usually double the recipe)

Ricotta Stuffed Shells
12 oz. (340 g) Box of Jumbo Pasta Shells
2 Large Eggs
32 oz. (907 g) Ricotta Cheese
16 oz. (454) Mozzarella Cheese, Grated, Divided
8 oz. (227 g) Parmesan Cheese, Grated, Divided
1 Tbsp of (One of the Following) Parsley, Basil, or Italian Seasoning
Salt and Pepper, to Taste (I use about a teaspoon of each)
28 oz. (794 g) to 32 oz. (907 g) of Tomato Sauce

Cook the shells in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat two eggs and add the ricotta cheese, half of the mozzarella cheese, half of the Parmesan cheese, the dried herbs, salt and pepper.

Cheese mixture

Place 1/2 cup of sauce in the bottom of two 9x9 pans (22cm x 22cm) (or one cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan (23cm x 33cm)).

The assembly line is ready

Fill the shells with the cheese mixture and place in pan(s).

Filling the shells

Repeat until all shells are filled or you run out of the cheese mixture.

Out of room and cheese

 Top with remaining tomato sauce and then the remaining cheeses. Bake in a 350F /180C/ Gas Mark 4 oven for 30 minutes.

Ready for the oven

 I like to make one and freeze one. If you freeze one to prepare just defrost and bake at 350F /180C/ Gas Mark 4 for 30 minutes.

Finished!

The bottom line- Will I make these again? Yes! I love this recipe. By changing the spices or the tomato sauce you change the final dish. You can also control the fat and calories in the dish by using egg substitute, low fat ricotta cheese and low fat mozzarella cheese. If you really want to be healthy you can omit the cheese on top of the sauce. It is still good (just not as good).

Udon Soup

Udon Soup

As a practicing Catholic, I fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. (Fasting for Catholics means we are allowed one full meal). I have often wondered how big of a meal and what sort of a meal is appropriate for breaking my fast. I (personally) don't think having a huge meal with creamy sauces is what I should be eating. On the other hand, I want something hearty because we would be very hungry by dinner. I am open to all ideas - except I want to have something different from fish sticks and macaroni and cheese, the classic Catholic meatless meal.
 

I read through my monastic cookbooks for inspiration. Monastic cooking is wonderful and their food philosophy (obviously) works perfectly for Lent.  Most monastic diets do not include meat (year round), but do include fresh local food that is in season. They have wonderful recipes with fruits, vegetables, fish, eggs, and cheeses. Actually, this sounds a lot like some of the current "slow food" and "local food" movements. My favorite monastic cookbook is The Pure Joy of Monastic Cooking by Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette. I really like all of his cookbooks. 

It took awhile, but inspiration fully struck; not that it was a sacrifice to read through cookbooks.  Here is what we are planning on having. I will post pictures of our dinner once we have it.

Ash Wednesday Dinner 

Veggie and Shrimp Soup with Udon Noodles

14 oz. (400 g) Package of Udon Noodles
4 Cups (1 L) of Vegetable Broth
1 Inch (2.5 cm) Piece of Ginger
2 1/2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons of Rice Vinegar
1 Tablespoon of Granulated Sugar
6 oz. (170 g) of Mushrooms, Sliced
6 oz. (170 g) of Baby Corn, Cut into Pieces
1/2 Cup  (60 g) of Carrots, Thinly Sliced
6 oz. (170 g) of Shrimp

Cook udon noodles according to package directions and set aside.

In a large pot combine vegetable broth, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar and bring to a boil (I had the greens from the carrots so I added those to the pot as well). Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes (remove carrot greens).

Add mushrooms, carrots, and baby corn. Cook until tender. Add shrimp and cook for four more minutes until shrimp are pink.

Divide the udon noodles between four bowls and pour the soup over them over them.

The bottom line: Will I make this again? Yes, it was a quick meal to make and I loved the broth.

Oreo Cookie Cheesecakes

A happy Oreo Cheesecake.

When I was in law school, one of my friends gave me this recipe. It is the marriage of two great flavors: cheesecake and Oreo cookies. Best of all, they are oh so easy to make. The only downside is the recipe only makes 12 cheesecake cookies. I could eat all 12 in one sitting. I guess you could always double the recipe. I think that they are perfect for a tea party with your daughter. (You are never too old to have a tea party).

Katie having an Oreo cheesecake tea party

I typed the introduction this morning before I had two different coffee spills. The first one was picking Katie up at the airport. I did not have any caffeine before leaving for the airport. Unfortunately, I brought a Carmel Light Frappuccino in the terminal. Katie and I were so happy to see each other that we had a great big giant hug. Katie's elbow hit my coffee and it flew to the ground and went all over the nice Southwest gate agent. I should have quit while I was ahead but I didn't. Still desperate for caffeine, I poured a cup and decided to drink it while I worked on my blog. BIG MISTAKE. This time I hit my coffee and it poured onto my laptop. I quickly turned it over (to keep the coffee away from the hard drive, motherboard, and battery); cleaned it up the best I could, and opened up the back to remove the battery and hard drive. Its parts are now removed, and it is drying out. I hope that it will work. For now I am working on a Mac Mini.

I am not going to have coffee for the rest of the day. I wonder if tea is safe?

Oreo Cheesecakes 

12 Double Stuff Oreo Cookies
2 8 oz. (227 g each) Packages of Cream Cheese (I use one full fat and one 1/3 fat)
1/2 Cup (113 g) of Granulated Sugar
1 Tsp of Vanilla
2 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup (90 g) Semisweet, White, or Milk Chocolate Pieces* (See Note Below)
2 Tsp of Shortening

Preheat oven to 325F/165C. Carefully, split cookies, keeping filling on one side of the cookie. Line muffin pans with foil baking cups (I use the paper liners too).

Place cookie icing side up in baking cup. Set aside. Crush some of the cookie halves without icing and set aside.

Crushed cookies

Combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy.
 
Beat in eggs until mixed. Spoon cream cheese mixture into baking cups.

Sprinkle some of the cookie crumbs on top of the cream cheese mixture.
 
Bake uncovered in a 325 F/165C oven for 25 minutes or until set. Remove from oven and allow to cool.


There are two ways to melt the chocolate: on the stove in a double boiler or in the microwave. If you are using the stove then, place chips and shortening in the top of a double boiler over hot but not boiling water. Stir constantly until the chocolate chips are melted. Remove immediately. If you are using the  microwave, place the chips and shortening in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for one minute at 50% power. Stir well. Continue to heat the chips for additional 30 second increments at 50% power until they are melted.

*I use 1/4 cup (45 g) of semisweet chips with one teaspoon of shortening in one bowl and 1/4 cup of milk chocolate chips and one teaspoon of shortening in another bowl. That way I can make designs with the chocolate.

Ready to go into the microwave.

The assembly line is ready

I could not find my pastry bag so I substituted plastic bags and pastry tips. It worked almost as well.

 It is a lot of fun to decorate the cheesecakes.

My cheesecake.

Katie's cheesecake.

Ok- maybe this one is mine as well- all that chocolate

Milk and semisweet chocolate

Tiramisu- Coffee Chocolaty Creamy Goodness

Finished tiramisu

Tiramisu means "pick me up." It is my favorite of all of the Italian desserts and it definitely brightens my day. If my daughter is asked what dessert she wants this one is in the top two. It is not a quick dessert. It takes me about an hour to make, but it needs at least 5 hours to chill. If I am going to serve it at dinner, I try to make it the night before. Oh! My version does have raw eggs. I use pasteurized eggs. You can make your own Mascarpone Cheese. It is easy to make and I have the recipe at the end of this blog.


Dipping Liquid
3 Cups (750 ml) of Strong Cold Espresso Coffee
1 Cup (250 ml) of Kahlua Coffee Liquor

Cream Layer
2 Cups (500 ml) of Heavy Cream
5 Egg Yolks
1/4 Cup (50 g) of Granulated Sugar
1 Pound of Mascarpone Cheese

32 Biscotti Savoiardi (Ladyfingers)
3 Tablespoons of Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Combine the egg yolks, sugar and cheese in a large bowl and set aside.
 

In a large bowl whip the cream until stiff peaks form.
 

Gently fold the whipped cream into the egg mixture until well combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the coffee and Kahlua. Dip the ladyfingers individually into the coffee mixture and place on the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan (300 mm x 400 mm pan).




Carefully spoon (or using a pastry bag pipe) half of the cream mixture over the ladyfingers.

Dip the remaining ladyfingers into the coffee mixture and place on the cream mixture.
 
Spoon or pipe the remaining mixture over the ladyfingers.


Chill at least five hours. When ready to serve, sprinkle 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder through a fine sieve over the surface of the tiramisu.

Make Your Own Mascarpone Cheese

2 8 Ounce (226 g) packages of Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup (125 ml) of Whipping Cream
5 Tablespoons of Sour Cream

Combine the ingredients above and chill.