It might be difficult to believe that St. Paddy's Day is a big deal in a household with a hispanic surname, but as the Irish half of the family, I can assure you it is! I love all things St. Paddy's - the wearin' o' the green, the Top o' the Mornin' to you greetings, and let us now take a moment of reverence for the food. Ah, yes, the food.
We started the day with some Irish Soda Bread. Last year, I had attempted this to not such great results. Actually, I'm pretty sure I had ancestors spinning in graves in the Old Country. This year, however, we had MUCH better results. It made for a quite tasty breakfast paired with some bacon. Here's the recipe I found in a Paula Deen magazine (so you know it's good!):
Irish Soda Bread:
Makes 1 (12-inch) round
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons chilled butter, divided
5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups raisins (I used craisins)
2 1/3 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 2 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Place skillet in oven until butter melts. Remove from oven, and set aside. (If you don't have an iron skillet, I used a round stoneware cake pan and skipped the butter step here.)
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in remaining 1/2 cup chilled butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir in raisins.
3. In a small bowl, whish together buttermilk and egg. Gradually add to flour mixture, stirring just until mixture is moistened. Pour batter into prepared skillet. (Pour is kind of an interesting word - the batter is so think, it's more like "dump" than pour.)
4. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Serve warm in pan, or remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
This will not be a smooth, pretty loaf of bread. It is thick, lumpy and hearty. Kind of like my people. It went very well with a big cup of coffee.
I laid out the St. Paddy's day shirts I'd gotten the kids and told them they had 5 minutes to change or I was introducing them to the age-old St. Paddy day traditional pinching. There were a lot of squeals as pajamas were torn from little bodies and sent flying through the air. My little leprechauns then prepared a little message and jig to the tune of a celtic reel, with which I plan to blackmail them at a later date.
As dinner drew near, we settled in for some Shepherd's Pie topped off with St. Patrick's Day cake. Jake would like for me to tell you the cake was especially good and caused him to state emphatically that I was "the most awesomest mama ever." So, if you would like to share in my awesomeness, here you go:
St. Patrick's Day Cake:
(Pistachio Pudding Cake)
Cake:
1 white cake mix
1 small box of instant pistachio pudding
1 cup club soda
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Frosting:
1 small box of instant pistachio pudding
1 cup cold milk
1 small container cool whip
Mix the cake mix, instant pudding, club soda, eggs, oil and nuts in a bowl. Pour into a greased pan (bundt works best). Bake at 350 degrees until done (30 - 45 minutes). Allow cake to cool completely.
For frosting: mix pudding and cold milk until thick. Add cool whip. Ice cake and then refrigerate.
I remember my grandmother (who is half responsible for my Irish ancestry) used to make a really good pistachio cake - I'm pretty sure this is not her recipe, but it's a very good one!
That was our St. Paddy's gastronomical celebration - we all retired to bed much fuller than we intended. We hope your day was full of Irish blessings!
We started the day with some Irish Soda Bread. Last year, I had attempted this to not such great results. Actually, I'm pretty sure I had ancestors spinning in graves in the Old Country. This year, however, we had MUCH better results. It made for a quite tasty breakfast paired with some bacon. Here's the recipe I found in a Paula Deen magazine (so you know it's good!):
Irish Soda Bread:
Makes 1 (12-inch) round
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons chilled butter, divided
5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups raisins (I used craisins)
2 1/3 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 2 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Place skillet in oven until butter melts. Remove from oven, and set aside. (If you don't have an iron skillet, I used a round stoneware cake pan and skipped the butter step here.)
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in remaining 1/2 cup chilled butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir in raisins.
3. In a small bowl, whish together buttermilk and egg. Gradually add to flour mixture, stirring just until mixture is moistened. Pour batter into prepared skillet. (Pour is kind of an interesting word - the batter is so think, it's more like "dump" than pour.)
4. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Serve warm in pan, or remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
This will not be a smooth, pretty loaf of bread. It is thick, lumpy and hearty. Kind of like my people. It went very well with a big cup of coffee.
I laid out the St. Paddy's day shirts I'd gotten the kids and told them they had 5 minutes to change or I was introducing them to the age-old St. Paddy day traditional pinching. There were a lot of squeals as pajamas were torn from little bodies and sent flying through the air. My little leprechauns then prepared a little message and jig to the tune of a celtic reel, with which I plan to blackmail them at a later date.
As dinner drew near, we settled in for some Shepherd's Pie topped off with St. Patrick's Day cake. Jake would like for me to tell you the cake was especially good and caused him to state emphatically that I was "the most awesomest mama ever." So, if you would like to share in my awesomeness, here you go:
St. Patrick's Day Cake:
(Pistachio Pudding Cake)
Cake:
1 white cake mix
1 small box of instant pistachio pudding
1 cup club soda
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Frosting:
1 small box of instant pistachio pudding
1 cup cold milk
1 small container cool whip
Mix the cake mix, instant pudding, club soda, eggs, oil and nuts in a bowl. Pour into a greased pan (bundt works best). Bake at 350 degrees until done (30 - 45 minutes). Allow cake to cool completely.
For frosting: mix pudding and cold milk until thick. Add cool whip. Ice cake and then refrigerate.
I remember my grandmother (who is half responsible for my Irish ancestry) used to make a really good pistachio cake - I'm pretty sure this is not her recipe, but it's a very good one!
That was our St. Paddy's gastronomical celebration - we all retired to bed much fuller than we intended. We hope your day was full of Irish blessings!
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