Well, Bless My Roots!

It may be August, but the weather looks like an Irish spring day.  Cloudy, wet, and everything is green.  On days like these, I like to honor my Irish/Scots roots and do a wee bit of kitchen magic.  A spot of music, a cuppa of Irish Tea, and I almost feel as though my kitchen looks like this one:

And the music!  Not just any songs will do.  Check my playlist out:

Old Town - The Corrs
Dimming of the Day - The Corrs
Love You Till The End - The Pogues
If I Should Fall From Grace With God - The Pogues
Black Is The Colour - The Corrs
If I Ever Leave This World Alive - Flogging Molly
Radio - The Corrs
Only When I Sleep - The Corrs
Bodhran - The Young Dubliners (video is blank)
The Long Black Veil - The Chieftains and Mick Jagger
I Know My Love - The Chieftains and The Corrs
Spancil Hill - The Corrs

That should get you started! :)

Today, you get two recipes to bring you some comfort.  Whether it be the clouds or the world that brings you down, these luscious lovelies will lift you up!  So put a kettle on and get out your slow cooker for a day of kitchen magic!  The first is a tea brack, a tea bread made without butter and oil.  My hubster likes to call it raisin bread, and it pretty much is, but I've put a nice spin on it.
The second is a classic Irish stew, made with beef and Guinness.  I've included "neeps" (turnips) and "tatties" (potatoes).  I prefer only one turnip and two parsnips.  Parsnips taste like a wonderful lemon/ginger carrot.  I prefer them over carrots.  You can use whatever you like, however, and whatever's on hand.  I know a lot of Guinness stews have raisins and caraway seeds, but I think rosemary and thyme make this stew stand up and do a fancy jig!


Cranberry Tea Brack
Makes 1 loaf
(adapted from Homemade: Irresistible Homemade Recipes for Every Occasion by Clodagh McKenna)

Ingredients:

2 cups dried fruit, I used raisins and cranberries
1 1/4 cup tea, I used Republic of Tea's Comfort and Joy
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 egg
2 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. pumpkin or apple pie spice
Vanilla sugar (optional)

Instructions:
Soak fruit for at least two hours in tea. The original recipe calls for them to be soaked overnight, but I found them bitter, so I only soak them for a few hours.

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a bread pan with butter or olive oil cooking spray.

With a wooden spoon, quickly stir egg and sugar in a large bowl, until the combination has turned a lemony yellow and is a tad frothy.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, and spice.  Stir just until most is incorporated, but it will look mealy.

Add fruit and tea mixture.  Stir just until combined.

Pour into prepared pan (sprinkle with vanilla sugar if so desired) and bake for 55-60 minutes or until done when tested with a toothpick.

Guinness Stew with "Neeps" and "Tatties"

Ingredients:

Peel and chop the following:
2 onions
1 turnip
2 parsnips
2 cloves garlic
(do not chop or peel) 1.5 pounds baby yellow potatoes
*
2 pounds lean stew meat
1 sprig rosemary
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup flour
salt and fresh black pepper
*
4 cups low-sodium beef stock
1 (12 oz.) bottle of Guinness Stout
1 sprig rosemary
2 sprigs thyme
2 tbsp. tomato paste
*
1/4 cup cold water
1 tbsp. cornstarch

Instructions:
In a heavy skillet, heat the olive oil and place one sprig of rosemary in the oil.

Toss the meat with salt and pepper, then toss with the 1/4 cup of flour.  Place meat in heated skillet with rosemary and brown on all sides.

Place peeled and chopped veggies in the bottom of a slow cooker.  Pour in the stout and nearly all of the stock, reserving about 1/2 cup to de-glaze the skillet.  Add rosemary, thyme, and tomato paste to veggies.

De-glaze skillet, stirring meat around to make a sort of gravy.

Carefully, with oven mitts, pour the beef and gravy over the vegetables and stout. Add any remaining stock to slow cooker.  Stir carefully.  Simmer on high for an hour, then cook on low for five more hours.  Stir the cornstarch into the cold water and pour in the last five minutes of cook time to thicken.

(If you do not have a slow cooker, brown meat and then add veggies/stout/stock/tomato paste mixture into a large Dutch oven and roast - covered - for four hours at 325)

What Madness!

There's something about the back of this man's head...you'll either know him right away or wonder why you're being subjected to staring at someone's hair.  I read a quote last week that said, "You're not even as good looking as the back of Don Draper's head".  Really...

Last night's premier of "Mad Men" on AMC had my hubby and me riveted. Don Draper's wife singing her "Zou Bisou Bisou" song much to Don's discomfort had me cringing.  Joanie's treatment of her mother also made me shrivel a bit.  All in all, I think we were simply happy the series had resumed after such a long break in between seasons.  

One thing this gal knows for sure - I could never eat as if we were back in the early sixties.  I have roast chicken and coconut cake overload.  

I won't be including actual recipes, as these are classic dishes.  I made variations of them, thankfully with more modern kitchen equipment than any of the Mad women possessed.  

Our Sunday night Mad Men classic supper consisted of the following:

- a Negroni aperitif with salted cashews

-  Roast chicken with lemon and herbs

- Garlic roast baby potatoes

- Roasted green beans-asparagus with almonds

- Dinner rolls

- and a coconut pound cake to round the artery-clogging, salt-laden goodness.  

When I hear the word Negroni, I think of post-war era men enjoying an Italian aperitif. William Holden was a fan, and if he were alive, I'd ask him WHY.  It was so-so.  Gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth.  The definition of aperitif is a drink that stimulates the appetite.  Ok.  So not neccesseary for this hungry girl!  

Speaking of hungry, there's nothing like the smell of a chicken roasting to get your taste buds jumping.  I bought a 3 lb. organic, never been frozen roaster.  Chopped fresh thyme and rosemary, salt and pepper, a a few spritzes of olive oil.  I crammed some lemon wedges and more herbs into the cavity and roasted that little chubster at 375 for about an hour and a half until it reached an internal temp of 180.  Nonstick foil lining the pan makes for a really, super easy clean up!

While the chicken was roasting, I prepped the potatoes.  I lined a 9-inch cake pan with foil, rinsed the potatoes, and chopped some garlic.  Toss the garlic and potatoes with olive oil, sage, salt, and pepper.  Cover with more foil (I used a lot of foil, but had little clean up) and roast for an hour with the chicken.  Perfect little baked potatoes!

While the food cooked, I dumped the Negroni and created a drink recipe that I wish there was a name for.  2 ounces of Tanqueray, juice of half a lime, and a splash of ginger ale.  Refreshing!  If anyone knows the name of this drink (I cannot be the only one to pair these), please let me know!

Numerous Sunday dinners at both of my grandmothers' homes had me setting the dining room table.  My mom and grandmas used tablecloths, which I refused to use because it needed more than ironing.  It needed to be burned, it's so demolished.  Oh well, placemats to the rescue! I even set the serving dishes near the head of the table. Being married for 19 years has taught me that men like all the food on the table, within easy reach for second servings.

Wow.  Having finished that, I realized there's no time to sit - the gravy must be made!  Phew.  A 60's housewife's work just keeps on going!

I used this gravy recipe from Bon Appetit.  It's perfect if you know you're not going to have much in the way of pan drippings for gravy.

(Notice who has the majority of the gel mat at her disposal)

Still no time to sit and enjoy the gin and ginger ale.  It's veggie time.

I roast these with a tad of olive oil for the last 20 minutes of cooking time.  In fact, I put them in 10 minutes before the chicken is done, then toss them once more.  While the chicken rests on the counter before slicing, I cook the asparagus (next to the potatoes) for 10 more minutes.  Done.

Now let's eat!

Dessert was a cake that thanks to my kitchen appliances, was a breeze.  I'm not sure how the 60's housewife would have made the frosting other than with powdered sugar and milk, but my microwave and part of a tub of Duncan Hines classic white frosting was my means of preparation.  Thank goodness for the microwave!

It was a day of shopping, baking, prepping, cooking, and cleaning.  I thought Sundays were supposed to be a day of rest?!  I'm not sure the word rest  was in the vocab of a 60's housewife.  I know it's not in the vocab of this housewife, not generally.  Nor should it be.  You don't earn the badge of domestic goddess by simply looking the part, oh no.  You've got to have the grungy rubber gloves to prove it!

When I make meals like this one for my grateful family, I can honestly say it took 4 very special women to get me there.  My mother, grandmothers, and mother in-law taught me, in their own ways, something special about dinners.  Here are a few of their wise tips...

- You have to plan, prep, and time your meal.  Know when to cook each item.
- Have a back-up plan in case that roast needs more time in the oven.
- Always set a nice table.
- Put the coffee on as you're about to sit down for dinner so it'll be ready when dinner is done.
- Clean up as you go.  No one wants a full belly and dishes to wash while everyone is still enjoying the meal.
- Enjoy the process!  There are only so many Sunday dinners in life!

Please give the traditional suppers a try if you haven't.  Don't let the work level keep you from trying.  It's well worth it!  Bring some tradition and solidarity back into this era.  Just don't include the Negroni ;)