Foods Passion

Irish Soda Bread

June 2, 2013 in Bread | Tags: Irish soda bread, quick bread, soda bread | 2 comments

Well, I’ve missed an entire month! Life happens. Here is one of my all-time favorite breads, based upon Sunset Breads (Lane Publishing 1984). I should have posted it at St. Patrick’s Day as that is when I usually make this, but life interfered then, too. Ha!

Irish Soda Bread Recipe

4 to 4-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

3 tsps. Baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ cup sugar

1/8 tsp. cardamom or coriander (optional)

¼ cup firm butter

1 egg

1-3/4 cups buttermilk

In a large bowl, stir together 4 cups flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and cardamom (if used) until thoroughly blended. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until crumbly, In a separate bowl, beat egg lightly and mix with buttermilk; stir into dry ingredients until blended. Turn out onto a floured board and knead until smooth (2 to 3 minutes).

Divide dough in half and shape each half into a smooth, round loaf; place each loaf in a greased 8” cake or pie plan and press to make dough fill pans. With a razor blade or sharp floured kife, cut a 1/2” deep cross in top of each loaf.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven (350 degrees for glass pans) for 35 to 40 minutes or until nicely browned. Makes 2 loaves.

Stir dry ingredients together, then cut in butter. Mix in liquid ingredients. Remove to flour-covered board and briefly knead.

Divide in half and place into two greased pans.

Cut a cross in the top of each loaf with a floured knife.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until nicely browned. Served warm, it’s awesome!

Corn Pudding

April 29, 2013 in Side Dish | Tags: corn, corn pudding, gluten-free, savory pudding | 1 comment

This makes a great side dish to burritos or barbecue brisket. It’s based upon a recipe found at Food Network. I don’t have frozen corn, never have, but I try to have canned corn on hand for occasional use.

Beat 4 ounces softened cream cheese, a 15-oz. can creamed corn, a 15-oz. can whole corn, 1/2 cup cornmeal and 1/2 chopped onion.

Stir in 2/3 cup milk, 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1 beaten egg, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar, and salt and pepper.

Stir in 2/3 cup milk, 3 Tbsp. melted butter, 1 beaten egg, 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar, and salt and pepper.

Spread in a buttered 1-quart casserole dish and bake 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Spread in a buttered 2-quart casserole dish and bake 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Hamburger Buns

April 9, 2013 in Bread | Tags: hamburger buns, sandwich buns | 1 comment

I split and toasted these with butter, then piled on the pulled pork with barbecue sauce and sauteed sweet peppers. Oh, yummy!

Hamburger Buns Recipe

1 Tbsp. yeast (1 pkg)

1 cup warm water

2 Tbsp. oil

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

3 cups bread flour (apx)

Egg Wash (1 egg yolk mixed with 2 Tbsp. water)

Sesame seeds

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar. Let sit for a few minutes. Stir in egg, salt, and 2 cups flour. Stir and stir and stir. Gradually add enough flour to make a dough stiff enough to handle. Knead well. Once it is smooth and elastic, place into greased bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled. Remove from bowl and cut dough into 8 equal pieces. If you are making sliders, cut into 15 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and then flatten. Place on greased baking sheet (I fit all of mine onto one sheet, but I should have used two.). Let rise until doubled. This second rise will take about an hour. Carefully brush each bun with egg wash. Sprinkle buns with sesame seeds. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Sliders should take about 10 minutes.

Hasty Chocolate Pudding

April 6, 2013 in Dessert | Tags: chocolate pudding cake | Leave a comment

This recipe comes from Out of Alaska’s Kitchens (Alaska Crippled Children’s Association, Inc., 1961). My mother has a recipe in that cookbook, from when we lived in King Salmon in 1959, called Fresno Pudding. It’s a raisin pudding, similar to this chocolate one I’m going to tell you about, but so unctuously sweet that it makes your teeth hurt. I digress.

I’ve been dieting for months and had an unstoppable chocolate craving. I frantically whipped together this dessert and dove into it as soon as it came out of the oven. All better now. I like this dish because it’s one step, everything goes into the baking dish at one time, but it comes out of the oven as a cake with sauce.

Hasty Chocolate Pudding

Stir together dry ingredients:

1 cup flour

¾ cup sugar

1-1/2 Tbsp. baking cocoa

3 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

Stir together these liquid ingredients and mix with dry ingredients:

½ cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp. melted butter

Spread batter into greased 8X8” baking dish.

Mix together syrup ingredients: ½ cup sugar, ½ cup brown sugar, 4 Tbsp. baking cocoa, and 1 cup hot water. Pour over batter in dish. Do NOT stir. Bake 30 minutes in 350 degree oven. Serve with or without whipped cream.

Stir together dry ingredients.

Stir together liquid ingredients and add to dry ingredients.

Spread batter into greased baking dish.

Mix together syrup ingredients.

Pour syrup over batter. DO NOT STIR.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cake rises to top of dish and sauce lies beneath.

Serve topped with whipped cream, or not.

Shrimp Etouffee

March 30, 2013 in Main Dish | Tags: shrimp, shrimp etouffee, shrimp sauce | Leave a comment

I really like Shrimp Etouffee. This is a recipe I found at Cooking Melangery, which is a great website with wonderful pictures and unique recipes.

Heat a large skillet or Dutch oven and add the oil and flour. Toast this to a peanut-butter-colored roux. This should take about 10 minutes over medium heat. Be careful not to burn this. Stir often.

Add the yellow onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic. Saute for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Stir in the tomato paste, followed by the broth and wine. Stir constantly until this mixture thickens.

Add the remaining ingredients, except the shrimp, and rice. Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes.

Add the shrimp and simmer for 15-20 minutes, uncovered.

Serve over rice. Yum!

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. peanut oil
3 Tbsp. flour
1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 green sweet bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup dry white wine
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp. whole basil leaves
1 Tbsp. whole thyme leaves
1 Tbsp. plus 1/2 tsp Tabasco
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
4 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and uncooked
cooked rice for serving

Smothered Pork Chops

March 26, 2013 in Main Dish | Tags: mushroom sour cream gravy, onion mushroom gravy, pork chops, sour cream sauce | Leave a comment

The flavor was heavenly. Along with all the stuff going on atop my range, I also made Twice-Baked Cauliflower from Kalyn’s Kitchen and Crash Hot Potatoes from the Pioneer Woman. The meal was awesome!

Cut medium-size mushrooms into quarters and brown in butter and olive oil. Set aside.

Using the same skillet, brown sliced onions. Add to mushrooms and set aside.

Using same skillet, brown seasoned pork chops. Remove chops from skillet and set aside. Deglaze the skillet with white wine, scraping the crispy bits up from the pan. Let wine simmer and reduce for a few minutes.

Add pork chops to pan.

and cover all with mushrooms and onions. Let simmer until pork chops are cooked. It won’t take long. Remove chops and set aside.

Add sauteed mushrooms and onions. Let simmer until pork chops are cooked. It won’t take long. Remove chops and set aside.

Add about ½ cup sour cream to skillet and stir until well mixed. Let simmer to reduce a bit.

Add pork chops back into skillet and cover with sauce. Serve.

Here's the quick & easy info on Crash Potatoes . . . 1-Cook small potatoes. 2-Place on baking sheet coated with olive oil. 3-Smash each potato. 4-Sprinkle with salt & pepper 5-Bake high heat till crispy on the top.

Here’s the quick & easy info on Crash Hot Potatoes by Pioneer Woman . . . 1-Cook small potatoes. 2-Place on baking sheet coated with olive oil. 3-Smash each potato. 4-Sprinkle with salt & pepper & olive oil. 5-Bake 450 degrees 20-25 minutes till crispy on the top.

They are really, really yummy.

Tex-Mex Cornbread Casserole

March 24, 2013 in Main Dish | Tags: cornbread, ground beef casserole, Tex-Mex Casserole | Leave a comment

$Tex-Mex_Cornbread_Cass$

This was a standard dish at our house while I was growing up. I’ve tweaked it to make it my own. Many people buy a prepared cornbread mix to use, but it’s so simple to whip up a half-batch of cornbread that I don’t see the point in buying the mix. Also, I’ve started making my own taco seasoning and if you want to do that too, you can find a recipe online.

INGREDIENT LIST

1# lean ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes

1 4-oz. can chopped green chiles

1 14-oz. can kidney beans

1 pkg. (2 Tbsp.) Taco seasoning

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

½ cup flour

½ cup corn meal

2 Tbsp. sugar

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ cup milk

3 Tbsp. oil

1 egg

Fry ground beef, onion, and garlic together in oven-proof skillet. Stir in tomatoes, chiles, beans, and taco seasoning. Let simmer for a few minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in a handful of grated cheese.

In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, mix milk, oil, and egg. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture and stir just until blended.

Pour this batter over the top of the ground beef mixture as pictured. If you do not have an oven-proof skillet, you can use a greased 9x13” pan to place the cooked ground beef mixture and then pour the corn bread batter over the top.

Pour this batter over the top of the ground beef mixture as pictured. If you do not have an oven-proof skillet, you can use a greased 9×13” pan to place the cooked ground beef mixture and then pour the corn bread batter over the top.

$Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve.$

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve.

$Tex-Mex_Cornbread_Cass2$

Red Currant Tart

March 18, 2013 in Dessert | Tags: berry tart, meringue, meringue tart, red currant tart, red currants | Leave a comment

This was simple, it tasted good, and I will try it again should I come into red currants like I did last year. The recipe is based upon this one at allrecipes.com. I had some trouble with the crust sticking to the bottom of my springform pan and it took a lot longer to brown the meringue than I thought it would, but all in all, I call this one a win.

Note to self: It’s just occurred to me that a better way to make the crust might be like the crust of lemon squares, where you cut the cold butter into the flour mixture and pat it into the pan. The butter isn’t very well incorporated into the flour, but it works. I believe you would come out with a more cookie-like crust that wouldn’t stick. Yes, I think that would work better. Okay, talking to myself, for next time!

I pulled red currants out of my freezer and measured 2-1/4 cups, then let them thaw completely. Set aside.

To make the crust, cream ½ cup butter with ½ cup sugar and 1-1/2 tsp. lemon zest. (Out of lemons, I used 1-1/2 tsp. of dried lemon peel.) Add two egg yolks and mix. Stir in 1-1/2 cups flour and 1 tsp. baking powder.

Work the dough until it holds together and press into a well-buttered 10” springform pan. Chill for 30 minutes.

Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden yellow.

To make the filling, 2 egg whites until stiff. Gradually add ½ cup sugar and 2 tsp. cornstarch. Continue to whip until well incorporated. Drain the currants through a colander and gently fold into whipped egg whites mixture.

To make the filling, whip 2 egg whites until stiff. Gradually add ½ cup sugar and 2 tsp. cornstarch. Continue to whip until well incorporated. Drain the currants through a colander and gently fold into whipped egg whites mixture.

Spread filling atop crust and bake for 20 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

Let cool completely before sliding a knife around the edge and wrangling the tart out of the springform pan.

Everyone really liked the taste, not too sour, not too sweet.

Really yummy!

INGREDIENT LIST FOR RED CURRANT TART

2-1/4 cups fresh or frozen red currants

½ cup butter, softened

1-1/2 tsp. lemon zest

½ cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

2 egg whites

½ cup sugar

2 tsp. cornstarch

Ham-Cheese-Potato Casserole

March 16, 2013 in Main Dish | Tags: gluten-free, ham, ham and cheese, ham casserole, sharp cheddar cheese | Leave a comment

This is our ultimate comfort food. It is so, so good! This recipe is based upon one found in Betty Crocker’s Cookbook (1969).

Cut potatoes into 1” dice to make four cups and cook them.

I cover the bowl of diced potatoes and microwave for about 3 minutes, shake them around, microwave another three minutes, shake, and then 3 more minutes. So, microwave for about nine minutes total. But you may cook the potatoes however you choose, just don’t make them too soft.

Dice cooked ham into 1” to make four cups. Mix with potatoes.

In a small saucepan mix 1 cup cream with 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Heat and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is creamy.

Remove from heat and stir into potatoes and ham. Stir in 4 ounces of sliced pimiento.

Pour into an ungreased 3-qt. baking dish. I use the same dish to cook the potatoes, mix the casserole, and then bake it. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. I cover with my cute silicon cover which works in the microwave and the oven and then the dishwasher.

Serves 4.

I served today with BLT Salad and Creamed Spinach. Lots of comfort!

Ham & Cheese & Potato Casserole Ingredients

4 cups cooked potatoes, diced 1”

4 cups cooked ham, diced 1”

1 cup cream

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

4-oz. sliced pimientos

Spinach Salad with Anchovy Dressing

March 14, 2013 in Salad | Tags: anchovies, capers, spinach, spinach salad | Leave a comment

Don’t let the word “anchovy” send you over the bend. It’s the salty, spicy deliciousness hidden in many foods. The recipe is based upon one found in The Best of Food & Wine (1984). This salad is one of my favorites. It goes together very, very quickly. The salad is dressed with warm dressing.

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh spinach, rinsed, dried and trimmed

3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced

½ lb. mushrooms, sliced

8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

1 2-oz. can flat anchovy fillets, with 1 tsp. of the oil

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

2-1/2 Tbsp. red-wine vinegar

2 tsp. capers

1-1/2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

Place the spinach into a very large bowl. Scatter the egg, mushroom, and bacon pieces across the top.

In a small saucepan, heat the anchovies, anchovy oil, olive oil and sesame oil over moderate heat, stirring until the anchovies dissolve, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar, capers and mustard.

Bring the dressing to a boil over moderately high heat for about 5 seconds, drizzle over the salad and toss.

Foods Passion

Irish Soda Bread

Corn Pudding

Hamburger Buns

Hasty Chocolate Pudding

Shrimp Etouffee

Smothered Pork Chops

Tex-Mex Cornbread Casserole

Red Currant Tart

Ham-Cheese-Potato Casserole

Spinach Salad with Anchovy Dressing

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