Irish Soda Bread

Confession #1: I am not Irish.

Confession #2: This is the first Irish Soda Bread recipe that I have made, or even tasted.

Confession #3: I am listening to "Sherry" by Frankie Valli as I type this. (I also may or may not have taught my children to sing "Big Girls Don't Cry.")

Okay, so that third confession was completely random, but the first two do have a point.

That point is, I may not be an expert on Irish Soda Bread. I don't know if this is the most authentic recipe, or even if this is the most delicious version out there, but I do know three things.

#1: It was pretty stinking good!

#2: It was easy!

#3: Nathan is hilarious when he sings "Cry-yi-yi" (see Confession #3 above if you have no idea what I am talking about).

What does this mean (besides the fact that my son will most likely grow up to be embarrassed to be seen in the same room as me)? Well, it means the recipe is blog-worthy! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Click here for the entire St. Patrick's Day menu and shopping list.

I adapted this recipe from one found on allrecipes.com.


printable recipe

Irish Soda Bread

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375F. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and 1/2 cup butter. I used my stand mixer on low speed for this. Stir in the egg, 1 cup buttermilk, and the raisins. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead lightly, and form into a round loaf-shape.

Place dough onto a greased baking sheet. Combine the melted butter and remaining buttermilk and brush onto the dough.

With a sharp knife, cut an X into the dough.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, brushing occasionally with butter mixture, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool then cut into wedges and serve.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

This was my first attempt at making (and eating) Corned Beef and Cabbage. I was a little nervous, but it turned out so good! I purchased a 3 lb flat cut (versus point cut) corned beef brisket with spice packet and ended up with 4 hearty servings of food. As in it fed myself, my husband, our two kids, and two very hungry 19 year old missionaries, with just a couple of bites to spare.

Click here for the entire St. Patrick's Day menu and shopping list.

I adapted this recipe from one found on allrecipes.com.

printable recipe

Corned Beef and Cabbage

3 lb corned beef brisket with spice packet
10 small red potatoes
5 carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces (or half a bag of baby carrots)
1 head cabbage, cut into wedges

Place corned beef into a large pot or dutch oven and cover with water. Sprinkle with the spice packet and place lid on pot. Bring contents to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. When the meat has about 45 minutes left, add the whole potatoes and the cut carrots.

Cover and cook until the potatoes are almost fork tender. Remove the meat and let rest on a plate, covered, for 15 minutes. Add the cabbage to the pot of vegetables, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Place the cabbage in a bowl.

Slice the meat and arrange the potatoes and carrots around it. Serve with the cabbage.

St. Patrick's Day meal plan

Every year I tell myself I will make a St. Patrick's Day themed dinner in March, yet somehow March 17 always comes and goes with no corned beef with cabbage or festive green dessert. Well, my friends, I am happy to report that this year I made my St. Patrick's Day meal! It was terrific! And I even made it a couple of days early in case any of you might feel inspired to follow my lead and make your own Irish meal.

Here is what we served:

Corned Beef with Potatoes and Carrots

Cabbage

Irish Soda Bread

Grasshopper Bars










We also served a side of fruit. I will be posting the recipes, last one on Thursday (St. Patrick's Day) morning, so if you would like have your own feast, pick up these ingredients:

printable list

Fresh:
10 small red potatoes
5 carrots
1 head of cabbage
1/3 cup raisins
fresh fruit (whatever you like, get what's on sale!)
3 lb corned beef brisket with spice packet
buttermilk (1 1/4 cup total)
1 lb (4 sticks) butter
3 eggs
3 oz cream cheese

Pantry:
flour
white sugar
powdered sugar
baking soda
baking powder
salt
mint extract
green food coloring
canola oil
chocolate chips (1 cup or 6 oz)
1 brownie mix

Chicken-Fried Steak

Continuing on in the theme of Pioneer Woman recipes, we made Chicken-Fried Steak last night for dinner.

My husband declared it "comfort food at its finest" and two of us practically licked our plates clean. It was very very good, although not something which I will be able to justify the calories for again for at least awhile.

I was surprised how easy it was to make however! We served the Chicken-Fried Steak with mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus. The great thing about this recipe is that you can adjust it to serve as many or as few people as you like, but here are instructions for feeding four.

printable recipe
Chicken-Fried Steak

4 cube steaks
1 egg
1/2 cup milk, plus 2 cups for gravy
1 1/2 cups flour, plus about 1/3 cup for gravy
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup canola oil for frying

Place the steaks on a plate and season with salt and pepper.

Whisk the egg and 1/2 cup milk together in a bowl. In another bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups flour with the seasoned salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Set out an extra clean plate.

Dip the steaks in the egg/milk mixture, dredge in flour, dip again in egg/milk, then dredge again in flour. Set on clean plate.

Heat the oil in a large skillet or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. When a little flour sprinkled in the oil sizzles, fry steaks up to 3 at a time. Cook on one side until the edges start to look golden brown, about 2 1/2 minutes.

Turn over and cook for an additional 2 or 3 minutes, until the other side is golden.

Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and keep warm. Now is the fun part- making the gravy!

Pour the grease into a clean bowl. Without cleaning the pan, return it to the stove over medium-low heat. Add 1/4 cup grease back to the pan. Allow the grease to heat up. Sprinkle 1/3 cup flour evenly over the grease.

Using a whisk, mix the flour and grease, which will create a golden brown paste. Whisking frequently, allow the roux to heat up and darken slightly.

Whisking constantly, pour in 2 cups milk.

Allow gravy to cook and thicken for 5 to 10 minutes, whisking frequently. Add more milk if needed, and season heavily with salt and pepper. Don't forget the seasoning step, or else your gravy won't taste good at all.

Serve over the Chicken-Fried Steak and mashed potatoes. Enjoy!

thrift store finds

Today, after almost two full weeks of traveling, my husband was given an unexpected 3 day weekend. We celebrated by hitting up the auto parts store, Costco, and the thrift store. Although the best part by far was getting to spend time with my husband, I was pretty thrilled with my thrift store finds too!

One pair of like-new khaki pants for my husband, $3.99.

One pair of Kenneth Cole black dress flats for Hannah, $4.99. This picture is deceiving, these shoes are in excellent condition, so cute!

Three excellent condition children's books:

Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss, $0.69,
My Very First Book of Numbers by Eric Carle (author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar), $0.69,
and a Finding Nemo board book about Colors, $0.49.

And the item I am most excited about: The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia, $6.99.

It has all kinds of information on the ingredients used in Italian cooking, along with recipes and loads of pictures! You can bet that some of these recipes will be making it to the blog and menu plans soon!

All told with tax, I spent $19.25! Pretty great, huh?

 Excuse the random cat picture, I just love how Oliver cocked his head, just like a dog in this shot...

Balsamic Lemon Chicken

Yesterday I hit a great sale and got some new summer clothes for my kids. Doesn't Hannah look cute trying on her new dress with matching hair bows and bracelet? I couldn't get her to look at the camera, she was too excited about the bracelet.

Trying on summer clothes really put me in a summer mood, so I made this meal from Tasty Kitchen. The chicken was very flavorful and, paired with a salad, it made a light summery meal.

printable recipe

Balsamic Lemon Chicken

serves 4

8 pieces chicken (bone-in legs and thighs, skin on)
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 whole lemons, zested, 1 juiced, and the other cut into wedges
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp canola oil
4 Tbsp butter

Prick the chicken pieces all over with a fork and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the balsamic vinegar with the salt, pepper, and half of the lemon zest.

Add the chicken and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

Mix the sugar with the remaining lemon zest in a small bowl and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Heat the oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat until very hot, about 2 minutes. Melt 2 Tbsp of butter.

Place chicken skin-side-down in the pan along with the remaining marinade.

Cook until the chicken is browned on one side, 3 to 4 minutes, and then flip each piece over and cook 1 minute more.

Sprinkle the lemon sugar over the chicken and transfer skillet to oven. Roast until chicken is completely cooked through and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165F, about 25 minutes. Cut remaining 2 Tbsp of butter into small pieces and scatter around chicken. Squeeze the first lemon over the chicken.

Once butter is melted, serve with pan sauce drizzled over the chicken and lemon wedges on the side.

Potato Pancakes

Last weekend, I made Pioneer Woman's Creamy Mashed Potatoes. They were amazing and, even though I halved the recipe, we still had plenty of leftovers. I didn't want them to go to waste, so the next morning we made Mashed Potato Pancakes, topped with ham, fried eggs, shredded cheddar cheese, and sour cream. It was a delicious breakfast, hearty and flavorful.

I pulled the potato pancake recipe off of mrbreakfast.com.

printable recipe

Potato Pancakes

serves 4

2 cups mashed potatoes
1 large egg, beaten lightly
6 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 Tbsp grated onion (I just used a tsp of dried minced onion)
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium bowl, whisk together the mashed potatoes and egg.

Add the flour and onion and mix all together well.

Spray a large skillet or griddle with non-stick cooking spray and turn heat to medium. Spoon batter onto the griddle and flatten. It's up to you how large you make them. I like to make four big pancakes.

Cook for several minutes per side, flipping once they are golden.

Top with a slice of ham, a fried egg, and some grated cheddar cheese, if desired.