St. Patty's

Happy St. Patty's. I wanted to add a bit of the Irish to my dinner plans tonight (salads, whoa) so I did a little bit of research on Irish soda bread. Turns out that this is just a very basic quick bread (i.e. non yeast) that the Irish used as their daily bread, but did not require yeast OR an oven because most of them had neither. Rather, it uses baking soda for leavening and sour milk to help with the rise since it lacks yeast. 


Apparently, this dough used to be placed in a large dutch oven and cooked over coals since ovens were a luxury. Further, it is so simple to make because "luxury" ingredients such as butter and eggs were scarce as well.

I had never made Irish soda bread, but I think it was  literally the easiest bread I have ever made and it was so delicious. Bravo Ireland. Of course I had to serve my bread with some green beer, which I am convinced is an American tradition, but fun nonetheless. Lastly, how about some sugar cookies masquerading as good luck clovers? Yes, please. 

Irish Soda Bread

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 T white sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 T caraway seeds

Stir the milk and vinegar together, and allow to stand until curdled, about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Grease a cast iron skillet, if you have one. Otherwise a small baking sheet will work. 

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the caraway seeds. Gradually stir the soured milk into the flour mixture until the dough just comes together, then turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Knead a few times, and form into a round shape. 

Place the dough down in the cast iron skillet. Using a knife, cut an X shape into the top of the dough to help the bread keep its round shape. Sprinkle lightly with flour and a few caraway seeds. 

Bake until golden brown, about 40-45 minutes.

Now, onto the cookies. Let me preface this by saying that my husband and I like a drier, more crunchy sugar cookie, not a buttery soft one. So, I have cut the butter in half (yes in half), so if you like buttery sugar cookies, by all means use 2 sticks of butter!

Shamrock Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Chill dough for about 15-20 minutes in the refrigerator. 

Roll dough out on a lightly floured service and use cookie cutters to make shapes as desired. 

Place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 deg F for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely before icing.

I used royal icing, which is just a ratio of confectioners sugar and water (some people use milk, but I prefer water). I used about 1/2 cup sugar to about 1 T (cold) water. Drizzle the prepared icing over each cookie, spread it out with a knife or the back of a spoon and garnish with sprinkles.  You can also pipe the icing around the perimeter, as I did on a few.

Orange Poppy Seed Dressing

Okay, nothing special about the salad we had for dinner, but I did attempt a new dressing, a creamy orange poppy seed dressing. I rarely buy dressing and prefer to make my own and keep it in the refrigerator, but at one time I did buy this orange poppy seed dressing that was not creamy, but still pretty good. It tasted processed, as most dressings do, but good enough that I wanted to create my version. It is quite good!

Orange Poppy Seed Dressing

1/4 cup sugar

1 T cornstarch

3 T soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp sesame oil

2 T rice wine vinegar

2/3 cup water

Zest and juice from one large navel orange

1 T triple sec (optional)

1/4 - 1/3 cup light mayo + 1-2 oz. water

1 tsp poppy seeds

In a small pot over medium low heat, combine the sugar through the triple sec and whisk together just until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and cool completely. In a food processor, combine the sauce with the light mayo and water (adjust according to your preference for consistency and taste). Fold in poppy seeds and refrigerate.  

Spiced Apple Oat Bread

I had a plethora of packaged, sliced apples in the refrigerator that were quickly approaching their expiration date, so I decided to make a quick bread incorporating them. I took my basic recipe base for banana or zucchini bread, but added rolled oats and kicked up the spices. It turned out moist yet hearty...virtually gone within 24 hours...did I mention my household only consists of 2 adults and a one year old? ...

Spiced Apple Oat Bread

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground all spice

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup rolled oats

2 cups grated apple (I actually left the skin on mine)

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1/3 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 deg F; Grease a loaf pan.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice. Stir in the brown sugar, and oats. 

Add the shredded apple, eggs, milk, and oil. Mix until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into prepared pan and lightly tap to release any air bubbles. 

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until done. Let rest in the pan about 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.  

Pulled Chicken with Caramelized Onions & Kale Chips

I am normally am not so cavalier with my recipes, but I think this dish would be easier to describe in paragraph form than in a traditional list and method form. Basically, I wanted to make pulled chicken sandwiches out of frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts. As you can imagine, it is often difficult to imbue these type of chicken with good flavor, particularly for a dish that tastes best when the meat is smoked.

I decided to take the idea of smoking (placing meat over a bed of wet, fragrant wood chips and cooking it with smoke and indirect heat for hours) and translate it into something I can actually do on a week night for dinner. I took a large baking sheet and combined: a few cloves of crushed garlic, a lemon sliced, a small onion roughly chopped, a handful of parsley, a few bay leaves, salt and pepper and a healthy drizzle of olive oil. I placed a grill rack over the aromatics down in the baking pan and placed the chicken on top (seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil). I concentrated this "pile" of ingredients such that when I laid the chicken breasts over them all that good flavor would waft up and into my chicken. I made an aluminum foil tent over the chicken and baked it for 40 minutes on 350 deg F. 

After letting it rest for a few minutes, I pulled it apart with two forks...it was moist and so flavorful. While I was baking the chicken I tossed an onion in a pan over low heat with some olive oil and let them caramelize. For the sauce, I combined store bought BBQ sauce with some apple cider vinegar, tomato sauce, and a few pinches of everything rub (recipe here). This, to me, makes store bought sauce taste a (tiny) bit more home made... for one it is less sweet when cut with the vinegar and tomato sauce (I have also used ketchup).

A perfect accompaniment to pulled chicken sandwiches is kale chips, literally one of my favorite things to eat. It's like potato chips for those peace, love and granola lovers.

Kale Chips

1 bunch curly kale; de-stemmed, washed and torn into pieces

1 tsp kosher salt

2-3 tsp olive oil

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and toss to coat kale pieces. Spread in an even, single layer on a large baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes on 400 deg F until crispy (keep an eye on them so they don't burn!)