Ní hé lá na gaoithe lá na scolb.

That's an Irish proverb, meaning "A windy day is not the day to be fixing your thatch (roof)." (If google is to be trusted, that is.) Sounds like good advice to me. In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I'm putting up the following recipe, but just a warning/apology: I sent this exact thing out by email last year, so if you got it then, you've already seen it. But not everyone will have gotten it then (and I didn't make anything this year) so I'm posting it. Plus, it's totally repeat-worthy!

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While chocolate cake may not spring to mind as a particularly Irish dish, this one has Guinness in it, which is Irish enough for me! It is truly delectable - moist, rich, not too sweet.

CHOCOLATE STOUT CAKE
Bon Appétit September 2002
Servings: Makes 12 servings.
My notes are in green (but of course).

(** I halved the entire recipe and used two 9-inch cake pans. What's below is the original recipe, though, so adjust accordingly depending on how much cake you want. **)

Ingredients

Cake:

2 cups stout (such as Guinness) (which is what I used)
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (The recipe actually says Dutch-process cocoa is best, but I used my regular Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa powder and it was fine.)
4 cups all purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sour cream

Icing:

2 cups whipping cream
1 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghiradelli bittersweet chips)

Preparation
For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line with parchment paper. Butter paper. (I just coated my pans with baking spray, nothing else, and they were fine.) Bring 2 cups stout and 2 cups butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cakes to rack; cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.

For icing:
Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chopped chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Refrigerate until icing is spreadable, stirring frequently, about 2 hours. Place 1 cake layer on plate. Spread 2/3 cup icing over. Top with second cake layer. Spread 2/3 cup icing over. Top with third cake layer. Spread remaining icing over top and sides of cake. (** I put raspberry preserves in between the layers instead, then spread the ganache over the top and sides. **)

our annual New Year's Day (ish) meal

It's January 11th you say? Well, we didn't even eat this until Jan. 5th, so... that's just how I roll. But we eat this a few other times during the year, no need to wait till next January before trying it for yourself!

First, make a pot of black eyed pea soup. Then bake up some cornbread, and at the very end saute some baby spinach. Yuh-hu-hummy!

Black Eyed Pea Soup:

The soup is based on a recipe a co-worker gave me, and I changed it up a little bit. (I'm going to write it conversational style because I don't have an actual recipe.)

Chop an onion and about the same amount of celery and a couple cloves of garlic. In a soup pot, saute all that in some olive oil for a few minutes. Also, add a few twists of freshly ground black pepper and a couple shakes of red pepper flakes. After the veggies have softened a bit, add in one sliced link of kielbasa type sausage (the pre-cooked kind). Saute that for a few minutes. Then add in:

2 cans of drained & rinsed black eyed peas

1 can of drained black eyed peas with jalapenos (I don't rinse those to better keep the heat & jalapeno flavor)

3 cups water

1 cube chicken bullion

1 package of grape tomatoes, each sliced in half

And any more seasoning that you want, like I usually add more black & red pepper and some salt and some garlic powder. Stir and bring everything to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 25 minutes or so, till thick and creamy. (Like most soups, don't judge this one till it's done, the whole is way more than the sum of its parts.) Taste, and tweak seasonings if necessary.

Now, while that's cooking, make your cornbread. I admit here in front of god and everybody that I use Jiffy cornbread mix and I love it! So sue me. I do make a double batch in one pan to make it thicker and fluffier. I use a bit more milk than called for and start checking for doneness way before the recommended time. (Do not overbake! Otherwise it will get dry and icky.) Of course you should put a big ol' pat of butter on it before you eat it. I also like to take some and put it right in my soup.

For the spinach, saute a small clove of chopped garlic (or half of a large clove, don't overdo it trust me) and some red pepper flakes in some olive oil. Stir continuously and cook on medium for just a minute or two, till the garlic is softened and fragrant but before anything burns. Then turn the heat down to medium low and throw in a bag of baby spinach. Gently stir and work in all the spinach so it gets coated with the oil and wilts a bit. This won't take long at all, so watch it or you'll have a big pan of spinach mush. (I'd still eat it though, yum.) Remove from heat and transfer to plates. Sprinkle with coarse salt. I used some grey Fleur de Sel that I bought on impulse and haven't known what to do with. Crunchy!

The soup and cornbread are great leftover, but make the spinach fresh if you have this for a second night.

This is easy-(black eyed) peasy, delicious and hopefully will bring all who eat it good luck and prosperity in the new year. If nothing else, it will bring them a few minutes of culinary pleasure, Southern style. Happy New Year!

cranberry crunch cookies & italian cookies

So our office party was pretty small & quiet this year (we were hoping for better), and there was way more food than hungry people, so my cookies were largely untouched. Which sucks ass because I spent three freaking nights baking them. At least, everyone who ate them seemed to like them, which is cool since I crave that sort of validation. All the cookies are very good, you can't go wrong with any of these, assuming you like what's in them.

The cranberry crunch cookies are chock full of goodies: dried cranberries, toasted almonds, oatmeal, and graham cracker crumbs which gives them a fun, unusual crispy/crunchiness. Yet they're chewy at the same time. Like I said, unusual and fun. I found this one here on Cookie Madness; Anna links to the original recipe on her post. (Which is what I used.) The prep on these is a bit of a pain compared to some cookies, as you have to toast the almonds, grind up the graham crackers, zest the orange. But there's nothing difficult about any of it. Also, these are pretty sweet, so I might skip rolling them in turbinado sugar (though that lends a pleasing sparkle and crunch) OR I might just cut back on the brown sugar some, if I make them again. But they're not cloyingly sweet or anything, I just personally prefer a bit less sweetness.

And I found these Italian cookies here on Noble Pig. Are these the cutest cookies in the universe or what? OK, maybe not, but they are definitely the cutest cookies I've ever made. I have a thing for sprinkles, what can I say. The original recipe calls for anise extract, but um, no I did not want licorice flavored cookies under my sprinkles, so I used lemon extract in both the dough and the glaze. Also, I added the zest of two lemons to the dough. Otherwise I think I followed the recipe exactly. When dipping the cooled cookies into the glaze, I did about 5 at a time, then sprinkled, then repeated. You want to get the sprinkles on there while the glaze is still wet. Oh, and this is my first foray into Crisco usage. It's a super small amount when you spread it over this many cookies, and I wanted to get the texture right, so I figured what the hell. (I am usually a butter purist.) No regrets with that here, though I will stick to butter-based recipes most of the time. Besides being adorable, these taste great, and they make your mouth happy because it thinks it is eating a teeny tiny cake - WITH SPRINKLES!!

happy happy joy joy happy happy joy joy...

peppermint bark chocolate cookies

Well, the wedding I was in was a rousing success, I had a nice visit with my folks who came down for the weekend, I got all my shopping done (I think), and I made one out of the three cookie recipes I need to have baked for the potluck on Thursday. I probably should make the second recipe tonight, but it's already 10:00 and it's just not going to happen. I'm still feeling overwhelmed, but it's good to know I have accomplished something.

These cookies are really good. They pretty much taste exactly like you'd expect, in a good way. The recipe can be found here. No surprise that I did the "bark" the lazy way: used a scant half cup of crushed 'soft' peppermint candies* and a heaping half cup of white chocolate chips. (This dough is thick; I think my 20 year old hand-me-down hand mixer was about to overheat! Someday you will be mine, KitchenAid stand mixer... someday.) Keep the dough in the fridge between batches. All my batches were done in 10 minutes, which never happens when I make cookies, so be sure to check these at 10. Oh, and someone in the comments suggested adding a bit of peppermint extract but I did not and I would not in the future. Too much mint is overwhelming, the candy adds plenty of it, trust me. I got about 46 cookies or so. I will wrap these in wax paper and put them in an airtight container, then freeze till Thurs so they stay fresh-tasting. I'll try to post the other cookie recipes later in the week, but no hard and fast promises! G'night.

* Like these. They're hardish but sort of melty when you chew them. I wouldn't even think about using the totally hard kind; these were a pain enough to crush as it was. I unwrapped a bunch, put them in a freezer bag and went after it with a rolling pin. They crush better if you throw your weight into pressing the pin down on them, rather than bashing them.

spicy pumpkin enchiladas

I can't stand pumpkin pie. I don't know what it is, I like those flavors and I like creamy pies, but blech, something about it just wigs me out. However, I will pretty much eat pumpkin in any and every other way imaginable. And it's good for you, too - bonus!

I found this recipe where I find a ton of my recipes, from the Cooking Light bulletin board. I'm just a lurker, I don't need yet another cyber place to waste spend time posting stuff. If you ever want to kill a few minutes between projects, or just get some ideas for dinner, I highly recommend stopping by and browsing around. There's a link to the main page over there somewhere. ---->

These babies came from this thread; my notes and changes are below. You could do whatever you want for the filling, though beans and/or chicken sound better than beef or pork in this case, at least to me. The only thing that some people might have a problem with is that they're pretty mushy, esp. the first night. So if that bothers you, well you should try to get over it because these are so yummy. But if it really really bothers you, you might want to skip these.

SPICY PUMPKIN SAUCE/ENCHILADAS

1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
4 garlic cloves, peeled (I used 3 and it was PLENTY)
1 jalapeno, quartered (remove ribs and seeds for less heat, if wimpy)
1 tsp. chili powder (I also added a dash of cumin)
8 corn tortillas (6 inch)
Filling of choice (see below)
1-1/2 cups grated sharp white cheddar (or just enough to cover it)

Serves 4
* Prep time: 20 mins.
*Total time: 1 hour

Preheat oven to 425. In a blender, puree pumpkin, garlic, jalapeno, chili powder, 2-1/2 cups water, 2 tsps. salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper until smooth. (Hold blender top firmly as blender will be quite full.) Pour 1 cup of the sauce into the bottom of an 8 inch square or other shallow baking dish. (** I used a 9x11 inch dish, I think - I would NOT use anything smaller than that, it was FULL.)

Nuke the tortillas for a few seconds or dip in simmering water or whatever you do to make them pliable. Roll tortillas with filling: mound on half of the tortilla and roll up; place seam side down in baking dish. Pour remaining sauce on top; sprinkle with cheese.

Place dish on a baking sheet (I didn't, but remember I used a bigger dish); bake until cheese is golden and sauce is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool five minutes before serving.

FILLING: I used a can of black beans, drained and rinsed, combined with half a carton of Fage plain Greek yogurt, a small can of diced Hatch chilis (HOT of course), and about half a bunch of green onions, thinly sliced.

2 winners from Giada

The first recipe I found by lurking on the Cooking Light board, from this thread. That's also where I got the idea to serve it over greens; in this case, a mix of arugula, baby spinach, and herbs. It was easy and delicious!



Orechiette with Sausage, Beans and Mascarpone

Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 15 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 to 6 servings

1 pound orechiette pasta (I used whole wheat farfalle, and only 1/2 a pound which is plenty)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound turkey sausage, casing removed (I used 2 links of sweet Italian turkey sausage)
1 small onion, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (predictably, my store didn't have cannellini beans so I used great northern beans and they were fine - I'm sure any white bean will do)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves (I used dried, eyeballed amount)
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

In a large, heavy skillet warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and onions. Using a wooden spoon break up the sausage into bite-sized pieces as it browns.Continue cooking until the sausage is golden and the onions are tender. Add the beans and oregano cook for 2 more minutes. Add the cup of pasta cooking liquid and stir, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the mascarpone cheese and stir until it dissolves into a light sauce. Add the salt, pepper, and hot pasta. Stir until coated and serve. (And if you're me, sprinkle with freshly grated Parm.)

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I actually saw her make the second recipe on her show, which I hardly ever watch, but happened to catch for some reason. This one is also fairly easy and definitely delicious!

Halloween Spice Cake

Prep Time: 12 min
Cook Time: 50 min
Level: Intermediate
Serves: 6 to 8 servings

Butter (**)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan (** I did not butter and flour the pan, I just sprayed it with that cooking (baking) spray that has flour in it)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (um, yeah, I just used table salt)
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger (I thought I had some but didn't, used pumpkin pie spice instead)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice (omitted this but added a very small dash of ground cloves)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Powdered sugar, for dusting

For the cake: Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour (or spray) a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. (I like to use a whisk to mix dry ingredients.)

In a large bowl, beat the sugars, oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla extract to blend. Add the dry ingredients (in 2 batches) and stir (don't beat) until just blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake for 10 minutes. Unmold the cake and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar and cut into slices for serving.
(I think I had to bake mine for about 50 minutes for the center to cook completely. By that time, the outer edges were slightly burned. So I basically just cut the worst parts off. I think perhaps making this in a square pan instead of a loaf pan might help things cook more evenly. But I dunno. Still, very good overall and aside from the edges, it was moist as well.)

Oat & Toffee Grahams

Mmm-mmmm, my friends, these are a winner! I got the recipe from Culinary in the Country, one of my favorite cooking blogs. Joe's post about these, and the link to the recipe, can be found here. I followed his advice to brown the butter rather than simply melting it, and that definitely added an extra depth and yumminess factor to these bars. I also took his suggestion about the crushed salted pretzels as a topping (instead of almonds), which was inspired and delicious. Finally, I used semisweet chocolate instead of the bittersweet he calls for, as I was making these for co-workers and thought bittersweet might be too much for them. (However, if I were making them just for me, I would have used bittersweet.) One note of caution: do be sure the oat topping covers all the graham crackers, I did pretty well but left a few slim edges exposed and had to cut away some burnier bits.

These are decadent and pretty sweet, so pace yourself. A strong cup of coffee would be a perfect accompaniment, to cut/balance that sweetness.

These bars are highly recommended. Enjoy!

lemon cream scones

These turned out really well, and they're not difficult at all. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly, except I cut each circle into 8 mini-scone wedges instead of 4. Cut them before you bake them, BUT don't separate them. You're kind of scoring them basically. Mine took 15-16 minutes in a pre-heated oven.

They have a delightfully crispy crust and are soft and light inside. Serve them with butter and jam. We had some huckleberry jam that B brought back from Montana, yum! (And if you have access to a fresh steaming mug of cappuccino, it will only enhance the experience!)

Old-Fashioned Lemon Cream Scones
From The Best Quick Breads by Beth Hensperger

Ingredients:


2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
Grated zest of 2 lemons
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon mixed with 2 tablespoons sugar (optional), for sprinkling
** this is optional but I would not skip it!


Instructions:


Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. (I prefer parchment paper, love that stuff!) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt. Cut in the butter with a fork or a heavy-duty electric mixer (I used a pastry blender) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl or 1-cup measure, whisk together the eggs and cream. Add to the dry mixture and stir until a sticky dough is formed.


Turn out the shaggy dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently just until the dough holds together, about 6 times. (I just did it within the mixing bowl.) Divide into 2 equal portions and pat each into a 1-inch-thick round about 6 inches in diameter. With a knife or straightedge, cut each round into quarters, creating 4 wedges. The scones can also be formed by cutting the dough using a 3-inch biscuit cutter to make 10 to 12 smaller scones.


Place the scones about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the tops with the cinnamon sugar, if desired. Bake in the center of the oven until crusty and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately with butter and homemade jam, or cool on a rack and freeze in heavy-duty freezer bags for up to a month.

(These don't keep very well, so definitely follow the freezing advice if you don't eat them right away. I like the double-wrap method, basically I wrap them well in foil then put them into a freezer bag and seal tightly. If I use a freezer bag alone, things tend to taste plastic-y and not keep as well.)


Yield: Makes 8 scones
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raisins, violating innocent baked goods since 1923*

Ah, grapes... so luscious and satisfying, with their pleasing bite and addictive splooshiness.

And are any other fruits even capable of such a glorious transformation as this?

But friends, the raisins have got to go. For one thing, they are just dried up, shrivelled, dead grapes. But, they have another, more serious knock against them.

Behold the following scenario:





B: "Hark, m'lady, someone has dropped a raisin on our spotless** faux-wooden floor!"

S: "What ho, husband! How can that be? Let us seek a closer view."

B: "I do believe, fair wife, that something is amiss with this fallen raisin."

S: "Alas, husband, this is no raisin! Quickly, remove the foul object from our pristine** laminate planks!"

So do you see my point, people??

WHO THE HELL WANTS DEAD SPIDERS IN THEIR OATMEAL COOKIES???

* I just made that date up.

** Yeesh, I swear it looked clean from 64 inches up.

Post the second - where anything goes!

OK, so I posted this immediately after my first post, and I could have made it my first post, but for Very Important Reasons outlined in the previous - and first - post (see below), I did not. (There are far too many "posts" in this paragraph. Yick.)

When it comes to chips, I'm a flavor lover. "Plain" is lame. Nacho cheese doritos were an addiction for me as a kid, even the best tortilla chips aren't worth eating without salsa, and I will always pick cheddar sun chips over regular. So why are these old-school plain jane non-flavored ruffles that L left in the kitchen the best freaking thing I have eaten in DAYS???? Well, I'll tell you. Because I figured it out. It's because of the hormones. You just cannot appreciate the overwhelming and tremendous satisfaction that simple salty crispy fat-fried pieces of the lowly potato can provide until you have had the PMS. Sorry, guys. (Well OK there is another way but that is not the subject of this blog.)

* sigh *

Good stuff. I'm completely satisfied.




except...




well...





does anyone have any chocolate????