Apple Soup

Okay...I know this doesn't sound like the "normal" soup, but since we're welcoming the fall season, it seems that apples in all forms are appropriate. And, when you pair this soup with the mushroom tart on this blog, the slightly sweet taste of the former lends well to the huge savory flavor of the later.

To make this interesting soup, I chopped 1/2 onion and cooked it in a couple of tablespoons of butter along with two peeled, cored, and chopped apples (I had honey crisp on hand), and three small stalks of finely chopped celery. I tapped in a bit of garlic powder (1/8 t. would be plenty). Let all this cook a bit until it's all softened, and then add a can of chicken broth and turn down the heat to a low simmer. Once everything is to the point of being somewhat mushy, let this cool a bit. Then, right before serving, add 1/4 c. of half and half and bring slowly back up to the desired temperature. Taste for additional needed salt and pepper.

Odd ingredients...yes; good...yes!

Mushroom/Cheese/Bacon Tart

Here in the states when we hear the word "tart" (when speaking of food of course) we think something dessert-oriented. In Europe the word tart can be a savory meal as well. If you're looking for something filling, easy to fix, and full of flavor, try this particular tart.

To make, first either use a prepared pie crust or make one. I use the frozen Pillsbury pie crusts and find them quite flaky and tender.
In a saute' pan add one chopped onion, 8 ounces of chopped mushrooms, 2 T. butter, 1/8 t. of each of the following herbs--basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, savory, pepper, and sage. Add to this crumbled up fried bacon slices (as much as you like). You can either fry the bacon or use the pre-packaged bacon crumbles. While these vegetables and herbs are cooking, beat 3 eggs in a separate bowl. Once everything is softened through the saute', pour the vegetable mix into the pastry shell that is lining a pie pan. Pour the beaten eggs in on top and let it mix a bit. Then add  enough finely grated Dubliner (or the cheese of your choice) to the mix. You can find Dubliner at local grocery stores and its tangy flavor lends very nicely to the savory mix of vegetables.
I baked this for about 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven and then turned it back to 275 degrees for about 20 more minutes. This will allow the pastry shell to bake through and through while not drying out the cheese on top.

 Enjoy!

Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Red Pepper Sauce

I checked with a neat website on http://www.irishabroad.com/culture/kitchen/Recipe.asp?RcpID=207
 for an Irish chicken dish. I found one of Margaret Johnson's sure winners. I made a few alterations, but her idea is great and very tasty.

I halved 2 red peppers, brushed them with some olive oil and placed them under a broiler until they were roasted enough to peel when cooled. Once the skin was removed, I diced them and added them to a small sauce pan with 1/2 c. white wine, 2 T. white vinegar and let this simmer until it was reduced by 1/2. Then I turned down the heat and added a bit of chicken bouillon, 1 t. sugar, and 1c. heavy cream. I let this cook slowly to allow the pepper flavor to be absorbed by the cream.

In the meantime, I took four boneless, skinless chicken breasts and split them lengthwise. I then combined 1/4 c. goat cheese, 1 T. cream cheese, 1 T. lemon juice, some salt, pepper, and 3 T. of chives and basil mixed. I mixed these ingredient up and then added the mixture to the split chicken breast. While I was doing this, I heated some vegetable oil in a skillet and quick seared the chicken breasts with the mixture added to them. I then brushed the chicken breasts with some garlic butter. Into a 375 degree oven they go for about 35 minutes (or until done).


Once everything was done, I plated the chicken breasts and ladled on the pepper sauce.

Insanely Simple and Good Oatmeal Cookies

I have found a recipe with which I will never part. I was looking for something kind of light dish for tonight's dessert and decided upon cookies. We're fans of oatmeal cookies around here, so I started looking for a recipe. I found one and then, after reviewing it in this blog, found that I barely followed it...oh well, here's what I came up with:
Cream together 2 sticks of butter (I really like KerryGold Irish butter--my guess is if I can find it, you can) and 1 1/2 c. sugar (the more fine the better). Once this is done, you can drop in one egg and 1 t. of vanilla. Then start adding in 1 3/4 c. flour, 1 t. baking soda, and 1 t. baking powder. Once this is done, then mix in 1 1/2 c. instant cooking oatmeal. Spoon these out and and bake for about 13 minutes at 350 degrees. This makes around 3 dozen cookies. They bake down very thinly and brown nicely and lightly around the edges.

Enjoy!

The Ease of the Fritata

I do love a good fritata. It's easy to make, has great full taste, and it's versatile enough to make it just about any flavor you want it. I usually  take a quick survey of the fridge contents before deciding the direction of the fritata. For this particular one, I chopped up green pepper, onion, mushrooms, flat leaf parsley, and tomatoes and sauteed them in some olive oil, salt, pepper, about 1 t. thyme and 1 t. marjoram, and a bit of garlic powder. I then added some chopped up fried bacon.  Once all this is softened, I add several slightly beaten eggs in accordance with just how big I was the fritata to be, normally 6-8. Then add some spinach; it will wilt quickly. Once all this is cooked, then I turn on the broiler, added some shredded cheese, and watched it closely until it melted slightly. Easy, filling, and quick.

Huevos Estrellados

When we went to visit our friends the Oppenheimers, we had a great breakfast at their house. We had bacon, eggs, and french fries. Never heard of it, but it was GREAT.

The other day, while reading the latest issue of the Wine Spectator I found a recipe for huevos estrellados which had, as its main ingredients, sausage, eggs, and french fries. Had to try this!

I peeled a couple of potatoes and cut them into crinkles. I put them to fry with some olive oil and a bit of salt. While the french fries were cooking, I fried some sausage, then in the grease I fried some green pepper and onion. Finally, I fried some eggs and let the sausage grease soak into them just a bit to add flavor.

Then came the stacking of the french fries, the sausage, and the eggs and all that was left to do was enjoy...we accomplished that as well.

Mussels with Guinness

Tonight's dinner was super simple and fantastic, thanks to the combination of some great mussels and Guinness. I found this recipe from a site talking about the wonderful food at The Brazen Head in Dublin. They weren't kidding on this one. And did I mention it was incredibly easy?
Heat a saute' pan on medium heat. Once it's plenty warm add a minced shallot, a couple of pounds of mussels, 1/2 c. half and half, 1/2 c. Guinness, 1/2 t. garlic powder, 1t. thyme, 1T. minced flat-leaf parsley, and 2T. Irish butter. Let this simmer for about 8 minutes, keeping an eye on the broth/sauce not allowing it to evaporate completely. When this is done, spoon the mussels and sauce out into a bowl. Serve with some warm French bread--you'll need it to sop up the great sauce. Fantastic.
* from The Irish Pub Cookbook by Margaret M. Johnson

Kerry Apple Cake

On a website of Irish recipes, I found a great dessert that's very quick to put together and it tastes GREAT. It's called Kerry Apple Cake. Here are the ingredients and directions:

Soften 6 oz. of butter (be sure and use butter--it's worth it) and cream this with 1 c. sugar (the finer the sugar the better--IGA now carries super fine under their label). Add to this 2 eggs, and 1 c. self-rising flour. Once this reaches batter stage, fold in 2 peeled, cored, and chopped apples (the finer, the better) and 1t. of lemon peel. Put this into a pan that is buttered and lined with parchment paper (you can find this about anywhere anymore). Once the batter in in the pan, sprinkle about 2T.of brown sugar on the top, along with 1t. sugar, a bit of cinnamon, and a bit of nutmeg. Put this into a 350 degree oven for about an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. This is a fantastically moist cake.

The recipe says that the cake doesn't keep well, but no worry since it's eaten rather quickly...agreed!

Simple Salad and Soda Bread--the Earthy Basics

Tonight I had a need for simplicity. Sometimes the taste buds just do that. So, after having found a great stash of fresh produce this past weekend, I dropped some eggs into boil and got to slicing and dicing. I never end up with the same ingredients twice in a salad; who does? That's the beauty of it...whatever comes to mind and eye. Tonight's salads included romaine lettuce (I usually get the hearts of romaine--they tend to be much more tender); fresh tomatoes from Mom's garden along with a fresh green bell pepper; a yellow bell pepper; radishes that were very mild and crisp; a bit of onion; some sliced baked turkey; and the boiled eggs.

I added the subtle Irish touch by putting some small cubes of Blarney Castle cheese (a nice mild gouda) in the salad. A couple of slices of warmed soda bread slathered with some Irish butter and we were set.

Simple can be mighty good!

Saturday Night Calzones

As I glanced into the fridge this afternoon, the word "calzones" spoke to me. With some sausage, pepperoni, green pepper, mushrooms, red onion, and mozarella and provolone cheeses sitting about, I decided to combine all those items together. The only thing missing was the dough. I found a nice recipe and it follows:

Take a package of yeast , a cup of warm water (110 degrees), 1 1/2 t. salt, and 1 1/2 T. of olive oil and mix all these together. Let this set for 5 minutes and then add about 1 1/4 c. flour and start combining. To this continue adding another 1 1/4 c. flour. Put this out onto a board and knead for around 7 minutes, adding just enough more flour to keep the dough from being sticky. Put the dough into an oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth and let set in a warm spot for about an hour (I found the top of the dryer to work well while drying clothes). After an hour, I divided it into four separate pieces, put it back into the bowl, covered and let it set for 15 minutes. While I was letting the dough rise for the last 15 minutes, I cooked the sausage, then added the peppers, onion, and mushrooms letting them cook to the point of softening in some oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Lastly, I added the pepperoni to warm. When the dough was ready, I made a round of dough  and then added a bit of pizza sauce, the ingredients, a bit of mozarella and provolone. I folded it in half, sealed it off with fork tines.

While all this was going on, I preheated the oven to 500 degrees and put in the baking stone. Once it was sufficiently heated,  I turned the heat down to 475 and baked the calzones, two at a time, for about 12 minutes.

Chicken Breasts in Irish Cream

The weather cooled a bit and it was rainy out--what more perfect time to have some good Irish food?

After some debate, I came upon chicken breasts in Irish cream. The ingredients are wonderfully simple, but when put together...wow!

I thawed four chicken breasts, put them between two sheets of waxed paper, and flattened them. On went some salt and pepper, and then I put them into a skillet set on medium-high (not too hot)  that contained a couple of tablespoons of melted butter and 3 or four coarsely chopped green onions. The chicken breasts don't take long to cook--keep an eye on them. Once they are cooked through and browned a bit, remove them from the pan, add 2 T. of whisky and deglaze (remove the brown that is stuck to the bottom of the pan). Once this is done, add 1 t. of tarragon leaves (what a great aroma!) along with 1/2-3/4 c. whipping cream. Stir and let this bubble. Once it is at a creamy consistency and all blended, then lay the chicken breasts back into the creamy mixture.

To accompany, we had mashed potatoes and carrots coated with tarragon butter. Earlier in the day I fixed some soda bread, so a small knob of Irish butter soaked in nicely on the warm bread. A bit of chardonnay and we were in for a cozy, rainy evening. Cheers!

Shrimp and Vegetables with Dal Bukhara

Finally!!! I'm back in the kitchen and happy to be here. It feels like it's been a long time since I've rattled any pots and pans. It's something I definitely miss. At noon I was able to take a bit of time between phone calls and work on a project and make a bit of chili soup. It's getting to be that time again when we soup fanatics look lovingly upon our soup recipes. However, this evening it was the warmth of some mild curry that was attracting my attention.

As usual, I headed first to the freezer to see what meat/fish/fowl I had available. Some raw shrimp caught my eye. I threw it into a bowl with some warm water and let it defrost while I attended to the vegetables. I did a small dice of a couple of carrots, a green bell pepper, an onion, some mushrooms, and a couple of potatoes. I threw all these into a large skillet along with a bit of salt and some good olive oil. As they were softening a bit, I sliced a fresh cucumber to garnish the plate. Tom mixed a wonderful dry martini to help with the cooking process...he's very good at that!

Once the vegetables softened somewhat, I added the raw shrimp along with a package of Dal Bukhara (black gram lentils curry). The seasoning was mild and just right to blend and accentuate the other flavors. I let this all cook down a bit to gather more flavor and then served it up with the fresh and crisp cucumber slices for garnish. A very simple dish, but very satisfying on a cool night that hints at fall.

Sometimes a Simple Sandwich is the Best

The other day I was hungry come lunch time; Tom was at work, so my lunch menu was pretty loose. As I walked into the kitchen, I spotted a pretty red tomato and my mind registered bacon and tomato sandwich...I looked into the fridge and found a bit of bacon. Minutes later the bacon was frying in the skillet, the tomato was sliced, the bread was in the toaster, and the mayonnaise was at the ready. As I looked at the ensemble, I decided a fried egg would make it even better. So, after the bacon was finished, I dropped an egg into the skillet with the bacon grease. Once everything was stacked on the bread, I had one more thought...cheese. On went a slice and it melted down just a bit from the heat of the just cooked egg. 
Sometimes, the simplest things taste just right...I know this concoction sure did!