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It Only Comes Once a Year: Irish Soda Bread

partysugar — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:13:31 -0700

My dad makes Irish soda bread once every year and it always appears in the kitchen around St. Patrick's Day. Irish soda bread is a dense bread that is quite simple to make. This traditional recipe - it's from my Irish-born great-grandmother - includes caraway seeds and raisins. While you could leave these ingredients out, they are surprisingly delicious in the bread. It's an exceptional breakfast treat especially when lightly toasted and generously buttered. It would make a wonderful hostess gift or an accompaniment to Irish stew. To check out the recipe, read more.

Irish Soda Bread
From PartySugar's Dad

My grandmother used to make this for me. It is really good hot out of the oven topped with butter. Great for St. Patrick's day. Very authentic.

Ingredients

cooking spray or butter for the pan
2 cups flour, plus more for the pan
1/2 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons caraway seeds (If you don't like them you can leave them out)
1/2 cup raisins
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Spray pan with cooking spray or rub with butter. Dust bottom and sides of pan with flour.
In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt with a wooden spoon.
Stir in seeds and raisins.
With a fork lightly beat the eggs and milk.
Gradually add eggs and milk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture forms a sticky, thick dough.
Turn the dough into a 5 x 9 loaf pan or a round 8-inch pan. Sprinkle a little flour on the top.
Bake for 1 hour for loaf pan or 50 minutes for round.
Turn out of pan onto wire rack to cool. Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Makes 1 loaf of bread.

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Reinvent Surf and Turf With Shrimp and Chorizo Skewers

partysugar — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:50:43 -0700

There's something so satisfying about the combination of briny, salty seafood and hearty, juicy meat. While this marriage - surf and turf - is nothing new, it gets cleverly updated in this simple recipe. The shrimp is tossed in a mixture of garlic, chile powder, and caraway seeds. Although caraway seeds aren't the first ingredient that comes to mind when making a quick marinade for shrimp, they enhance the flavor of the shrimp to better complement the chorizo. When grocery shopping for this dish, look for large shrimp, otherwise they won't fit around the chorizo slices. If you can't find chorizo, substitute linguiça or another spicy, robust sausage. To throw these babies on the barbie, get the recipe and read more.

Spicy Shrimp and Chorizo Kebabs
From Food & Wine

Ingredients

2 large garlic cloves, thickly sliced
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 tablespoons pure chile powder, such as ancho
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds large shrimp, shelled and deveined
8 small chorizo (about 1/2 pound total), sliced 1/2 inch thick

Directions

On a cutting board, using the flat side of a chef's knife, mash the garlic and salt to a coarse paste. Add the caraway seeds and finely chop them.
Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the chile powder and olive oil. Add the shrimp and toss to coat.
Meanwhile, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add the chorizo and cook over high heat for 5 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Let cool slightly.
Tuck a chorizo slice in the crook of a shrimp and thread onto a skewer; the shrimp should be attached at both ends. Push it to the end of the skewer and repeat with two more shrimp and chorizo slices. Using more skewers, repeat with the remaining shrimp and chorizo.
Grill the kebabs over a hot fire, turning once or twice, until charred and the shrimp are cooked through, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Serves 6.

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Fast & Easy Dinner: Tempeh Reubens With Caramelized Onions

partysugar — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:50:45 -0800

Traditionally, a Reuben sandwich is made with meat; however this vegetarian version removes the meat and uses tempeh instead. Similar to tofu, tempeh's made from soybeans. In this recipe the tempeh is cooked in a mixture of apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, black peppercorns, and caraway seeds. Then it's placed on a piece of bread and topped with the classic Reuben fixings: Russian dressing and sauerkraut. To check out the recipe, read more.

Tempeh Reubens With Caramelized Onions
From Vegetarian Times

Ingredients

Russian Dressing:
4 Tbs. eggless mayonnaise
1 Tbs. tomato paste
1/4 cup minced dill pickle
2 Tbs. minced red onion
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Tempeh Reubens
1 8-oz. pkg. tempeh
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs. tamari or low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbs. black peppercorns, coarsely crushed
1 Tbs. caraway seeds
2 1/2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced onions
Salt to taste
1 1/2 cups sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
4 to 6 slices hearty whole grain bread
1 bunch arugula, stemmed, rinsed and dried

Directions

To make Russian Dressing: mix all ingredients in bowl until thoroughly combined. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make Tempeh Reubens: using sharp knife, cut tempeh crosswise at 45-degree angle into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Combine 1 1/2 cups water, vinegar, tamari, peppercorns and caraway seeds in large saucepan. Add tempeh, spooning mixture over it. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat.

Meanwhile, heat 1 1/2 Tbs. oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions and salt, and cook, stirring often, over medium-low heat about 10 minutes, or until juicy.

Increase heat to medium, and cook 5 minutes more, stirring often, until well browned. Remove pan from heat.

Heat remaining 1 Tbs. oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and add tempeh slices, in batches if necessary. Cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Warm sauerkraut in saucepan over medium-low heat.

To assemble sandwiches, spread each bread slice with 1 heaping Tbs. of Russian dressing. Layer bread with arugula, tempeh, sauerkraut and onions. Serve warm, either open-faced or topped with another slice of bread.

Serves 6.

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Sunday BBQ: Chicken Sausages With Grilled Onion Chowchow

YumSugar — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 06:00:12 -0700

For a laid-back meal, try this rustic recipe for chicken sausages with grilled onion chowchow. Chowchow doesn't refer to the fluffy cute dog in this case, but rather a sweet-and-sour relish that's popular in Pennsylvania and many parts of the South.

The caraway seeds, turmeric, and mustard in the condiment are the perfect complement to the seasonings in the sausage. Should you have any relish left over, it will keep in your refrigerator for up to a week. To grill this casual dish, read more.

Chicken Sausages With Grilled Onion Chowchow
Modified from Food and Wine

Ingredients

2 sweet onions, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 jalapeños
Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 cup grainy mustard
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 teaspoons water
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 pounds chicken sausages

Directions

Light a grill. Skewer each onion slice with a toothpick. Thread the jalapeños on a skewer. Brush the onions and jalapeños with olive oil and grill over a hot fire until charred but still slightly crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove the toothpicks and skewer. Coarsely chop the onions. Peel and chop the jalapeños.

In a medium saucepan, combine the cider vinegar with the light brown sugar, grainy and Dijon mustards, caraway seeds and turmeric and bring to a simmer. Add the onions and jalapeños and cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until the liquid is slightly reduced, about 12 minutes. Stir the cornstarch mixture, add it to the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Grill the sausages over a medium-high fire until golden and cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve the sausages with the grilled-onion chowchow.

Serves 6.

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