Tag Archives: dinner

Irish Soda Bread

13 March 2012

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It’s that time of year again when green is the color du jour and everyone, including your pappy, is attempting to talk with an Irish brogue. Yep, it will soon be St. Patrick’s Day. Time for drinking Guinness and Irish whiskey, eating corned beef and cabbage, and let’s not forget the Irish soda bread. This quick and easy bread can be whipped up in no time.

Make it first thing in the morning with cranberries and orange zest to enjoy with your coffee and Bailey’s Irish Cream, or make a savory loaf with caraway seeds and raisins to go with a traditional stew. However you celebrate this spring holiday, just remember soda bread doesn’t have to be made just in March. Enjoy the bread year round when you want a simple and quick homemade bread without the hours of waiting.

Irish Soda Bread

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour, or graham flour (alternately, you can use all all-purpose flour)
2 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon butter, room temperature
3/4 cup + 1 teaspoon buttermilk
2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Irish Whiskey

Optional: 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel, 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds, 1/4 cup golden raisins, dried blueberries, dried cranberries, or other small dried fruit

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange peel or caraway seeds, if using, whisk together. Add butter and, using your finger tips, rub together until small crumbs form. Add raisins or other dried fruit if you are using them.

Mix together buttermilk and 2 tablespoons Irish Whiskey, stir well. Stir into dry ingredients only until moistened. Turn dough out onto floured surface (dough will be sticky) knead briefly.

Shape into round loaf and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Flatten loaf slightly. Using a sharp knife or razor blade, cut a cross in the top of the loaf. Mix 1 teaspoon Irish Whiskey with remaining buttermilk and brush the top of the unbaked bread with the mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes or until golden and bread sounds hollow when thumped on bottom. Cool bread on wire rack. Cut into wedges and serve slightly warm.

Pear, Blueberry, and Ginger Crisp

9 March 2012

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Dessert doesn’t have to be laborious and time consuming to be delicious. While our typical dessert is just a handful of nuts and a little chocolate, there are times when our bounty of fruit is overflowing. Even though an apple or pear alone is a healthy alternative, we prefer to eat our fruit desserts with a little sugar and flour. Taking liberties with the Cook’s Illustrated Pear Crisp recipe, we’ve combined both of their alternatives to the standard recipe (Pear Crisp with Oat Topping and Triple Ginger Pear Crisp) and added a cup and a half of blueberries to the mix. The result is a simple, satisfying dessert with lots of fruit and lots of crumbly crisp topping.

Pear, Blueberry, and Ginger Crisp

Topping:
1/2 cup almond, chopped coarsely
2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, coarsely chopped
½ cup flour
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
½ cup oats

Filling:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
pinch of salt
2 ½ pounds pears, peeled and diced (if organic you can leave the peel on)
1 ½ cups blueberries

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Topping: Process almonds, crystallized ginger, flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, ground ginger, and salt in food processor until nuts are finely chopped, about 9 pulses. Drizzle butter over flour mixture and pulse until mixture resembles crumbly wet sand, about 5 pulses. Scraping down bowl halfway through. Add oats and process until evenly incorporated, about 3 more pulses. Set aside.

Filling: Whisk sugar, orange zest, orange juice, cornstarch, grated ginger, and salt in a large bowl. Gently toss pears and blueberries with sugar mixture and transfer to 8-inch square baking dish.

Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit, breaking up any large chunks. Transfer baking dish to prepared baking sheet. Bake until fruit is bubbling around edges and topping is deep golden brown, about 30 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking dish to wire rack and let cool until warm, about 15 minutes. Serve.