Irish Soda Bread

One of my favorite things to have with a hot steaming bowl of cabbage stew is equally hot and steamy Irish Soda Bread.  My favorite soda bread recipe includes butter milk and dried cranberries (Craisins), yum.  The butter milk not only helps the bread to rise but gives it a slight tart flavor which is balance nicely by the sweetness of the Craisins.  Crazy huh, just wait until you try it.  This bread is as easy to make as it is to eat.

Ingredients:

·         1 Tbsp of Butter

·         5 cups flour

·         1/3  cup sugar

·         ½  tsp. baking soda, make sure it’s fresh please

·         1 ½ tsp. salt

·         3 2/3 cup buttermilk

·         2 2/3 cups raisins or Craisins, which is what I prefer

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. With clean hands, rub butter on the sides and bottom of a 9” cast iron skillet.  I like to use a cast iron skillet because of the thicker crust and extra crunch you get form cooking in it.  And well, I’ll just admit it, cooking in cast iron is just more macho than a “cake pan”.

In a large mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients, including the Craisins. Once combined, slowly pour in the butter milk while continually string with a large wooden spoon.  You could beat a rock with my wooden spoon and I don’t think it would hurt it a bit.  Add a little more flour and kneed it until the dough forms a ball.  Don’t worry, it will, I repeat, it will be sticky.

Dust the entire dough ball with a light coat of flour so that you can move it without it sticking to your fingers then transfer it to your buttered skillet.  Gently press the dough to the edges then score the top in quarters with a sharp knife. 

Now you are ready to bake.  Place the skillet in the center of the oven and bake for 65 to 75 minutes or until the top is golden brown and it makes a hallow sound when tapped.  When done, remove your fresh bread from the skillet so that it doesn’t continue to cook from the carryover heat and let it cool for just a few minutes.

Now the fun part, slice it while it’s still warm and enjoy it with a hot bowl of cabbage stew.

Quick Chicken Bake with Rice

A quick work night meal that can be made in your oven proof skillet.  I really love to make this when I'm tired after work because I can just mix and match the ingredients, it's never the same twice and the kids chow down on it without a complaint.  It's also gluten and dairy free for those with food allergies.

INGREDIENTS

1 Tbl olive oil

1/2 cup diced onion

1/4 cup diced celery (optional)

1/4 cup diced carrot (optional)

1/2 tsp salt

pepper

6 Chicken thighs with skin and bones

Salt and pepper

3 1/2 cup chicken broth

2 cups medium grain rice

1 Tbl fresh rosemary or sage or thyme or 3/4 tsp Italian Seasoning

1/2 cup your choice of vegetable leftovers i.e. mushrooms, diced potatoes, peas, peppers etc.

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  

Sauté onion, celery and carrot in olive oil in your oven proof skillet over medium heat around 8 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  When done remove onion mixture from skillet and set aside. Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Brown chicken over medium high until brown and crisp on all sides.  Remove from skillet.  Deglaze pan with 1/2 cup of chicken broth, add rest of chicken broth and rice.  Stir in onion mixture, herbs and  leftover vegetables.  Bring broth to a boil.  Add in chicken.  Cover skillet with a lid and place in 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until internal temperature of chicken is 180 degrees.  

Bratwursts

If I'm using the grill you can almost always bet that I'm cooking up some brats(bratwursts). They are my favorite food that you put on the grill and when paird up with some sauted onion almost noting can beat them.

So to start out I put some chicken broth in a pot bring it to a boil and then reduce heat to low. I then cook the brats in the broth and cook for 15 minuits.

After the brats have cooked in the broth for about 15 minuits I move them to the grill. I like my grill to be somewhear between 450 and 600 degrees. Put the brats on and cook them untill they are at 160 degrees or untill the ends are starting to pop open. Make sure you remember to flip them over so they can be evenly cooked.

Fruit Salad

A great side to your popcorn is fruit salad and it is just as easy to make as popcorn. All you need to do is take all of your favorite fruits cut them up and put them in a bowl together.

Now, that alone wont make a great salad but if you take some vannila pudding and mix it up with your fruit that will make a great salad.

You can either just take half a pack of the instant pudding mix and mix it up dry or you can make the pudding. If you make the pudding before you put it in it has a much smoother flavor.

Popcorn

Popcorn is a greatsnack for watching movies but sometimes the microwave popcorn can get a bit heavy so I am goint to tell you how to make some really great popcorn for less.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbl. butter
• 1 Tbl. olive oil
• 1/4 cup yeast
• salt to taste

Take all of your ingredients and mix them up with your popcorn.

Holliday Nog

This is one of my favorite drinks of all time and it is really easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces silken tofu
• 1 very ripe banana
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nnutmeg
• 1 cup almond milk, soy milk or rice milk (for nut-free)
• 1 cup rice milk
• 1 1/2 cups soy milk

Take all of your ingredients and blend them up in your mixer untill smooth.

This makes about a quart and will last in your refrigerator for only 2 days so be sure to drick it up quickly.

Eggs

I tend to eat a lot of eggs for breakfeast and I am going to tell you my favorite way to make them.

Heat your pan up to medium and put some butter in the  bottom.

Take your egg, crack it and put it in your pan. Tak a knife and cut the yoke so it bleeds all over your eggwhites. Put some water in the pan so that the steam help it cook and then put a lid on your pan.

Cook untill the yoke is however you like your yokes.

Grilled Penutbutter Sandwiches

If you're like me you will like to be able to make delcious but easy things to make for snacks and I find that a grilled penutbutter sandwich can almost always hit the spot.

To start out you need penutbutter two slices of bread and butter.

Heat up your pan (I use an egg pan) at about medium heat.

To start off you can butter the out side of your bread but I have found an easier way to butter my bread. You put your penutbutter on you bread like you're making a PbJ sandwich.

Next you put your butter in the bottom of your heated pan untill there is a small pool of butter.

Put your sandwich in and grill untill perfect ( perfect is however dark/light you like your toasting).

Make sure you put more butter in the pan when you flip your sandwich over.

Salad with Balsalmic Vineger and Olive Oil

To make one of the simplest and most delicoius slads you'll ever have you just need a few of these items.



Greens:

• Arugula
• Baby Red Swiss Chard
• Frisee
• Red Iak Leaf Lettuce
• Tango
• Raddicchio
• Mache
• Baby Spinach
• Green Romaine
• Red Romaine
• Green Oak Leaf Lettuce

Dressing:

• Basalmic Venneger (I prefer 18 year aged)
• Olive Oil
• Some Salt

To start out you should wash your greens and let them dry. When your green are completely dry you mix them up in a bowl and add basalmc vinger and olive oil to your salad and mix it up. I like the flavor of basalmic vineger so i always add more of it than I do Olive Oil.

For best flavor grow your own green or buy them fresh from a farmers market.

Bacon Wrapped Lit'l Smokies

 

These are a great party snack and will make everyone in your house happy to be there.

They are a little sausage that has been wrapped in bacon (every mans dream) and are uber delicious

Ingredients:

• Bacon
• Lit'l Smokies(Little Sausages)
• Brown  Sugar

Pre-Heat your Oven to 425

Par-Cook your baco(partialy cooked)

Cut each slice of bacon in half then coat in brown surgar(When put in the oven the brown sugar will caramelize and be really yummy)

Wrap the bacon halves arround the sausages(one half per sausage) and then use a tooth pick to hold the bacon to the sausage

Put the bacon-sausages in a broiling pan and cook 8-10 minuits on each side or untill crispy
 

Foods I Like

Today I am going to tell you about some of my favorite foods. I am going to give them in the categories of appetizers, entrees, desserts,breakfast, and snacks.

My favorite appetizers are:

• Fresh green salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing
• Calamari
• A cup of French Onion Soup
• A cup of Clam Chowder

My favorite entrees are:

• Pizza
• Cannon-bowl (clam chowder in a hollowed out loaf of bread)
• Steak with Johnny's seasoning salt
• Salmon
• Rock Fish
• Hamburger (accept portabella mushroom burgers)

My favorite desserts are:

• Classic Creme Brulee
• Bailey's Irish Cream Creme Brulee
• Ice Cream
• Gelato

My favorite breakfast foods are:

• Bacon/sausage and eggs
• Cinnabon/Cinnamon Rolls
• Lucky Charms
• Cinnamon Toast
• Cheese Omelets
• Steak

My favorite snacks are:

• Pizza
• Cold Cereal
• Graham Crackers with Vanilla Frosting
• Potato Chips

These are just some of my favorite foods and I hope that they are some of your favorite foods to.

Pumpkin Pudding

During Thanksgiving I do a lot of cooking and I am going to give you one of my favorite pumpkin desserts. It is a pumpkin pudding recipe that I got from a website called AllRecipes. This site is allot like Epicurious and has a lot of really good recipes.

The ingredients you need are:

15 oz. can pumpkin puree
2 beaten eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. fresh grated ginger
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. cinnamon
12 oz. evaporated milk
1 package yellow cake mix
1/3 cup butter

Preheat your oven to 350. It's usually best to preheat your oven before you start mixing your ingredients so you're not waiting for your oven to heat up after you've mixed up your ingredients.

So to start out you need to mix your pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, salt, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and evaporated milk until it is smooth. One your batter is smooth you pour it into a 9x13 baking dish.

Next you are going to make the topping. Now the recipe tell you to evenly spread the cake mix over the batter then melt your butter and pour it over the cake mix but I find that when I do it that way the topping is hard in some places and crumbly in other places. What I do is I take the butter while it is still cold and but it into the cake mix and then spread the butter/cake mix over the batter.

To cook the pudding you put it in your oven (that you have already preheated) for 30-35 min. until golden brown on top. When done you let it cool uncovered and then put it in the fridge so that you can serve it cold with whip cream on top.

And now you too can make a delicious pumpkin pudding that will make everyone at the table drool.

Pancakes

I don't know about you guys but I love pancakes. Today I am going to tell you how to make pancakes. This recipe is from a cookbook called "Better Homes and Garden" it is another source I use to get a lot of my recipes. So to start out you need to make sure that you have:

1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
 1 egg
1 cup of milk
2 tablespoons of cooking oil

To start out you put all of your dry ingredient into a bowl and mix them up. Now when you mix up your dry ingredients you should put it through a sifter to evenly mix up your dry ingredients but I find that this takes up time so I put the ingredients into the bowl one at a time and use a whisk to mix the ingredients up after I add each one.


Now it's time to add the liquids. There's no special way you should add the liquids but sometimes it helps if you mix up your egg before you put it in with the rest of the ingredients if they are cold.

When you're done mixing everything up it's time to cook your pancakes. Depending on what size of scoop you're using you will get a different amount of pancakes. I prefer to use a 1/4 cup scoop because I think that it makes the perfect size of pancake. Your griddle should be at about 400 degrees and if you're not sure whether it’s hot enough just drop some water on it and if it sizzles out the griddle is hot enough. When cooking your pancakes people say to flip them when all the bubbles on the top have popped but I just carefully lift one edge of the pancake up to see if it is golden brown.

These pancakes are kind of bland so if you added some cinnamon or another sweet tasting spice it should make them taste great.

You will get 8-10 pancakes if you use the 1/4 cup scoop to scoop your batter with.
 

Food Sources

Today I am going to talk about where I like to get my recipes. There are several sites that are pretty good at giving you great recipes but I am just going to tell you about my favorite site. My favorite site is called Epicurious. This website is full of recipes and variants of the same recipe. A lot of people use this site and they put put reviews of the recipes that they use and give suggestions of how to make the recipes better. I find that this site is pretty easy to use and has great recipes. Epicurous has a mobile app that's great because I can then move my recipe around the kitchen without taking up too much counter space. when you log on to the mobile app you will see different tabs that you can choose. Sometime the tabs will give you options on foods that are seasonal. Right now all the tabs are for Thanksgiving foods. I think that Epicurious is great and is a tool that anyone who is cooking should use. For most of these blog posts I am going to be getting of my recipes from Epicurious.