irish soda bread

a quick and easy recipe for irish soda bread packed with whiskey soaked raisins to help you celebrate today! it would be perfect with a cup of irish breakfast tea tomorrow morning, after a night of a few too many pints of guinness. the recipe is from this cookbook, a fabulous guide to baking all things bread which i'm sure we'll be posting many more recipes from soon. happy saint patrick's day!

Irish Soda Bread

makes 1 loaf

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup irish whiskey

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3 tbs sugar

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

4 tbs unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

3/4 cup plus 1 tbs buttermilk

soak the raisins in whiskey overnight or for at least 30 minutes. drain and set aside. preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. in a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking soda and salt. using your fingers, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. stir in the raisins. with a rubber spatula, stir in the buttermilk until just combined. knead lightly until the dough is smooth and fully incorporated. shape the dough into a 6-inch round and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. make 1/2-inch deep slits to across the top of the round, forming a cross. bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean. cool on a rack completely. this bread can be frozen for up to one month and reheated in the oven at 300 degrees F for 20-30 minutes. enjoy!

chocolate Guinness cake

this wednesday is one of our favorite food holidays - after thanksgiving, easter, christmas . . . ok, i guess most holidays are a great excuse to make something special and we really don't have a favorite! last year we celebrated st. patrick's day with colcannon and it will definitely be on our plates again this year with some corned beef, cabbage and a few pints of Guinness. this lovely chocolate cake combines stout and prunes for an extra moist and rich result. it's perfect with a little vanilla ice cream while sipping some irish whiskey after dinner! check back this week for a few more st. paddy's day recipes, including something to do with all that leftover corned beef.

Chocolate Stout Cake

serves 6

(adapted from gourmet.com)

1/2 cup stout such as Guinness

1/2 cup pitted prunes, chopped

1 stick unsalted butter, chopped

3 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. bring beer to a boil in a small saucepan and add prunes. remove from heat and let stand. melt chocolate and butter a little at a time in the microwave, stirring often, or in a heavy saucepan over low heat. sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick. add chocolate and beat until combined. reduce speed to low and add flour mixture. stir in prune mixture until well combined. divide batter between 6 greased 10-cm spring form pans, an 8x3-inch ringmold or a 6 cup capacity bundt pan. bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes. cool cake 15 minutes on a wire rack, remove from pan and cool completely. enjoy!

st. paddy's

this is a dish we made this year to keep in mind for next year's feast. hope everyone had a great st. patrick's day filled with lots of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and Guinness! if you have any leftover you should definitely try making patties and frying them up for breakfast. besides cabbage, the traditional recipe calls for other greens and what's used usually varies depending on the region in ireland it is prepared. we used spinach and it was wonderful but any combination of potatoes and butter is probably great. enjoy!

Colcannon

4 lbs red potatoes, partially peeled & quartered
12 tbs unsalted butter
1/2 head green cabbage, cored & sliced
2 cups chopped greens (spinach, parsley, kale or broccoli leaves)
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup milk, warmed
salt & pepper to taste
in a large pot, simmer potatoes until tender, about 30-40 minutes. meanwhile, bring 1/2 cup water and 2 tbs butter to a boil in a small pot. add cabbage and reduce heat to medium. cook until tender, about 15 minutes. drain well and set aside. in a large skillet, melt 2 tbs butter over medium high heat and add chopped greens and green onions. saute until just wilted, add cabbage and keep warm.
drain potatoes well and return to pot. add warm milk and remaining butter and mash with a potato masher, leaving some chunks. add cabbage mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste.