Category Archives: General
Erin Go Bragh
We make Corned Beef and Cabbage once a year for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s not my favorite meal of the year, but, over the years, I’ve played around with the basic components of the meal to make it enjoyable.
In the past, I simmered the corned beef with the vegetables on top of the stove. Once I added a slow cooker to my kitchen, I used that instead. This year, Howard prepared the Corned Beef with his LTLT (Low Temperature – Long Time) cooking technique, similar to the Sous Vide Duck he wrote about last week. He brined a brisket for 5 days, then cooked it at 140F for 2 days. It came out very tender, and the pickling spices really permeated the meat. I think it came out especially well this year.
Did you ever wonder why it’s called “corned” beef? I did a little research. First of all, corned beef is actually pickled. That is why Howard brined it first. In the olden days, they used rock salt. The grains of salt were large, like corn kernels, which is where the term “corned” comes from.
To accompany the corned beef, I simmered cabbage wedges, red potatoes, and sliced carrots and parsnips. I also roasted some beets and cut them into wedges. I also make a tangy horseradish sauce to go with the vegetables. Otherwise, they are on the bland side.
Finally, I made two kinds of Irish soda bread. The first is my favorite with caraway seeds and golden raisins. The second has sliced scallions mixed in and is more savory. Howard doesn’t eat dried fruit, so the scallion version gives him an option. I eat both.
Irish Soda Bread with Caraway and Raisins
1 cup flour
¾ c. whole wheat flour
¼ c. wheat bran (or more flour, if you don’t have it)
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp caraway seeds
1 cup raisins (it’s great with golden raisins; also Trader Joe’s sells a Raisin Medley with both golden and black raisins that I like)
¾ cup buttermilk
Preheat the oven to 350F. Sprinkle flour onto a baking sheet.
Whisk together both flours, wheat bran, baking soda, baking power, salt, and caraway seeds. Toss raisins in the flour mixture. Stir in buttermilk. Usually, not all of the flour stirs into the dough. Knead the mixture to incorporate the remaining flour.
Place the rounded dough on the baking sheet. Cut an X in the top. Bake for 40 minutes.
Variation: Irish Soda Break with Scallions
Substitute whole wheat flour for the wheat bran. Substitute 2 or 3 scallions, sliced, for the raisins. Omit caraway seeds.
Lemons as a Substitute for Sunshine
This weekend was wet and windy, to say the least. Our normally dry basement has an inch of water in the low spots, especially near the front corner. So much rain has fallen in the last two days, it’s no wonder that water is seeping through the fieldstone foundation of our 150-year-old house.
Then, the wind gave us a scare last night when it caught the unlatched storm door and ripped the spring out, splintering the door jamb. We awoke to a loud, unfamilar banging. Howard thought it might be an intruder, though Bella slept through the entire incident, losing some points as effective guard dog.
I only ventured out into the rain a few times this weekend. It was restorative to just be home to putter around.
Howard’s mother gives us a calendar every year. This year’s calendar is a Bon Appetit Page-A-Day calendar. I’ve saved a number of the recipes, but I hadn’t actually tried any yet.
The weekend’s recipe was Lemon Shortbread. The lemon flavor came from lemon zest. So, when I before I juiced the Meyer lemons for my Meyer Lemon Pie for Pi Day, I zested the lemons for the shortbread. Two for one!
I dug out the pretty stoneware shortbread mold that I bought a long time ago and never used before. The recipe made two pans of shortbread. I used a metal cake pan for the other pan. I have to say that it came out of the metal pan much easier than the stone pan. I’m not exactly sure why. There was enough butter in the shortbread that it should not have stuck.
A plate of shortbread was perfect with a pot of tea shared with friends on a rainy afternoon!
Meyer Lemon Shortbread
1½ cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
1 Tbsp Meyer lemon zest
½ tsp salt
¾ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
Preheat the oven to 300F. Blend flour, sugar, cornstarch, zest, and salt in the food processor. Add the butter, pulsing the food processor until moist clumps form.
Gather the dough into a ball. Divide in half. Press each half into a 9-inch cake pan. Pierce all over with a fork.
Bake until cooked through and pale golden, about 40 minutes. Cool shortbread in pans on racks for 5 minutes. Cut each warm shortbread into 12-16 wedges. Cool completely in the pan. Gentle turn pan over and press the pan bottom. The shortbread should pop out of the pan in one piece. On a cutting board with a large knife, cut through the wedge lines.
A Plateful of Happiness 