Irish Soda Bread

My nana used to make this quite often. She would tell us as kids, don't run through the house and don't make loud noise or my bread won't rise! So we had to tiptoe around while the bread was rising for an hour. It always turned out great. She also used this same recipe but made them into rolls. Either way is good. Best served straight from the oven or eaten the next day as toast.

4 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 tbsp butter
1 cup raisins
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk

Rinse the raisins and dry with a paper towel. Preheat oven to 425°. Add flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture, then stir in raisins. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add beaten egg and buttermilk to well and mix in with a wooden spoon until dough is too stiff to stir. Dust hands with a little flour, then gently knead dough in the bowl just long enough to form a rough ball. Do not over-knead. Shape dough into a bread loaf pan (or muffin tin). Cut a cross in the top of the dough. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Truffle Disaster

I was surfing around on kraftfoods.com yesterday and decided to try the easy Oreo Truffles. It only requires 3 ingredients and I had some time after to work to make dessert since dinner was already made.

One word: AWFUL! Perhaps I was just not patient enough. It says to crumble the oreos. I put them in a plastic bag and used to rolling pin to flatten them. The bag split and I had crumbs everywhere. Then I tried just using the back of a spoon in a bowl to flatten them. Crumbs went flying on the floor, countertop and all over me. The next step is to dunk them in melted chocolate and but it wouldn't melt! Seriously. I tried everything. Double boiler, switched the pots around and then even tried to microwave it. The damn thing wouldn't melt.

In the baking section at the grocery store I found and bought "chocolate buttons" for cooking. Keep in mind this is Australia. We must not have all the modern conveniences here, such as semi-sweet cooking chocolate that actually melts. Maybe I just couldn't find it. D suggested I just use Ice Magic which is the chocolate sauce that hardens once it cools. I tried it and refrigerated the little buggers. It worked. However, these are about the richest things I've ever had. I ate one and had to drink and entire glass of milk to wash it down. Won't be making these again.

Here's the recipe from Kraftfoods.com:
1 pkg. (1 lb., 2 oz.) OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted

Crush 9 of the cookies to fine crumbs in food processor; reserve for later use. (Cookies can also be finely crushed in a resealable plastic bag using a rolling pin.) Crush remaining 36 cookies to fine crumbs; place in medium bowl. Add cream cheese; mix until well blended. Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1-inch in diameter. Dip balls in chocolate; place on wax paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover chocolate can be stored at room temperature for another use.) Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Store leftover truffles, covered, in refrigerator.

Stromboli

Serves: 6

pizza dough (recipe to follow)

About 8 slices of pepperoni, salami and ham

4 slices of each cheese (Provolone or Mozzerella)

thinly sliced onions, red or white
Italian dressing (I like Paul Newman's)
Optional: jalapenos, olives, capsicum, tomatoes

Pizza Dough:

1 cup warm water

1 (1/4-ounce) envelope active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 cups bleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, sugar, and 1 tablespoon oil and stir to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until all the flour is incorporated but the dough is still slightly sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky, 3 to 5 minutes. Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Roll the dough out to about a 4mm wide thickness. Brush with Italian dressing. Layer meats and cheeses. Roll up and place seam side down on well-greased cookie sheet. Bake in over for 25-30 minutes at 350. Serve with a side of marianara sauce or ranch to dip.

French Martini

My sister's new favorite drink. We will be trying these out in the next 2 weeks.

1 1/2 oz Vodka
1/4 oz Chambord Raspberry liqueur
1/4 oz pineapple juice

Pour each of the above into a tall bar glass. Shake with ice, pour into a cocktail or martini glass, and serve.

(photo courtesy of the art of drink)

We bought the Chambord this weekend but have yet to make the martini. I thought it was going to cost a fortune but happily discovered it was only $28.00 AUD.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

In honor of Christmas so quickly approaching, I thought I would post a festive recipe.
Makes: 5 dozen



Cookies:
3 cups flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup soft butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 tbsp cream
1 tsp vanilla (can substitute almond extract)

Icing:
1/3 cup of softened butter
1 pound of confectioners sugar
1/4 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Sift dry ingredients, cut in butter and add other ingredients. Blend thoroughly; chill for several hours. Break off a piece of dough the size of an orange and pat it flat in your hand. Using a rolling pin, roll on dough on floured board (best to use a 2:1 ration of flour/sugar - 4 Tbsp flour mixed with 2 Tbsp sugar) Roll out to about a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out and put on greased cookie sheet. Bake 5-8 minutes at 400 F. Remove the cookies from the oven as soon as you see them turning color at the base of the cookie. Let cool completely. Mix icing ingredients together until smooth. Separate into different bowls, add food coloring to achieve various colors. Spread on cookies with a butter knife, use cake decorating piping equipment to add decorative accents. If you want the sprinkle type decorating candies to stick, brush the cookie with clear Karo syrup and then sprinkle.
(recipe & picture from simply recipes - by elise)

Asparagus Frittata

photo & recipe from simply recipes- by elise
Serves: 4

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound asparagus, tough ends snapped off, spears cut diagonally into 1-inch lengths
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese

Heat olive oil into a 10-inch oven-proof frying pan over medium high heat. Add onions and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, about 3 minutes. Add asparagus, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, covered, until the asparagus are barely tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Pour in eggs and cook until almost set, but still runny on top, about 2 minutes. While cooking, pre-heat oven broiler. Sprinkle cheese over eggs and put in oven to broil until cheese is melted and browned, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from oven with oven mitts and slide frittata onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges.

Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas

1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sour cream
1 package tortillas
8 oz package shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 onion, diced
6 oz of fresh kalamata olives
4 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 4 oz can green chilies, diced
1 cooked chicken

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 

Mix sour cream, cheese, chicken, onions, chilies, olives and mushrooms in a large bowl.  In another bowl combine cup of the tomato paste and tomato sauce mixture.

Spread about 1 cup of the tomato mixture across the bottom of a 9x9 baking dish.

Spread the tomato mixture across each tortilla and then fill with cheese and chicken mixture. Loosely roll up the tortilla like a cigar and set it in the prepared baking dish, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Pour the remaining tomato mixture over the rolled enchiladas and sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of cheese on top. Bake the enchiladas for 25 minutes, or until heated through and the sauce is bubbling.

Spinach & Feta pull Apart

photo courtesy of Notebook Magazine

This is really tasty and great for a snack. It's usually gone within 15 minutes of coming out of the oven.

1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp dry yeast (1 sachet)
2 tsp salt flakes, plus extra to sprinkle
1 tsp caster sugar
2/3 cup warm water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra
2 cups finely shredded English spinach
150 g feta, crumbled

Preheat oven to 200C. Combine flour, yeast, salt, sugar and water in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Add the combined water and oil and stir. Turn on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in an oiled bowl. Cover with damp tea towel and place in a warm spot for 1 hour. Grease 10x20 loaf pan. Gently punch down dough. Knead for 2 minutes. Divide into eight equal portions. Roll 1 portion into a 10x20 cm rectangle, about 5mm thick. Top with 1/8 of the spinach and 1/8 of the feta. Roll to enclose filling.Cut in half width wise. Place side by side and cut side down in the pan. Continue with remaining ingredients. Cover and place in warm spot for 30 minutes or until dough has risen to the top of the pan. Lightly brush dough with olive oil, sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 180C and bake for a further 20 minutes or until bread is golden brown.

Mushroom & Onion Flatbread

This is amazing! It doesn't take long to make if you use store bought dough. We can't find it here in Australia so I always have to make my own.

1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp dry yeast (1 sachet)
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt
150 ml lukewarm water
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup red wine
1 red onion, halved, cut into wedges
15 slices sorpressa (cured meat from Portugal/Spain, available from delicatessens)
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
100 g fontina cheese, cut into cubes (any kind of cheese will do, we used Gouda)

Preheat oven to 220C (sorry you'll have to convert these to degrees). Combine flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl. Combine water and 2 tbsp of the oil in a jug. Add to flour mixture and stir to combine.Turn dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place dough in a clean, lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and set aside to rest in a warm place for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, place wine in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes or until they soften. Remove from heat and seat aside to cool. Drain and discard wine.

Turn dough onto floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Use rolling pin to form a 4mm thick uneven rectangular shape. Transfer flat bread to an oven tray lined with baking paper.

Arrange mushrooms and sorpressa evenly on dough, then scatter onions and cheese. Drizzle remaining oil. Bake for 15 minutes.

Cafe Noche

Serves: 2 drinks

1 shot Kahlua
3/4 shot Baileys
3/4 shot Tia Maria
1/2 cup coffee
1/2 cup heavy cream or 1 large scoop vanilla ice cream

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with 1 1/2 cups ice. Serve in martini glasses and garnish with a coffee bean.

Chicken and Rice

Serves: 4


1/2 package of onion soup mix
1 cup rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can water
2 chicken breasts, diced


In a 13x9 baking dish, sprinkle onion soup mix across the bottom. Add rice, cans of soup and 1 can of water and diced chicken. Stir through. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with aluminum foil and cook for 2 hours at 180 C.

Chicken Marsala

The key to this recipe is getting the best Marsala wine you can find


Shallots
2 chicken breasts
flour
Parmesan cheese
Marsala wine
1 cup chicken broth
**Optional: add fresh mushrooms when browning shallots


Brown shallots in butter. Mix cheese with flour, salt and pepper. Coat chicken in the mixture and brown in a little olive oil. Add lots of wine, chicken broth and a little of the flour mixture to thicken. Cook on low heat, covered for 45 minutes.

Mixed Onion Soup

This is a delicious recipe for those chilly nights. Served with lots of crusty bread. Serves: 2
20 g butter
1 brown onion, thinly sliced into rings
1 red onion, thinly sliced into rings
1 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup brandy (optional)
3cups beef or vegetable stock
4sprigs thyme
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup coarsely grated Gruyere
1 baguette (I've used regular toasted bread, almost as good)

Melt butter in large saucepan until foaming. Add brown and red onions. Cook for 10 minutes. (the longer you cook the onions in butter the more rich the taste of your soup will be) Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add brandy and bring to the boil. Add stock and thyme, bring to the boil. Reduce heat, stir occasionally for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Grill baguettes, sliced thinly. Sprinkle with cheese and green onions. Place in soup.

Annie's famous vegetable soup

This is the recipe that I make so much of I can't find a pot big enough. You may want to scale down on my quantities. I am guessing this makes about 12 serves.

2 yellow squash
2 small zucchini
1/2 white or red onion
6 mushrooms
12 broccoli florets
1 stalk celery
1 can stewed tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
4 cups V8 vegetable juice
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp vegetable seasoning
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
optional: 2 tsp cayenne pepper or a couple shakes of hot sauce

Slice all veggies. Saute onions, mushrooms, broccoli, and celery in olive oil over medium heat. Add in all spices and stir. Add remaining veggies, chicken broth, and V8 juice. Cover and cook on low heat for 45 minutes. Serve with grilled cheese sandwiches.

Beef Stroganoff

Serves: 2


12 oz beef tenderloin or sirloin, cut into bite sized pieces
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 tsp beef bouillon cubes
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 tbsp flour
1 minced garlic clove
1- 8 oz carton sour cream
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 cup pasta


Slice meat into bite sized pieces. In a small bowl stir together sour cream and flour. Stir in bouillon granules, 1/2 cup water and 1/4 tsp black pepper; set aside.

In large skillet cook and stir the meat, mushrooms, onion and garlic in hot butter over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until desired doneness. Drain off fat. Stir sour cream mixture into skillet. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Serve over noodles.

Chocolate Mousse

Serves: 6

12 squares semi-sweet chocolate
5 eggs
2 cups heavy cream, whipped

In a double boiler, melt semi-sweet chocolate cut into small pieces. Let it cool to room temperature and stir in 5 egg yolks. In a bowl beat 5 egg whites until stiff and fold 1/3 into the chocolate. Fold the mixture into the egg whites then fold in the whipped cream. Distribute into 6 martini glasses and chill for 1 hour.

Rosemary Bread

Makes 2 loaves
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons rosemary
2 tablespoons butter

Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl or food processor and allow mixture to become bubbly. Mix in 1 T butter, salt, and 2 cups of flour. Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in food processor about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add more flour if necessary. Oil a bowl, put dough in it and cover with a towel. Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled. Punch down dough and divide in half. Let dough rest about 5 minutes. Spray baking pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray. Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves. Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface. Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375° F. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Carefully remove from oven, brush with remaining butter and salt.

*** I love this bread but a few tips for next time:

• use about 1 more cup flour so it's not so sticky
• use another tbsp rosemary
• brush top with egg white to make it more crusty
• bake slightly longer (I had to guess since we have a convection oven)

Cheddar Soup with Tortilla Crunch

Serves: 8

3 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and very thinly sliced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups cream
6 cups grated good quality Cheddar
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin,
4 cups lightly crushed tortilla chips
2 cups store bought chunky style salsa

In a medium soup pot, melt butter. Add onions and cook 5 minutes. Add the garlic and peppers and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Add flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in stock slowly and stir in cream. Bring soup to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Stir in cheese and season the soup with salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin. Let soup reduce 10 to 15 minutes over low heat then serve with crushed chips and dollops of salsa.

***It was fabulous! A little time consuming but well worth it. I added one of the chili hot peppers I had grown in the yard along with jalapenos and cayenne pepper so it definitely had a kick! I wasn't sure how the dollop of salsa on top was going to taste at first but it was great. Next time I think I will add a can of stewed tomoatoes into the soup while it's cooking. I didn't read how much the recipe made so I followed it exactly. It made 8 servings so I have enough left to feed an army. I even ate 2 bowls since D challenged me by saying I bet you can't eat another bowl. So I ate it. And then felt like dying. It really is a very filling soup. We'll see how well it freezes.

Pico de Gallo

D and I bought a couple plants right after the wedding. We thought it would be fun to grow a few of our own herbs and peppers. With a little bit of watering, sunshine and tender love and care we have 2 thriving pots of herbs (coriander and rosemary) and 3 pots of peppers - banana, red hot chili, and jalapenos.

This weekend I decided to whip up some pico de gallo since I discovered that coriander and cilantro are the same thing. So simple and refreshing, perfect for summer. Here's what we used:

Serves: 2
1 tomato, diced
1 tbsp finely diced red onion
2 jalapenos, diced (or if you use ones out of the jar like we did, about 15 slices)
1 stalk fresh cilantro
sprinkle of salt and garlic powder
jalapeno pickling juice
4 shakes of hot sauce

If we could find habanero peppers here we would have used those since we like it spicy. Here's our jalapenos:

Vegetable Lasagna

Serves: 4

1 small eggplant
2 yellow squash
1 zucchini
1/4 white or red onion, finely chopped
5 mushrooms, sliced
1 box lasagna sheets- no cook
2 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I like Newman's Own Marinara Sauce)
1 large container Ricotta cheese (16 oz or so?)
Shredded cheese
1 bag Spinach
1 tsp Garlic
small hand full of Broccoli florets

Well-grease 2 bread tins, including the tops. In pan, cook spinach with 1 tsp garlic and 1 tsp olive oil until wilted.

Lay the lasagna sheets in the bottom, you may have to break them to get it to fit. Layer with ricotta, make sure to cover well.

Cut the veggies as thinly as possible. I do a layer of each type of veggie, and don't forget to include the spinach! You won't use all of the eggplant no matter how small it is. Alternatively, you could just use a few of the veggies in one pan and the rest in the other pan.

Top with spaghetti sauce and then with shredded cheese. Repeat until full with last layer being the cheese. Bake for 45 minutes at 350. Cheese will be golden brown.

Swiss Steak

Serves: 2 (maybe more, but we are big eaters)

4 pieces round steak
1 brown onion, quartered
6 mushrooms, sliced
2 beef stock cubes
2 cups water
flour

Flour each side of the beef and brown in a pan with a little oil. Place in large, well greased baking dish. Mix 2 cups hot water with 2 bullion cubes. Pour into baking dish. Add onion and mushrooms. Cover with aluminum foil or lid, bake for 1.5-2 hours at 300. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Moroccan Chicken

Serves: 2

2 Chicken breasts
olives
tomatoes (sliced, or use cherry tomatoes whole)
mushrooms
Parmesan cheese

Lightly grease 9x13 glass baking dish. Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper and cheese, top with as many olives, mushrooms and tomatoes as you desire. Add at least 2 tbsp of the olive juice. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 45 - 50 minutes.

I serve this with squash and zucchini that has been cooked in olive oil, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.