Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Below is the St. Paddy's Day Feast I cooked for my family today.  As I have a bit of the Irish within me, I love to celebrate the day. However, my daughter who also has a wee bit of the Irish within her, continues to remind me that St. Patrick was Italian.  Since we're both - then I guess it's still okay for use to celebrate.

For starters, I cooked Beer Braised Irish Stew. I searched high and low for a recipe and read all of the reviews before I settled for one.  Below is the recipe that I've adapted for my family.  The original recipe can be found here - Beer Braised Irish Stew

I also made Irish Champ and Cheddar Beer Soup (click for recipes) again I read the reviews.  With these recipes, I altered the soup by doubling all of the cheeses. Make sure you follow the recommendation to use a Pilsner.

 
For dessert, I traditionally make my scones or Irish Soda Bread, however I forgot to pick up apricots and butter milk at the grocery store, so it's mint chocolate chip ice cream made into Shamrock Shakes (ice cream, milk, and vanilla cream (used in coffee)).

Adapted Recipe

Image from Allrecipe.com

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
3 pounds beef chuck stew meat
6 ounces of Guinness Stout Ale (original recipe called for 12 ounces)
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup coarsely chopped onion 
1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped carrot (approximately 5 medium)
1 1/2 bay leaves (original recipe called for 2)
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (original recipe called for 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic minced
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until very hot, and brown the meat in 2 batches, stirring to brown the cubes on all sides. Return all the meat to the Dutch oven, sprinkle with flour, and stir lightly to coat the meat with flour. Stir in onion, carrots, dark beer, bay leaves, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, and cover.
3. Place the Dutch oven into the preheated oven, and cook for 45 minutes; uncover, stir the stew, and cook until the beef is very tender and the liquid is reduced by half, about 45 more minutes.

PW Strikes Again

I have to admit, I love watching Pioneer Woman. She has great recipes that are easy to re-create. Some do tend to be on the butter heavy side, but that is something that can always be reduced. And since we don't live on a cow farm, we aren't able to work off those pats of butter.

Last night I made PW's Patty Melt and Crash Hot Potatoes.  They were awesome! I hadn't had a Patty Melt in at least 20 years. For the Patty Melt, I did not put butter in the pan to fry the hamburger, but I did put butter in the pan when I fried the sandwich, but did not spread butter on the bread. I used about 1/2 stick of butter.

Here are the recipes:

Pioneer Woman's Patty Melt












Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes

Superbowl Sunday!

Well, it's Superbowl Sunday and while my husband and son will be watching the game, I'll be watching Downton Abbey. But that doesn't mean we won't be sharing good food.  For the day, I made chili, corn bread, brownies, wings, and gucamole with chips.

Chili is something that is easy to make, can simmer on the stove and snack on all day. Cornbread is a great partner for chili and I love how easy it is to make. For the brownies, I adapted Pioneer Woman's Knock You Naked Brownies -- we borrowed her Buffalo Wings and Asian Wings too. For the Gucamole, we made Wegman's recipe.

Here's PW's Knock You Naked Brownies recipe.  I adapted the recipe by using brownie mix (make according to directions), take half of mix and place in a 8 x 8 pan, bake for 10 minutes. Take 40 caramels and 1/3 cup of evaporated milk and melt the caramel and milk in a double boiler until smooth. Pour caramel over partially cooked brownie and sprinkle 3/4 cup of chopped pecans. Layer on the rest of brownie mixture and cook at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Chili Recipe (serves 4)
1 pound of ground sirloin
1 small chopped onion
1 can of chopped tomatoes (28 ounces)
1 cup of water
Chili Mix (1 TBLspoon cumin, 1 TBLspoon chili powder, 1 TBLspoon garlic powder, 1/2 TBLspoon onion powder, 1/4 TBLspoon red pepper flakes)

Serve with cornbread

Brown sirloin and onions until cooked. Add chili mixture and stir well to coat. Add tomatoes and water, bring to a boil.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Serve with cheddar cheese, sour cream and scallions.

Inspired by Pinterest!

I'm fairly addicted to Pinterest. I find great ideas, recipes, and images there daily.  Tonight I didn't know what to cook, so I went to my Favorite Recipe board and Dessert Board.

For dinner I made this delicious pasta recipe found on Goddess of Scrumptiousness' Blog

I wasn't sure if everyone would like it, but they did--even my son who wants steak for every meal.

This recipe is a keeper and will most likely be made on a monthly basis. 









For dessert, I made Easy Apple Cake found at Recipe by Photo's Blog

It did seem to be too sweet. In the future I'd probably mix about 1 cup cake mix with some cubed butter, apple pie spice, and oats.

All in all, a good, quick and easy dinner!

Holiday Season

We didn't have a great Christmas since my mother is so ill. So I didn't get to do my usual Christmas dinner complete with beef tenderloin, lobster, gnocchi, tiramisu, and so many other great things to eat.

So we spent the holiday in Michigan and we still had a great dinner at my parents, all of the family together except my husband and one of our children - this was horrible. We had ham, potatoes, corn, cheesecake, and other traditional Ayotte family foods.

Really, food does bring people together. Food and tradition. There are so many traditions we have that center around food and family. Every holiday, religious celebrations, birthdays. They make us commune together in order to bond and enjoy.

I try to think of things that we don't celebrate around food. It's hard, really!

What traditions are your favorite in your family? What holidays do you love to celebrate the most?

I love Christmas and Thanksgiving. Birthdays can be special too.

Blueberry Pie Reward!

My daughter's Varsity soccer team won the 2012 Sectional Title for CC in our region.  The only thing she asked for was my blueberry pie.  Now how could I refuse?  So, here's my Soccer Sectional Blueberry Pie recipe~

Recipe

1 Pkg of Pillsbury Pie Crust (why make your own when theirs is so good)
3 pints  plus 1 cup of fresh blueberries
1/2 cup of shifted all purpose flour
1 cup of sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoon of butter (I use unsalted)

Egg Wash
1 egg yoke
1/2 cup of milk (if you have cream - go for it)
Pinch of sugar

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees (I put in a cookie sheet to heat up with the oven)
In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, add sugar, flour and 1 cup of blueberries.  Sometimes in the winter I use frozen blueberries for this step.  Mix until the sugar/flour coats the blueberries and the mixture melts and gets this beautiful purple color.  Some of the berries will get a little mushy at this point.  Set aside and cool for about 5 - 10 mintus.

In a pie pan, I use my favorite Martha Stewart Pie Pan that is ceramic, put one piece of crust as the bottom and take a fork and poke holes all over the crust.  Even the sides.  This will help get a crispy crust that is well cooked.  Add the rest of the blueberries that have been washed and picked through and dried.  Take the blueberry/sugar/flour mixture and pour over the berries.  Lightly fold the mixture into the berries.  Cut up the butter in small pieces and set on berries.

Cover with other pie crust, crimp edges, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with a few pinches of sugar.  The egg wash will make the crust look so nice and brown.

Bake for 50 minutes, place pie on cookie sheet. I cook for 30 minutes uncovered, then lay a piece of foil over the pie so it doesn't get brown.

Cool for 15 minutes before cutting and enjoy!

Memories

I subscribe to Bon Appetite and was so pleased they featured a Boston Brown Bread recipe.  My mother used to make BBB and we'd enjoy it hot with a side of baked beans.  What I loved about the bread (beside the delicious, rich flavor) was the fact you cook it in a coffee tin.

Since I use a Kurig and do not have coffee tins in the house, I had to ask around work to find a couple.

Right now, my house if filled with a slightly sweet (molasses and brown sugar) scent of bread baking.  A perfect day for baking bread as Hurricane Sandy (my mother's name by the way, so especially apropo to make this recipe) covers our region with buckets of rain, wind, and cold.

Here's the recipe from Bon Appetite November 2012 issue http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/11/boston-brown-bread

Boston Brown Bread 

Recipe 10 servings Active: 20 minutes Total: 3 1/2 hours (includes baking and cooling time)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter plus more for serving, room temperature
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup mild-flavored (light) molasses
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rye flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup raisins (optional-I do not add)

Special Equipment Two empty, clean 11-13-ounce coffee cans Ingredient Info Rye flour is available at natural foods stores and some supermarkets. Preparation Preheat oven to 350°. Cut two 6-inch squares of foil. Coat insides of cans and one side of foil squares with 1 tablespoon butter. Stir milk and next 3 ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves and mixture is just warmed (do not boil). Whisk whole wheat flour and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add milk mixture; whisk until smooth. Fold in raisins, if using. Divide batter between cans. Smooth tops. Cover cans with foil, butter side down. Secure foil with kitchen twine. Place cans foil side up in a deep roasting pan or a heavy shallow pot. Transfer pan to oven. Pour very hot water into pan to come about 3-inch up sides of cans. Bake until a skewer inserted through foil into the center of each loaf comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer to a wire rack. Let cool for 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around edges of cans. Invert to release loaves onto rack. Let cool completely. DO AHEAD Bread can be made 3 days ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic; store at room temperature. Slice bread. Serve with soft butter.

Fall Cooking

Today I made a pumpkin soup that we loving call Harvest Time Soup. This is a family favorite and really takes advantage of fall veggies. You can purchase a cooking pumpkin, bake and remove the flesh to add to the soup. I've done this before, but the cooking pumpkins are not always available. So, to create the texture of pumpkin, I mix in butternut squash with canned pure, pumpkin puree. The soup can be rich and if you want to reduce the calories, you can saute the shallots in olive or vegetable oil, use evaporated milk instead of cream, and use turkey bacon (not a fav of the family). So tonight we will sit down to a hearty soup (perfect for this time of year), with a crusty Italian bread and salad. Yummmmm!

Bouquet of Wooden Spoons

I did some baking this weekend-banana bread, squash casserole, and tomorrow an apple pie. As I was mashing really ripe bananas with a wooden fork, but couldn't help but look at my bouquet of wooden spoons.  I love wooden utensils.  There is something about the touch of the wood beneath my fingers and how they do not burn you when you are cooking over a hot stove.  I keep them in a Peruvian water picture that is a family piece and makes a great holder for all of the spoons. 

Every where I go that has a home section, I look for wooden spoons.  I have bamboo, olive tree, cherry, and oak.  They come from all over, the latest (the honey dipper) is from the country of Greece and is made from an olive tree.  Every once in a while I take the time to oil them so they don't split and become brittle, but I do admit to throwing them into the dishwasher when I'm pressed for time.

What's your favorite cooking tool? 

Easy Breakfast!

So, I knew we had a soccer game on Saturday night at 7pm -- in Hornell (about 1 1/2 hours from the homestead). I also know that we like a nice, sit down Sunday breakfast.  I started searching for something that I could make ahead of time, like a strata or something. I have both of Pioneer Woman's cookbooks and had just watched her Saturday morning show, and had seen something of hers on Pinterest that looked delish, so I went to her website.

I settled on baked French toast. I love recipes you can make a head of time and just forget until you need to pop it into the oven.  Plus another reason to use my homemade vanilla!  You can adapt this recipe as well if you like pecans, walnuts, or even craisins in your French toast. (Pictures are from me, not Pioneer Woman-just to explain why they are so poorly done!)

From The Pioneer Woman - slightly adapted

Ingredients

• FRENCH TOAST
• Butter, For Greasing
• 1 loaf Crusty Sourdough (I used Pepperidge Farm)
• 8 whole Eggs
• 2 cups Whole Milk
• ½ cups Heavy Cream
• 3/4 cups Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
• Topping
• ½ cups Flour
• ½ cups Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• Freshly Grated Nutmeg, Optional (I usually have, but didn't have)
• 1 stick Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces
• Warm Syrup, For Serving
• Butter, For Serving
• 1 cup Fresh Blueberries, For Serving

Preparation Instructions

For the French toast: Grease the baking pan with butter. Tear the bread into chunks, or cut into cubes, and evenly distribute in the pan. Crack the eggs in a big bowl. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Pour evenly over the bread. Cover the pan tightly and store in the fridge until needed (overnight preferably). Or you can make it and bake it right away—delicious no matter what! For the topping: Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and some nutmeg in a separate bowl. Stir together using a fork. Add the butter and with a pastry cutter, and mix it all together until the mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.
When you’re ready to bake the casserole, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the casserole from the fridge and sprinkle the topping over the top. Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture or for 1 hour-plus or more for a firmer, crisper texture.
Scoop out individual portions. Top with butter and drizzle with warm pancake syrup and sprinkle with blueberries.