Friday, March 19, 2021
Chocolate Guinness Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Irish Soda Bread
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Line an 11-12 inch cast iron pan with a sheet of parchment paper. Lightly butter top of parchment paper.
Sunday, March 7, 2021
Baked Soft Pretzels
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Roast Chicken & Baby Red Potatoes Salad w/ Mustard Vinaigrette
It's hard to believe but this month marks the anniversary of when the world as we knew it changed. Movie theaters (at least in my hometown) are still closed, (legally) eating inside a restaurant has just recently returned, some stores continue to limit the number of people allowed in, depending on the time of day you can expect to wait in line to get into a store, face masks are required everywhere, and drinking from water fountains may soon become a thing permanently remaining in the past. While we can now readily find yeast, flour, chicken, ground beef, hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, face masks, and toilet paper, the days of scarcity are permanently etched in our memories. Yet, in spite of the return of stocked shelves, some of us have given serious consideration to becoming hoarders. This has not been a good year for those of us who already had some underlying hoarding tendencies (although who knew we should have been stockpiling toilet paper and hand sanitizer). Coping with this temporary new normal has caused us to reimagine life as we knew it, while still holding on to the belief that things like the days of gathering (without masks) are somewhere out on the horizon. I, for one, can hardly wait to have my family and posse over for a meal (oh the recipes I want to make for them) as well as to reconnecting with friends in person (around food and. beverages of course!).
1 medium sized garlic clove, finely minced
3 Tablespoons Sherry vinegar
1 Tablespoon water
Pinch of granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
Several grinds of black pepper
1 Tablespoon smooth dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon Whole-Grain dijon mustard
Friday, February 26, 2021
Cadbury Egg & Milk Chocolate Levain Style Cookies
2. Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat cold butter on low speed until the butter cubes lose their shape (about 30-45 seconds).
3. Beat in the granulated sugar (about 30 seconds)
4. Beat in the brown sugar and vanilla (about 30 seconds). Mixture will be thick and creamy.
5. Mix in the milk chocolate chips and chopped Cadbury Eggs to distribute evenly in the batter (about 30 seconds).
6. On low speed mix in the dry ingredients in three additions. Do not over beat, but there should be no streaks of flour showing.
7. Add in the lightly beaten eggs in two additions. Beat until mixture forms a cohesive dough.
8. Use a large (2 1/4") cookie scoop to divide the dough into 11 balls. Balls of dough will weigh slightly more than 4 ounces each (or 120g).
10. Place the balls of dough on a baking sheet, tightly cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
11. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). Line two baking pans with parchment paper.
12. Place 4 balls of the cookie on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Note: You will be baking one cookie sheet at a time.
13. Bake cookies for 20-22 minutes or until the edges and spots on top are lightly golden. Rotate cookie sheet midway through the baking process. Do not over bake the cookies. Let cookies rest on the cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes.
14. Remove cookies from baking sheet and place on a cooling rack. Let cool slightly or let come to room temperature before serving.
15. Store any left over cookies in a tightly sealed container or wrap in a cellophane bag.
Notes: (1) I used a combination of light and dark brown sugars, about a 2/3 to 1/3 ratio. But could also use equal portions of light and dark brown sugar. (2) I used these Guittard Milk Chocolate Maxi Chips as they aren't just delicious, they are oversized. Instead of milk chocolate chips, use chopped milk chocolate. (3) The easiest way to crush the Cadbury Eggs is to put them in a ziplock bag and use a mallet or can to crush them. A sharp knife can be used to cut them in half. (4) I used a little more than one bag of the mini-Cadbury Eggs to make these cookies.