Tasty Tuesday

So for my first Tasty Tuesday post I thought I'd point you in the direction of a blog I ready regularly, Naked Cuisine.  It's written by a very thoughtful woman named Chantelle from British Colombia and she consistently posts wonderful recipes.  But for this week I wanted to show you the version of her Sloppy Jane recipe that I made Saturday after our hike.   The only things I did differently were that I didn't top the yams with sugar, I didn't make the tortillas and I used salsa we already had.  These were amazing and really fit the bill of satisfying us after a longish hike.  I would highly recommend the recipe and I am now wanting to find more ways to incorporate molasses into my cooking.  Here's the pic of how my bowls turned out:

So much color and so many delicious delicious flavors combined!  I hope you enjoy her blog as much as I do!

Irish Soda Bread

We went to a St Pat's Day party this past Saturday and I decided to make my Grandma's Irish Soda Bread since my parents are out of town and my Mom wouldn't be making it.  This is the best recipe that I've tried for it and it's pretty simple to make, but it really does need to be made in a cast iron skillet to taste right, it gives the best crust to the bread.  I did make a couple substitutions as is the norm for my family.  Instead of sour cream I used vanilla Greek yogurt, instead of raisins or currants I used 1 cup of yellow raisins, 1 cup regular (purple?) and 1 cup of currants since we had them.  I also omitted the caraway seeds since my Grandma's original recipe noted that she left them out because she didn't have any.  With all that said here's the recipe:

IRISH SODA BREAD

PREP: 15 MINUTES

BAKING TIME: 60–65 MINUTES

OVEN TEMP: 350 DEGREE

SERVES –15

Ingredients:

4 CUPS FLOUR + 1 TABLESPOON FOR DUSTING

½ CUP SUGAR

2 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER

1 TEASPOON SODA

¾ TEASPOON SALT

3 CUPS RAISONS

1 TABLESPOON CARAWAY SEEDS (OPTIONAL)

2 EGGS, LIGHTLY BEATEN

1 ¼ CUPS BUTTERMILK

1 CUP SOUR CREAM

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degree. Grease a 9 inch cast-iron skillet or baking pan
2. Combine eggs, buttermilk and sour cream in a large bowl.
3. Combine 4 cups flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, raisins, and caraway seeds stir into wet ingredients just until flour is moistened.
4. Knead dough in bowl, about 10 strokes; dough will be very sticky! Shape into a ball; place in skillet. Cut a 4-inch “X” ¾-inch deep, across top of dough. Sprinkle with remaining tablespoon flour.
5. Bake in 350 Degree oven for 60-65 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center tests clean.  Cool in skillet 10 minutes.  Turn bread out onto wire rack to cool completely.

In the pan ready to bake with the deep X cut in the top.

Fresh from the oven!

Last Meal

So I had no ideas for today's post so I'm going with the prompt from the NaBloPoMo site for today which is "If you knew that whatever you ate next would be your last meal, what would you eat?"  I'd have to say that I'd have a nice grilled steak with rosemary smashed potatoes and super fresh green beans with peach cobbler and homemade peach ice cream for dessert.  I know it's not super extravagant, but it definitely reminds me of home. Growing up my Dad would grill almost every weekend and I love that open flame charcoal taste on a steak. And in the summer, having grown up partially in Texas we would make the most amazing peach ice cream with fresh peaches from Texas, which are the best by the way.  I loved everything about summers with my family, the time with cousins, the sound of the ice cream maker, running around outside at my Grandma's in the country, de-silking corn, picking beans, all of it.  I think that's why I have such a strong desire to move out to the country when we grow up.  I feel like there is just something about being close to the earth that I miss in my everyday life in the suburbs, but such is life when there is a munchkin around.  I wouldn't want to sacrifice his education by moving to the country, or risk not getting to see him as much because of custody shenanigans. 9 more years and he'll be out of high school and we'll be free to wander where we will.

Rosemary Smashed Potatoes

2 lbs of  New Potatoes or Red Potatoes
3 Sprigs of Fresh Rosemary
Olive Oil
Sea Salt

Boil the potatoes until they are just soft and drain.
Pre-heat oven to broil.
Oil a cookie sheet and place boiled potatoes on them.
Smash the potatoes with your hand, a bowl, a potato masher, really anything that will flatten out the potatoes.
Drizzle the potatoes with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and chopped rosemary leaves.
Broil for about 15-20 min or until crispy.

Photo Source