Happy St. Patrick's Day

Seeing all those green clover cookies on the web recently made me want to try something a little bit different this St. Patrick’s Day. If you are a fan of Bailey’s Irish Creme, and a fan of ice cream……and another big fan of mud pie and Irish Coffee you have all the clues you need. I found this yummy sounding Bailey’s Creme Ice Cream Pie AND had to kick it up a notch.

Baileys Ingredients

First, I found a recipe for Bailey’s Irish Creme, didn’t even know there was such a thing. Thought the Leprechauns kept it a secret! And did you know you can’t buy alcohol in the grocery store in Washington State?? I did not know that.  Imagine the look I got when I asked. Some people actually backed away ….. ;-)  Happens!

So off to the Liquor Store to purchase some Irish Whiskey. Here is all there is to making your very own batch of Irish Creme. This I found from Xiaolu at www.6bittersweet.com, many thanks!

Bailey’s Irish Creme:

1 teaspoon instant coffee

2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa

Step One

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream (divide in half)

3/4 cup milk

1 Tablespoon Honey

1 to 1 1/2 cups Irish Whiskey (your choice)

1 – 14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pie Shell

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Combine coffee, cocoa and 4 tablespoons of cream. The directions told me 2 tablespoons of cream to make a paste but when you add this paste to the final ingredients, the chocolate mixture clots up. It’s too cold to combine properly. Not what you want if it’s Bailey’s, but for pie it will be great. I only used 1 1/8 cup of whiskey. Combine in a blender or mixer for 30 seconds to a minute. Chill overnight. Bada boom! This should be stirred a bit during the 8 hours as the Condensed milk settles to the bottom. That’s it.

And now for that pie!

Oreo cookies crust – I use 28 cookies with 4 Tablespoons melted butter. That’s it.

Bailey's Pie

1 pint vanilla ice cream

1/2 cup Callan’s Irish Creme – wink wink

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (didn’t have so I chopped regular chips)

1 cup whipped cream (for pie, 2 cups for the topping)

Fold all ingredients into pie crust and place in freezer for up to 8 hours.

Now I have a tiny little secret. I had some caramel sauce in the fridge that I have been wanting to use on something special. So, like the mud pie recipe, instead of putting fudge down before the ice cream goes in……..yep ….you guessed it……I put in some caramel sauce.

Chopped Chips

Now, I thought …..between you and me and the fence post…….that this wasn’t going to work. I tend to be a bit of a purist sometimes with my food. (Never my soup…but definitely my food) and I was sooooo surprised how amazingly fantastic this turned out. The caramel was ooey and gooey….and whether I was inebriated at this point……not certain….but it was wonderful. Ah, wish you were here.

Then of course, I decided to melt the chips and drizzle over my frozen pit….I mean pie….and this was great until it froze up so quickly and my piping bag….no not my bag pipes…..my icing style did not work. Didn’t matter. By this time you are happy, full, surrounded by tiny green men who keep telling you that you will win the pottery…..I mean lottery!!

Serve with shaved or melted chocolate ships……I mean chips ……..or a sprig of mint!

Sláinte

I found this recipe on Tastespotting from The Nap Time Chef….at babble blog….she did a great job and used the sprinkling of cocoa. Beautiful job. (http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/03/03/irish-cream-chocolate-chip-ice-cream-pie-for-the-irishman-in-everyone/)

No driving! Have fun!

Put on some Chieftans music……your dancing shoes…..and for goodness sakes pinch someone!

Sláinte agus táinte!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtSjM3YU7Qw

Cranberry Orange Bread

It’s beginning to look a lot like  fat time……everywhere I go!

I have been playing around with that silly bread machine of mine, so why stop now! Huh!? Got a hankering for a sweet bread. After the wonderful success with that hearty cinnamon raisin bread, wanted to branch out and try some variations.

Can I just tell you……Cranberry and orange. Darn I’m doomed. A perfect holiday combination, but don’t wait for the holidays. This makes a lovely breakfast bread, tea time snack or even a great compliment to a hearty steak and brussel sprouts meal. And that stinkin little monster of mine jumped up on the counter top and stole a piece!!! Monster!! Yes, that would be Happy, and not Jessie….the perfect one!!

Ok, back to cooking. But you get the idea, that that is how wonderful it is when a canine can’t live without it too!

Here’s all it took:

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon water (I used milk, but will use water next time)

1 1/2 large eggs (I used one)

3 Tablespoons orange juice concentrate

Ingredients

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 cups bread flour (I needed a lot more, it was very wet……bout 1/4-1/2 cup)

2 Tablespoons dry milk powder (didn’t use, hence milk up top)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

(I added 1 teaspoon orange essence…..oh how unusual)

1/2 cup cranberries

Make Sure Ingredients are at room temperature! That is the best tip I can give you for making bread in the machine.  OK, let’s continue! Combine ingredients according to the manufacturer’s directions. I used the sweet breads cycle, but will go back to regular light crust cycle. Check on the bread within the first hour of processing to make sure that the consistency is right. About 20 minutes into the cycle, I add the cranberries! This is not to be missed and too easy not to try.

Ohhhhh la la! So good, the aroma should be bottled! MmmmmWaaaaah!

Bon Appétit!

Organic Leek and Potato Soup

The snow has brought the city to a shut down, well practically. Lucky us, we got out and played in it and it gave us an excuse for yet another batch of delicious soup. This week it’s organic leek and potato soup. So easy, so simple in its ingredients, and so comforting. I can’t stop eating it……amazingly good.

There are many leek soup recipes out there, but I sorta patched together the ingredients that sounded

Ingredients

the best and this is what I came up with. You must try this at home!

LEEK & POTATO SOUP

4 Tablespoons butter
6 leeks, cleaned and sliced
6-8 small potatoes chopped (use what you have, I don’t peel, there’s vitamins in there!)
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups chicken broth/or veggie (I used chicken cubes and it turned the soup darker than it should have but still utterly tasty)

Leeks

2 cups heavy whipping cream/or half/half (I used one of each)
2 teaspoons fresh parsley or your favorite fresh
6 Tablespoons crumbled bleu cheese on soup bowls

In a medium pot, saute the chopped leeks in the butter until they have become wilted. Then add the potatoes, broth, cream, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat until the potatoes or tender when pierced. Remove the leeks and potatoes from broth and place in a regular blender, or just use your immersion blender to puree the soup. Place back in pot and heat to serve. This was just perfect. The consistency wasn’t too soupy, or too creamy. Just heavenly imho! ;-)

I topped with some crumbling of bleu cheese and found it absolutely perfect. Not too often I feel this good about my soups. Though I left the skin on the potatoes and left a few stranded ones unblended, I

Half Time

love having a tiny few textures in this soup versus it being blended into a smoothie. But you do what is best for your palette. And I totally encourage the organic route at all times. Grow it yourself if you can. There is some magic in that.

I made more of that herb bread and played with the recipe. Instead of using parmesan cheese since I was out, I substituted it for Jarlsberg! I know, I

know…sounds nutty but it was fabulous. Honestly, I have actually finally fallen back in love with the bread machine I have left in the dark cupboard for 9 years! Whew, glad I woke up!

The smell was divine! The dogs jumped for joy, and I peacefully got a lot of work done! Happy tails all about the house.

Herb Bread

We threw on some Nelly Furtado, but we weren’t feeling it.  Then we threw on some Sarah McLaughlin, but we weren’t feeling that either. So we threw on some Austin Lounge Lizards of all the silly things and believe it or not, we just needed to laugh!!  A Sense of humor is without question………mandatory!

Wore my plain ol’ white nondescript made in China apron. Cuz it hadn’t really ever been worn. Was purchased for some test driving monogramming but never got around to it……….until now. Hmm, maybe a Laughing Lizard Logo! I’m beginning to feel it!

Bon Appétit!

The Best French Toast

Nothing better for a Sunday brunch than a Sunday Brunch with your favorite food!  I even kicked it up a notch by making home made Cinnamon Raisin Bread, then made French Toast with it! Ohh La La! I know, I know……so freakin good! The bread was very dense, so I poked a few holes in it to let the milk mixture soak in more. Oh dear me, it was really- really- REally good!  You can make the bread a few days ahead of time and whip the French toast together whenever your Sunday morning tummy calls to you!! For me, it was after running the dogs and boy did it hit the Spot!!! Ruff!

Cinnamon Raisin Bread 

Bread in Machine

 

 

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons milk (heated to 105˚)

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 Tablespoons butter

3 cups bread flour

2 Tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Raisin Loaf

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

1/2 cup raisins

I like to select the Light Crust setting on my bread machine. Place ingredients in bread machine according to your machines directions. I used the above order in mine, didn’t seem to hurt it! Hit start, and go on an adventure for the next three hours! (I actually added the raisins about 20 minutes into the cycle. You want to get the ingredients combined first. ;-)

Zee French Toast

3/4 cup milk

Ingredients

1/4 teaspoon freshly  grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (yes, it’s not too much!)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

dash of sugar

butter

4 – 6 slices of Cinnamon Bread sliced medium to thick (your preference)

Turn on oven to 200˚ if you want to keep your slices warm while making the other! A personal preference of mine.

Empty Plate

In a cake pan or something wide enough to place the slices of bread in, mix all the ingredients except butter. In a medium pan, melt your butter. Dip bread slices in mixture and place in pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each depending on heat and how brown you like your toast.

Make a perfect cup of jo to go along with this perfect combination. You won’t be disappointed.

We threw on some Earl Klugh (Iiiiii Know…..been awhile)  and definitely called it a relaxing Super Sunny Sunday!

Wore my mini Napa…….(Iiiiii know….been awhile)!

Bon Appétit!!

 

 

My Funny Valentines

What do you give the two greatest dogs and cats on the planet for Valentines Day??  Why cookies of course. Only the kind meant for canines and felines that is. I wanted to make them something really healthy and have been digging (no pun intended) around the internet to find some really good recipes.

Got this recipe from the poop dot com….(yes.  www.thepoop.com) I kid you not, do you think I could make this stuff up? They have a long list of home made items for your pets and most of the ingredients you have right in your cupboard.  Whadda Heeee Whaadda Heeee! Go for it. They will not stop kissing you! And that’s a very good thing!

We used Salmon instead of Tuna, but no one is complaining!!

Wheat Free Tuna Biscuits

Ingredients.

1 cup yellow corn meal or 1 1/4 cup corn flour

My ingredients

1 cup oatmeal

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 small can tuna in oil, undrained

1/3 cup water

In a food processor, grind oatmeal until fine. Set aside in a small bowl. Grind the can of tuna in the food process along with the water, then add the rest of the ingredients. Pulse until mixture forma a ball, generally 2 -3 minutes. Place on floured surface until it forms a soft ball of dough. Roll out to a 1/8′- 1/4″ thickness. Cut out into shapes. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 350˚for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before giving them to Fido!!

The dough...very dry

Sweet, comic Valentine, you make me smile with my heart!! ;-)

Biscuits

You’re looks, they are laughable………so un-photographable…..

Impatient?

But you’re my favorite work of art!!

Being that I used Wild Alaskan Salmon (super healthy for your cats and dogs……it was Sasha’s caviar!) and it was not packed in tuna, I topped off the can with olive oil before mixing in the processor to get an idea of how much oil should have been packed in there. My guess is that is was about two tablespoons of oil. And into the cuisinart it went. The mixture was very dry, and I wrapped it in plastic and placed in the fridge overnight. You do not need to do this step, and it wasn’t effective.  So, moving right along, it was still very crumbly when rolling out as you can tell, but I kept just playing with it to work. I will make this recipe again with the intended can of tuna and see if it is just as dry.

Now the funny part of this recipe was that the dogs are never….never….NEVER underneath my feet the whole time I am cooking and these smelled so much like something they wanted, they stood there in pounce mode waiting for anyTHING to drop!!

They snarfed them up. What can I say, A  home isn’t a home with out furry children. May your Valentines day be filled with love, kisses and wagging tails.

Arf  Appétit!

Mochi Cake with Strawberries

I love asian pastries. Just love them but have never had the nerve to dig into baking them. “Let the experts”…. I would tell myself. Until of course this Chinese New Year. I had purchased some lovely rice flour (or SO I Had Thought) and was ready to jump off the high dive. Well, I did jump off the high dive, I just didn’t land into a mouth resisting, gooey, spongy rice cake.

This recipe was very simple. Not sure why they used evaporated milk, but for once I followed the instructions. I am going to make a lot of these kinds of pastries until I get this texture right. We don’t know how long that it will take me, but I am sure going to have fun while doing it!

Found this recipe on Tastespotting, and you can see Jasmine’s cakes look much more spongy and sticky. Mine were very good but very crumbly. ;-)

By Jasmine Cuisine’s blog

Ingredients:

The Batter

3 cups of glutinous rice flour

3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup evaporated milk

3 eggs

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

Preheat oven to 350˚ .

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add the evaporated milk and mix until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add rice flour, baking powder and vanilla and beat until well blended. Fold in the strawberries with a wooden spoon.

Cake

Pour batter into a well greased 13″ x 9″ square  baking pan.  Bake for 30 minutes or until surface is golden and cake springs back to touch it.

Let cake cool completely before cutting and serving, so that the glutinous rice flour is well taken.

MY NOTES: Hmmmmm. Did I mix up the flours and use corn flour by accident? Did I accidentally mark my flour’s wrong. I am not sure, but whatever I ended up baking was not the effect I was going for with an oooey and goooey kind of cake. It’s a good cake for sure, but it’s not the texture I was longing for. That aside, I will try this recipe again in the event I marked my flour bags wrong or had rice flour but not Glutinous rice flour. But it was still very tasty, and that oven of mine…….may be cooking them a little too hot. Need to get a thermometer in there.

Not sure, but those are my two best guesses. And though I turned the oven down to 325˚, could have probably just cooked for 20 minutes and then started checking. Now we are on the search for the perfect Chinese New Years cake.

Go on, make it a great year of the Rabbit!

Bon Appétit!

A Super Bowl of Soup

That California weather is making me cringe!! How lucky is that. Though I am not feeling homesick on any level (though technically not home), I have to admit I do miss being WARM. Not that I would trade. Our chilly sunny weekend had such beautiful moments for taking in a run with the dogs. After that however, a super bowl of super soup was indeed on the menu. And boy did I find a nice bread to go with. (BTW, sorry for the lame photos….new camera coming very soon)

Having been newly re-acquainted with my brother Jack’s style of cooking, I have taken it upon myself to make 2011 a year of magical soups. Hey, if you are going to live in a chilly climate, one must take advantage of super soup.

This batch was not as thick as Jack’s Superlative soup, but was just as stellar. A few new changes for this soup. Molasses, yes, molasses. I think it tends to be a better sugar as its denseness tends to retain itself here. Also, I liked the smoked paprika. A VERY nice compliment to this soup. And for once in my life I looked at the onion (my weakness) and didn’t feel like putting it in. Save it for something else, and just used garlic salt. No tears today!

Nothing like a cold weekend for a cup of great soup and some matching corn bread. I have been playing around with corn bread and so curious as to why so many recipes don’t have any corn in them. So, that was a prerequisite. That and a poblano pepper. In both the bread and the soup. The pepper was milder than I had hoped, but was perfect for the soup. The corn was indeed perfect in both. Especially that corn bread should have corn in it!

My Superlative Soup

1 6lb Can Whole tomatoes

1/2 pound carrots sliced

3/4 cup corn

1 medium poblano pepper chopped

1 T Italian spices

2 teaspoons smokey paprika

1/3 cup molasses

3 shakes of tabasco

3 Tablespoons Worcestershire

1 T garlic salt

2 teaspoons pepper

1 squeezed juice of an orange

Stock of your choice chicken or vegetable

Place stock and tomatoes in a large pot. Add all your vegetables. Then add your spices and orange juice. Simmer low for 45 minutes to an hour and a half. Serve at your convenience. Top with fresh herbs like cilantro or fresh thyme.

I like making a huge batch for those busy days when I don’t have time to cook. I freeze small batches so I can effortlessly have an easy quick bowl. But on days like the weekend, start your bread first (if you are making an all day yeast rising bread) and start your soup sometime thereafter. It’s called the weekend for a reason!

On to it’s complimenting side dish.

Corn Smackin Bread

Corn Smackin Bread

Dry Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of flour

1 T Baking Powder

1/2 cup corn meal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup oil

1/2 sugar

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 cup poblano pepper chopped fine

Oil and Eggs

1/2 cup fresh corn

Preheat oven to 350˚ and grease an 8×8 inch square pan or muffin tin or 9″ round as I chose. So simple. Combine dry ingredients (except sugar) and set aside. In medium size bowl add oil and sugar. Beat until incorporated. Next beat in the eggs.  Lastly beat in alternating between the flour mixture and the milk.

Last minute I then threw in chopped pepper and corn. I highly recommend that. This was just wonderful. I had it for breakfast the next day as I was on the run to get things done. Just grabbed a big slice and a glass of milk and was humming along for hours! So, it’s not just for lunch or dinner.

Wonderful combination! Give it a go. And while you’re at it, throw on some Sarah McLachlan.

Bon Appétit!

Herb & Cheese Bread

Oh Oh OH…..I can’t believe this bread recipe!! Unassuming, one of my favorite words btw, is this little cook book! Keeping to my promise of making sure this year I buy very little bread, I am digging through my stash of cook

The cookbook

books.  I went in search of the cookbook that came with my bread machine yet couldn’t find it anywhere. But what I did find that day was a 1993 Fleischmanns Yeast “Best ever Breads” cookbook. I told you I have been making bread for a long time and in the very back of this cookbook it has a very limited selection of Machine Bread recipes. Just had to try one and was pleasantly surprised. I entered the ingredients exactly as they were listed but I didn’t have the milk powder. So I skipped it and stayed true to the rest of the recipe. A chronic problem I have…..just don’t tell anyone coming for dinner.

Here is what we got.

HERB & CHEESE BREAD

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons water

The Mix

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups bread flour

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons instant dry milk powder

2 Tablespoons sugar (ooops I did use honey instead)

2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast

2 teaspoons Italian seasonings

I used the medium setting for crust, and basic bread button. Three hours later the house smelled DEvine!!! Literally. I

Dough

like this recipe better than any of the ones that I posted last year. So, off to get some milk powder (and reading the ingredients to see if I will actually use it next time) but will be making this recipe this year a lot!

This went lovely with my carrot ginger soup. Honestly, the soup was light and zippy and the bread was so very nice and herby…..with that parmesan cheese in it that must have made it so much more spongy!  Oh, can’t wait to serve it to friends this week.

We put on some great tunes from Shawn Colvin’s “Cover Girl” cd which I had thought was lost so very long ago. Don’t you just love it when you find something that you have thought long lost? Almost like a good friend you haven’t seen in awhile. Just puts a smile on your face. Ahhhh. We sang “Twilight” by Robbie Robertson……….into the late evening.

Bella Bread

Enjoy the budding spring, minutes more of daylight and happy trails with happy tails!

I wore my mini Napa Apron, danced around and made sure we had plenty of butter in the house!

Bon Appétit!

Olive Oil Cake

My wonderful new neighbor has been sharing the Wall Street Journal with me since I don’t get that paper anymore. As life would have it, I just get my news elsewhere these days and you ALL know how I feel about trash! But a thank you cake was in order! I didn’t want anything too fancy (or unhealthy) for their tummies,  so I played it safe with this delightful little olive oil cake. I had made a big similar bundt one recently, but I wanted something “just right” that would be gobbled up in a day and still relatively healthy.

At Tastespotting, I thought Helen’s recipe at “Well Done is a Deal Breaker” (LOVE that title too) had just the right recipe for me to experiment on. (http://welldoneisadealbreaker.blogspot.com/2010/08/xxi.html)

The house sure smelled great!! It cooked in only 40 minutes, so watch your time. I am glad I caught that. It may also be that my new oven is running hotter than my last electric stove. (I burnt the oven thermometer I had when I accidentally left it in and automatically “cleaned” my oven-Ooops! So blonde.))))

It is an easy, and yes I say that often, but this one was a no brainer and super quick clean up. I gabbed on the phone with Madde the whole entire time! So FUN.  I could have made icing, but that’s more sugar in my book and I wanted it to remain as healthy as possible. So enjoy!

Olive Oil Cake
Adapted from September 2009 Bon Appétit, from Abraço Coffee Shop

8 to 10 servings

1 1/2 c. organic unbleached white flour
1 c. organic sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
2 large organic eggs
3/4 cup organic whole milk
1/2 cup mild-flavored organic olive oil
2 teaspoon finely grated orange peel (I used orange flavoring)

Olive Oil Cake

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Oil and flour a 9×5×3-inch metal loaf pan.
2. Combine eggs, milk, olive oil, and orange peel in medium bowl and whisk to blend. Gradually whisk egg mixture into dry ingredients. Transfer to prepared pan.
3. Bake Cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 60-65 minutes. (? not mine)
4. Cool in pan on rack 20 minutes. Invert pan to remove cake. Cool completely, top side up.

It is a small cake so don’t be surprised if you have zero left overs! Orange icing will be the key next time I bake this but for now were staying light. A super great weekend!! Hope yours was great too!
Bon Appétit!!!