Happy St. Patrick's Day!

While in Ireland I fell in love with all things Irish including the food.  Two foods in particular were Rich Guinness Cake and Irish Soda Bread.  Lucky for me Irish Soda Bread was served at almost every meal.  I loved it plain, with a little butter, or spread with raspberry jam.  I had tasted Irish Soda Bread many times before my trip to Ireland but what I had not had before was Guinness Cake.  In a past blog I mentioned our visit to the Molanna View Dairy Farm, home to Margaret & Paddy Fenton, the sweetest couple you'll ever meet!  While there we were served tea along with freshly baked scones and Guinness cake.  I have wanted to make this Guinness Cake for some time now and with St. Patrick's day just around the corner I thought "What better time to bake up this recipe along with a loaf of Irish soda bread?!".  I hope you enjoy my take on two of my favorite Irish foods.

Rich Guinness Cake

Rich Guinness Cake
Recipe courtesy of Margaret Fenton

Ingredients:
•    ½ lb butter (Preferably Kerrygold butter)
•    ¾ lb brown sugar
•    1 lb flour, sifted (I substituted ½ of the flour with whole wheat pastry flour)
•    4 eggs, beaten
•    About ½ pint Guinness, slightly warmed in the microwave
•    ¼ tsp baking soda
•    ½ lb currants
•    ½ lb sultanas (golden raisins) (I used all 1 lb of golden raisins)
•    ¼ lb orange zest
•    ½ tsp mixed spice (see recipe below)
•    Grated rind of 1 lemon

Directions:

1. Cream the butter, sugar, and eggs until thoroughly combined.
2. With the mixer on low gradually add ¾ of the flour to the mixture.
3. Place the baking soda in a small bowl and pour the warmed Guinness over it.  Then pour mixture into mixing bowl along with the remainder of the flour and mix until just combined.
4. Combine the dried fruit, orange zest, spice, and lemon zest.  Stir into the mixture.
5. Pour into 2 greased and lined 9” pans or 1 greased and lined 8”x11” pan and bake in a slow oven (in the US that is equivalent to about 275-300°) until a deep golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 3-3 ½ hours.  Allow to cool in the pan(s) before turning out on the a cooling rack.
6. To make mine look pretty I cut the cake using one of my fluted cookie cutters.

Mixed Spice
Mixed spice, also called pudding spice, is a British blend of sweet spices, similar to pumpkin pie spice used in the United States.

Ingredients:
•    1 tbsp cinnamon, ground
•    1 tsp coriander, ground
•    1 tsp nutmeg, ground
•    1/2 tsp ginger, ground
•    1/4 tsp allspice, ground
•    1/4 tsp cloves, ground

Directions:

1. Add the spices to a bowl and combine well.
2. Place in an airtight storage container. This recipe will make about 2 tablespoons, which you should aim to use up within 2 months.

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread 
Adapted from this recipe
Servings: 12

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour (I substituted half of the flour with whole wheat flour)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 cups buttermilk (I used low fat buttermilk)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Blend egg and buttermilk together, and add all at once to the flour mixture. Mix just until moistened. Stir in butter. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Wrap in foil for several hours, or overnight, for best flavor.

Tuna Salad Nicoise

Back in October when I was in Ireland we had the chance to sample a lot of great Irish food.  Fish and chips, Irish soda bread, Guinness cake, Irish Stew, Irish Coffee, and potatoes prepared numerous ways, just to name a few.  We figured they must be making up for the Irish famine because there was always a side of potatoes with your meal, whether it was mashed, boiled, sauteed, au gratin, fried, you name it and it was served to us.  Despite the amazing Irish food there were a lot of other great restaurants we wanted to try that did not include any of the above.  In the beginning of our trip while still in Dublin we decided to stop at a quaint little corner French restaurant downtown.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of it but I do remember the amazing food.  After a few days of very delicious but very rich Irish food I was in the mood for something on the lighter side.  I decided to go with a traditional Tuna Salad Nicoise.  I wish I had taken a picture because it was almost too pretty to eat.  Each item neatly placed next to each other on the plate.  The whole sauteed baby potatoes next to the kalamata olives, next to the cherry tomatoes, then the haricots verts, and last but not least the tuna all served over a bed of greens.  They served it with a side of anchovy dressing and a few anchovies on the salad as well.  (I know there are lot of people that don't like anchovies but I'm one of the weird ones that love them!) 

Just the other day I was watching Everyday Food and they were preparing their twist on the Tuna Salad Nicoise.  I immediately thought of the meal I had in Ireland and decided I needed to make it myself.  I kept to the recipe except I decided to add my friend Nina's recipe for Roasted Dijon Brussel Sprouts to the mix and instead of making the lemon vinaigrette I just tossed the arugula in some of my lemon infused extra virgin olive oil.  It turned out great and I am eager to make it again, maybe substituting a few new ingredients next time.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! 

Tuna Salad Nicoise

Tuna Salad Nicoise
From Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

Serves 4
Prep: 10 minutes Total: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds small red new potatoes, quartered
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 pints grape tomatoes
• 2 bunches arugula (4 to 6 ounces each), ends trimmed, washed and dried
• 1/4 cup Lemon Vinaigrette (I skipped this and just used my lemon infused olive oil)
• 2 cans (6 ounces each) tuna in olive oil, drained
• 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
• Roasted Dijon Brussel Sprouts (See recipe below)

Directions:

   1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place potatoes on sheet. Drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast for 15 minutes. Add tomatoes to potatoes on baking sheet; toss. Cook until potatoes are tender and tomatoes are lightly browned and soft, about 10 minutes.
   2. In a medium bowl, toss arugula with 2 tablespoons vinaigrette. Arrange roasted vegetables, arugula, tuna, and olives on platter; drizzle with remaining vinaigrette. Serve.

Roasted Dijon Brussel Sprouts
From Nina's blog

• 1 lb brussel sprouts, halved
• 1/4 cup olive oil (I cut back on the oil a little bit and used my lemon infused olive oil)
• 1 tbsp. dijon mustard
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Salt & Pepper

Wash the sprouts, cut off the ends, and peel off the outer leaves. Cut them in half and place in a small baking disk. Whisk together olive oil and mustard and pour over the sprouts, and zest an entire lemon right over the dish. Season with pepper and very little salt (the mustard adds extra flavor) and toss together to make sure all of the brussel sprouts are coated. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until done to your likeness.

Thin Mints Are My Favorite, What Are Yours?

Thin Mints with a Healthy Twist

If you haven’t noticed, it’s that time of year again…no, I’m not referring to spring cleaning, I’m talking about Girl Scout cookie season.   Outside almost every Harris Teeter/Walgreens/CVS and inside the mall there is a flurry of girls surrounding tables overflowing with cookies for sales.  Their eagerness to make a sale is endearing and their spirit makes me long to be a child again.  I was a Girl Scout myself for about 5 years and loved cookie season, my favorite cookie of choice being Thin Mints with Samoas coming in a close second.  What I did not love was selling them.  I never had the knack for going door to door, flashing my toothy smile, and attempting to win over the potential customer and make the sale.  I never won any prizes for top sales but I did put in my best Girl Scout effort.

Despite the fact these cookies have been for sale all over Charlotte I haven’t caved in and bought a box or two or three like I usually do.  What I have done is found a great recipe for Thin Mints I can make at home without the preservatives and they taste just as good maybe even better.  But I will let you be the judge of that.  Give these cookies a try and I am positive they will win you over just like the girls out there trying to make the sale.

I’ve only had these on their own but I’ve thought about crumbling these over a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt or maybe even making a thin mint milk shake…yum!

Rolling and Cutting the Dough

Waiting for their turn in the oven

Cooling Stage

Freshly dipped in the peppermint coating

The Final Product

Homemade and All-natural Thin Mint Recipe
From the blog, 101 Cookbooks
Make 3 or 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

Chocolate Wafers:

• 8 ounces organic butter, room temperature
• 1 cup organic powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

Chocolate Peppermint Coating:

• 1 pound good quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• natural peppermint oil to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Racks in the middle zone.
2. Make the cookie dough: In a mixer cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and cream some more, scraping the sides of the bowl a couple times if necessary. Stir in the vanilla extract and then the salt and cocoa powder. Mix until the cocoa powder is integrated and the batter is smooth and creamy, sort of like a thick frosting. Add the whole wheat pastry flour and mix just until the batter is no longer dusty looking, it might still be a bit crumbly, and that's o.k. You don't want to over mix and end up with tough cookies.
3. Turn the dough out onto a counter, gather it into a ball, and kneed it just once or twice to bring it together into once nice, smooth mass. Place the ball of dough into a large plastic bag and flatten it into a disk roughly 3/4-inch thick. Place the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes to chill.
4. Remove the dough from the freezer and roll it out really thin, about 1/8-inch. You can either roll it out between two sheets of plastic, or dust your counter and rolling pin with a bit of flour and do it that way. Stamp out cookies using a 1 1/2-inch cutter (I used a fluted round cutter). Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes (My oven is a little temperamental so I usually cut baking times short and took these out after 7 to 8 minutes). Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool completely on a baking rack.
5. While the cookies are in the oven you can get the coating ready.  Slowly melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally until it is glossy and smooth. (I melted the chocolate in a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water but this can also be done very slowly on a low setting in the microwave.) Stir in the peppermint extract. (I used 2 tsp but I think I still could have added another teaspoon)
6. Finishing the cookies: You are going to coat the cookies one at a time and then gently set them on a parchment-lined baking sheet to set. Drop one cookie into the chocolate and (using a fork) carefully make sure it gets fully coated. Lift the cookie out of the chocolate with the fork and bang the fork on the side of the pan to drain any extra chocolate off the cookie. You are after a thin, even coating of chocolate. Place on the prepared baking sheet, and repeat for the rest of the cookies. Place the cookies in the refrigerator or freezer to set. They will set at room temperature, it just takes much longer.