Irish Mash

I don’t know how you make your mashed potatoes, but it used to be that I would make mine by peeling and quartering a bag of russets, boiling them, draining them, and then attacking them with a hand-held electric mixer. I would beat them to within an inch of their lives, funneling in butter and cream in the going. I did it this way because this is the way my mother used to do it. You see, back in the day, it was positively scandalous to have lumps in your mashed potatoes.

These days, I embrace lumps and call them rustic. No more do I want to get out the hand mixer, deal with bits of potato flying all over the kitchen, and then have to scrape it off the wall. Now, I mash them with a potato masher, and beat them as well as I can with a whisk. Someday they’re more rustic than others, depending upon my upper arm strength.

These potatoes, laden with deliciously sweet sautéed leeks and seasoned with a hint of thyme, are the perfect accompaniment to your corned beef dinner. They can be made ahead, scraped into a casserole dish, refrigerated overnight, and reheated the next day. If you have a difficult time getting vegetables into your family, mixing them into mashed potatoes is one sure way. Leeks are not without nutrition. They contain vitamins A, C, E, and B6, as well as calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, and are known for their antioxidant properties as well as being low in calories. Wow! So, stirring them into your potatoes is a healthy, as well as tasty and attractive choice.

Don’t wait until St. Patrick’s Day to enjoy them, they’re good anytime with roast beef, chicken, or fish.

Irish Mash

1/2  3-pound pkg. Melissa’s PeeWee Dutch Yellow Potatoes
1/2  6-oz. pkg. Melissa’s Cleaned and Sliced Leeks*

  2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse potatoes and place into a medium/large saucepan; completely cover with water. Bring to a rolling boil, and cook for 15 minutes until fork tender. Drain and return to pan to allow all moisture to evaporate.

While potatoes are cooking, melt butter in a 9-inch sauté pan. Add leeks and thyme, and sauté until leeks have softened. In a small saucepan, heat milk and cream.

Mash potatoes in any manner you like (I am a big fan of the potato masher/whisk combination), adding milk/cream as you do. Add seasonings and leeks. Stir to combine. Serve immediately.

   *If you are unable to find Melissa’s Cleaned and Sliced Leeks in your local market, use one large leek.

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O My Heartsie Girls Wonderful Wednesday
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Dishing It & Digging It

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ABC Salad

Sometimes (a lot of times) I have difficulty sleeping. I just can’t seem to shut my mind down. On those nights, when I have trouble getting to sleep, I think about a lot of weird things. The other night I was thinking about having a mystery dinner that would feature dishes that reflected titles of popular mystery novels. Having just finished watching Agatha Christie‘s ABC Murders, I decided that would be the name of my salad.

It is certainly easy enough to make a salad that contains three ingredients beginning with the first three letters of the alphabet. I chose three of my favorite salad ingredients, fresh apples, beets (in this case golden beets), and cubes of Camembert cheese. It was a delicious combination, not to mention packed with a nutritious punch. I was tempted to toss in a handful of walnuts, as I often do when I make a salad, but decided to leave this as is; I enjoyed it a great deal. It’s colorful, tasty, unique, and so good for you!

ABC Salad

1 container of mixed greens
2-3 Gala apples, cored and cubed
1 9-oz. pkg. Melissa’s Peeled, Steamed & Cubed Golden Beets
1 small wheel Camembert cheese, cubed
Your favorite vinaigrette salad dressing*

Toss all ingredients together, and serve immediately.

*I tend to use a raspberry vinaigrette anytime I have fruit in a salad, which is often. I like the tangy-ness of the dressing, and feel that it really brings out the flavor of the fruit. Here’s the recipe that I use, but don’t feel hemmed in by this, you can use any favorite dressing of your own.

Raspberry Vinaigrette

1/3 cup raspberry vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons sugar

¼ teaspoon dry mustard

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

½ cup vegetable oil

Place all dry ingredients into the bottom of a medium size mixing bowl and whisk together until blended.

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 Homestead Wednesday

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Lemon Pepper Leeks & Mushrooms

I go green crazy on St. Patrick’s Day, and like my meal to have green in every course from beginning to end. I tend to favor leeks around this time of the year, and if you feel the same, you will love this recipe that can be on the table in 10 to 15 minutes. One of the reasons it’s such an easy dish to prepare is because Melissa‘s Produce has done all of the work for you by cleaning and slicing the leeks. You don’t have to worry about storing unwieldy leeks in your refrigerator, spend time cleaning out the sand and grit, deciding what part of the leek to use, and then spend even more time slicing it; all of that has been done for you. 

This dish is pretty much just dump, sauté, and serve. If you like, you can buy mushrooms that are already sliced and use those to speed things up even further. This is one of those dishes where the flavors are subtle, but unique, and people tend to go back for more. You may want to double the recipe to be on the safe side. Should you have any left over (you won’t), it makes an excellent filling for an omelet.

Lemon Pepper Leeks & Mushrooms

1 6-oz. pkg. Melissa’s Cleaned and Sliced Leeks

2 tablespoon butter

1 clove garlic, minced

4 ounces mushrooms, cubed

2 tablespoons dry white wine

1/8 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes, or to taste

5-6 gratings from Melissa’s Lemon Pepper Grinder

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Melt butter in a 9-inch sauté pan. Add leeks and garlic and sauté until soft.  Add mushrooms, wine, red pepper flakes, and lemon pepper seasoning. Sauté until mushrooms are soft. Finish with lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve immediately. Makes 4 side dish servings.

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Leprecorn

Young and old alike are going to find this colorful popcorn a delight! The young, that is, if they can manage to get their hands on it, because, trust me when I tell you that it is addictive, and you won’t want to share. Employing the use of microwave popcorn, this goes together in a flash. It is colorful, tasty, and makes a perfect treat for St. Patrick’s Day. I like to put a colorful tin of it at each place setting of my traditional St. Patrick’s Day dinner.

Leprecorn

1 bag of microwave popcorn

1 cup mini pretzels
1 cup broken pecans
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 package Wilton candy melts, green

Pop popcorn according to microwave directions. When it is cool enough to handle, empty it out onto a sheet pan, spread it out, and pick through for unpopped kernels. You are not going to want to chomp down on one of those! Empty popcorn into a large mixing bowl, and add pretzels, pecans, and white chocolate chips. Melt candy melts in a microwave-safe bowl on high for 1-2 minutes, stirring at 30-second intervals until melted.  Pour over mixture, toss lightly to cover, and empty onto sheet pan to dry.

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Irish Guinness Brown Bread

It has been more than a decade since Jim and I were last in Ireland, but I remember it as though it was yesterday, including boarding a small plane in what appeared to be a sheep pasture. We had a marvelous time seeing the sights, and consuming a wide variety of foods. One thing I remember in particular, was the bread and butter. It seems that no one can do bread like the Irish. Slathered with a hefty portion of Irish butter it is this side of heaven.

Despite every effort, I have been unable to reproduce their wonderful brown bread, until now. Thanks to Ina Garten, delicious Irish-style Brown bread can be enjoyed at home, and trust me when I tell you that I have really been enjoying it, at absolutely every opportunity. Truth be told, it is so nostalgic and delicious that it is hard to stop.

Whether you’re planning an Irish dinner or not, you must try this delicious (and easy!) quick bread. It calls for no special equipment, just a couple of bowls and your hands for stirring.

Irish Guinness Brown Bread

From Cooking for Jeffrey by Ina Garten

1 cup quick-cooking oats (not instant), plus extra for sprinkling

2¼ cups whole wheat flour

¼ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed

2¼ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 (11- to 12-ounce) bottle Guinness extra stout beer, at room temperature

1 cup buttermilk, shaken

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for brushing the pan

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Salted butter, such as Irish Kerrygold

Preheat oven to 450° F.

In a large bowl, combine oats, flours, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the beer, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. With your fingers, stir the batter from the middle of the bowl to the outside, until it’s well mixed. It will look more like cake batter than bread dough.

Brush a 9 × 5 × 2½-inch loaf pan with melted butter (I sprayed mine with Baker’s Joy and it worked perfectly.). Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle the top with oats. Put the bread in the oven, immediately turn the temperature down to 400° F, and bake for 45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn the bread out onto a baking rack and allow to cool completely. Slice and serve with salted butter.

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Eating from the Ground Up, Recipes for Simple, Perfect Vegetables by Alana Chernila, Reviewed

Vegetable lovers take heart; there is finally a cookbook for you! Eating from the Ground Up, Recipes for Simple, Perfect Vegetables by Alana Chernila is a dream of a cookbook for those of us who dearly love our veggies. The entire time I was paging through this book, I couldn’t help but think of my late husband, who often lamented the fact that there were no good vegetable cookbooks around; he would have enjoyed this one.

From the mouthwatering photos to the delicious, unique, and varied recipes, this is the cookbook for which we vegetable lovers have long been waiting. This is not to say it is a vegetarian cookbook, it isn’t. There are numerous recipes that include bacon.  Neither is it lo-cal, as these sumptuous recipes often contain heavy cream and their share of butter. No, it is a cookbook that guides you through what to do with all of your favorite vegetables in order to create memorable and delicious side or main courses that will soothe your soul.

A valuable resource, it has a wonderful section at the beginning on how to wash, store, and make your vegetables last. This alone is worth the price of the book. If you have ever questioned how to store vegetables, within the pages of this book, you’ll find your answer. Chernila offers concise instructions on proper storage, dividing up instructions by vegetable type. Suggestions on where to shop for vegetables, information on food labeling, and tools that vegetable lovers are going to need are also included.

The book is divided into sections, as follows: Barely Recipes, A Pot of Soup, Too Hot to Cook, Warmth and Comfort, and Celebrations and Other Excuses to Eat with Your Hands. With spring in the offing, and summer to follow, I suspect that I’m going to spend a lot of time paging through the Too Hot to Cook section. The Zucchini Slab Fritatta is already calling my name, as well as Creamy Broccoli Salad, and the bound to please Tomato Cheddar Pie. Other sections offer things like Butter-Braised Cabbage (sounds perfect for St. Patrick’s Day), Ginger Pickled Carrots (that looks to be a wonderful picnic side), and there’s even a section on how to make compound butters to make your delicious fresh vegetables taste even better.

Dessert lovers there is something for you too, in the form of Cucumber Yogurt Pops (that look amazingly refreshing), Zucchini Chocolate Bread (need I say more?), and Butternut Squash Custard with Bourbon Pecans.  There are more desserts than these, but you’re going to have to get the book and see for yourself. This one is a winner!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Chocolate Pudding

As I mentioned in my review post of Daisy Cake Bakes (that you can read here), I tried the Chocolate Pudding. Never in my life have I had Chocolate Pudding that was this good. In fact, to call it Chocolate Pudding, is to underestimate its magnificence. I mean, who would think to serve Chocolate Pudding at the conclusion of an elegant meal? With this one, you can. This is the apotheosis of Chocolate Pudding.

It takes a little bit of effort, largely standing at the stove and stirring. Turn on your favorite program or music, and be patient, it is well worth it. The recipe states that it takes 8 to 10 minutes to become thick and bubbly. Using my gas stove, at the medium low setting, it took me exactly 20 minutes. But, I had the television on watching spring training baseball, so my attention was diverted, and it didn’t seem bad at all. What I ended up with was the richest, densest, most chocolatey chocolate pudding I have ever experienced in my life. It is so rich, that you can only serve it in small portions. In the photo here I used three-quarter cup ramekins, that was too much. If you have any adorable little dishes, get those out, spoon in the ambrosia that is this pudding, top it with a little whipped cream, and you have a delicious, elegant, and memorable dessert.

Chocolate Pudding
From Daisy Cakes Bakes by Kim Nelson
Makes 2 cups

1 1/2 half cups sugar
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large egg yolks
1 14-ounce can evaporated milk (I could only find 11-ounce cans, it worked for me)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a one and a half-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in the egg yolks and evaporated milk until smooth. Set the pan over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until thick and bubbly, 8 to 10 minutes (it took me 20 minutes exactly). Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla.

Put the putting into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, making sure that the plastic touches the entire surface of the putting to prevent a thick, robbery film from forming. Refrigerate until cold, at least three hours or overnight.

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