Waaaaaaaay Better Irish Soda Bread!

4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons frozen unsalted butter, grated
1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk, shaken
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup dried raisins, tossed in 1 Tablespoon flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

 Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is thoroughly mixed into the flour.

Lightly beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest together in a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Combine the currants with 1 tablespoon of flour and mix into the dough. It will be very wet.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead gently into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.

Cool on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

To make half-loaf*:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons frozen unsalted butter, grated
7/8 cups cold buttermilk, shaken**
1 small egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 cup dried raisins, tossed in 1/2 Tablespoon flour

Follow the directions as stated above, but bake for 35-40 minutes.

*Why would you want a half-loaf? Well, other than maybe you don't need a giant loaf, you may want to make one loaf with raisins, and one loaf without.

**The easiest way I have found to measure this is to just eyeball half-way between 3/4 cup and 1 cup.

Based on this recipe.

Corned Beef and Cabbage (twi ways)

Now we come to the Corned Beef and Cabbage. For years we did it this way—the boiled method:

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Horseradish Sauce

1 onion
4 whole cloves
4-lb. Corned beef
2 sprigs parsley
8 whole peppercorns
1 head cabbage, 2½ to 3 lbs.
1 cup sour cream
1 T prepared horseradish

Peel onion and stick with cloves. Put corned beef, onion, parsley and peppercorns in a large pot and cover with water. Cover, bring to a simmer and cook gently until tender, 2½ to 3 hours. Cut cabbage into wedges and core. Add to the pot, cover and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Combine sour cream with horseradish. Serve the meat and cabbage with some of the broth ladled over all the horseradish sauce on the side.

But this year, I tried a baked corned beef and sautéed cabbage recipe. It’s a slight variation from one posted on simplyrecipes.com, which did a great job comparing boiled and baked/sautéed. We really liked it, and I think we’ll be making a permanent switch.

Corned Beef (baked)
Corned beef (in package)
10 whole cloves

Mustard topping
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 T yellow mustard
2 T honey
Pepper
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 300°F. Drain the corned beef from the package and discard the spice packet. Line a 13x9 baking pan with foil. Put in the corned beef, fat side up. Poke cloves into the top of the meat—I needed to pierce it with a sharp knife first, then the cloves would go in. Spread half of the mustard topping on top of the meat. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top.

Take another piece of foil and tent it over the top and seal the sides. Try to leave space between the top of the meat and the foil. Bake 1 hour per pound of meat.

Remove from oven and move rack up and turn to Broil. Take off the top piece of foil (or just tear it off) and spread the rest of the mustard (or however much you want) on top. Broil for 2-3 minutes, until the top is bubbly and lightly browned. Rest 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Cabbage (Sautéed)

1 T Olive oil
1 T butter
½ Vidalia onion, chopped
1 clove minced garlic
½ head cabbage, thinly sliced, then chopped to bite-size pieces
Salt

In a large sauté pan, on medium high heat, heat the oil and butter and cook the onions for about 5 minutes (don’t let it brown). Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add a third of the cabbage, sprinkle with salt, mix well. When the cabbage begins to brown, add another third of the cabbage, sprinkle with salt, mix well. When it again begins to brown, add the last batch of cabbage, sprinkle with salt, let it brown a little, and then you’re good to go. Add more olive oil if it gets things get sticky.

Champ

Champ

3 lbs boiling potatoes
8 scallions
6 T butter
Salt and Pepper
6 T milk

Cut potatoes in chunks. Put in a large pot with salted water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 25 minutes. Slice scallions, including green tops. Melt butter in pan you cooked potatoes in. Cook scallions. Mash potatoes with butter, salt and pepper, and milk. Combine with scallions.

Champ is just mashed potatoes with green onions mixed in. Don’t ask me why they call green onions scallions, but the picture showed green onions in the potatoes. We like smashed (cooked, but not peeled) red potatoes at our house, and kids don’t like the onions mixed in, so I just sprinkle some on top for looks.

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread
(Before you make this one, check this one out.)

3 c flour
1½ t baking soda
¾ t salt
½ t baking powder
1¼ t whole caraway seeds
6 T butter
1¼ c plus 1 T buttermilk
1 egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, soda, salt, baking powder and 1 t of the caraway seeds. Cut in butter until it is the size ofg peas. Stir in 1¼ c of the buttermilk until ingredients are well-moistened. Turn dough out onto a work surface and knead until smooth, about 1 minute. Form dough into a ball and put on an ungreased baking sheet. Beat egg with remaining 1 T butermilk and brush dough with some of this glaze. Sprinkle with remaining ¼ t seeds. Cut a ¼"-deep cross in the top. Bake until golden, about 1 hour 15 minutes. After 1 hour, brush with more glaze. Cool completely before serving.

Per Slice: Cal. 219; Pro. 6g; Fat 8g; Sod. 330mg; Carb. 30g; Chol. 41 mg.

Green-Pea Soup with Mint

Green-Pea Soup with Mint

1 onion
3 T butter
2 T olive oil
3 10-oz pkgs frozen peas
4½ c chicken stock or broth
1 c water
1 t salt
¼ t pepper
2 t chopped fresh mint or ¾ t dried mint

Chop onion. Melt butter with oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add peas, stock, water, salt and pepper. Simmer 20-25 minutes. Add mint and puree soup in a blender or food processor, in batches if necessary. CAUTION: When blending hot mixtures, always leave an opening at top for air to escape! If possible, let soup cool before blending. When ready to serve, simmer until heated through.

Prep Time: 45 min.
Number of Servings: 8
Per Serving: Cal. 171; Pro. 7g; Fat 9g; Sod. 425mg; Carb. 16g; Chol. 12mg

I really try to make this a day ahead. I also use an immersion blender to puree the soup—one of the best tools out there. Fun Fact: This is what David asked for when someone very nice asked him what dish from home he'd like for Christmas Dinner.