Almost St. Patrick's Day - Wednesday Recipes

Since tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, here are six recipes to try tomorrow - or any time, for that matter! Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE

This comes from Nigella Lawson in The New York Times' cooking newsletter. Nigella writes, “For me, a chocolate cake is the basic unit of celebration. The chocolate Guinness cake here is simple but deeply pleasurable, and has earned its place as a stand-alone treat.” Time: 1 hour 15 minutes; one 9-inch cake or 12 servings

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

For the Cake:

Butter for pan

1 cup Guinness stout

10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups superfine sugar

3/4 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

For the Topping:

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 cup heavy cream

Preparation:

For the cake: heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, combine Guinness and butter. Place over medium-low heat until butter melts, then remove from heat. Add cocoa and superfine sugar, and whisk to blend.

In a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add to Guinness mixture. Add flour and baking soda, and whisk again until smooth. Pour into buttered pan, and bake until risen and firm, 45 minutes to one hour. Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely in pan.

For the topping: Using a food processor or by hand, mix confectioners' sugar to break up lumps. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth. Add heavy cream, and mix until smooth and spreadable.

Remove cake from pan and place on a platter or cake stand. Ice top of cake only, so that it resembles a frothy pint of Guinness.

IRISH SODA BREAD

This comes from Ina Garten of The Food Network's Barefoot Contessa. Total Time: 1 hr 15 min; Prep Time: 20 min; Cook: 55 min; Yield: 1 loaf; Level: Easy

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/irish-soda-bread-recipe.print.html?oc=linkback

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for currants

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk, shaken

1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1 cup dried currants

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is mixed into the flour.

With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest together in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Combine the currants with 1 tablespoon of flour and mix into the dough. It will be very wet.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.

Cool on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

TRADITIONAL IRISH SODA BREAD

This traditional bread comes from The Baker Chick. She writes, “I love how simple this recipe is. It’s made up of just 4 ingredients that I usually have on hand, which means I can have a loaf of delicious bread ready and waiting any time I want. Flour- Baking Soda- Salt-Buttermilk. Who would know that simply that could result in such a perfect loaf of bread? With an almost biscuit-like taste and a crisp crust, we slathered this with some delicious salted butter, but a slather of jam or a dunk in a bowl of soup would be a perfect match as well. The bread is simple as can be to throw together and has that rustic, country look I really love. I’m a total fan of making yeasted bread, but this is by far the best I’ve had for something so quick! I’m glad I discovered this recipe right in time for St. Patty’s, but I know it will be a kitchen standard all year round!”

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 lb. (3-1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more as needed

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1-1/2 to 1-3/4 cups buttermilk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450F.

Stir together the flour, salt and baking in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the mixture and pour in 1 1/2 cups of the buttermilk.

Use a wooden spoon or your hand to combine the ingredients. You want the dough to be soft- don't over mix it. Add more buttermilk if needed to get the dough to come together.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and give it a few kneads and shape it into a 6-inch diameter disk (about 2 inches tall.)

Use a sharp knife to score an X on the top of the loaf (I did mine a bit too deep as you can tell, you only need to cut in a little bit.) Transfer to a cookie sheet or pizza stone and bake for 15 mins.

Reduce the heat to 400F and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden, and the bread sounds hollow when you tap it.

Let bread cool slightly before slicing and slathering with salted butter!

CREAMY IRISH POTATO SOUP

This recipe comes from Campbell's Kitchen; to view this recipe online, click here. The recipe starts off, "This rich and creamy potato soup is subtly flavored with celery and green onions. It's the kind of soup you'll want to savor slowly...even though it's ready in just 35 minutes."

Prep. time: 15 minutes; Cooking time: 25 minutes; Serves: 5 servings (1 1/4 cups each)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

4 medium green onion, sliced (about 1/2 cup)

1 stalk celery, sliced (about 1/2 cup)

1 3/4 cups Swanson® Chicken Broth, (Regular, Natural Goodness® or Certified Organic)

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 medium potato, sliced 1/4-inch thick (about 3 cups)

1 1/2 cups milk

Directions

Heat the butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and cook until they're tender.

Stir the broth, black pepper and potatoes in the saucepan and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Place half of the broth mixture and half of the milk in a blender or food processor. Cover and blend until smooth. Repeat with the remaining broth mixture and remaining milk. Return to the saucepan and heat through.

CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE TARTS

Linda Larsen runs about.com's Busy Cooks channel. Linda wrote, "I love this recipe for these individual little Corned Beef and Cabbage Tarts. The creamy cheese, crisp-tender cabbage and sweet red onion blend so well with the corned beef and the flaky pastry. You can omit the corned beef entirely for a nice vegetarian entree."

Prep Time: 25 minutes; Cook Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 55 minutes; Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 crust pastry recipe

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

1/4 large head red cabbage, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. honey

1/3 cup water

1 cup cooked cubed corned beef or ham

1 cup cubed Swiss or Havarti cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Prepare pie crust and divide dough into four pieces. Roll out each between waxed paper into 7" rounds. Fit each into a 4" tart ring, or simply put the crusts on two cookie sheets. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Saute onion in olive oil in a large skillet until soft. Then add cabbage, vinegar, honey, and water. Cover pan and simmer for 10 minutes, until cabbage is soft, stirring frequently. Then uncover pan and cook for 5-8 minutes longer on medium high heat, stirring frequently, until liquid is absorbed.

Divide half of the cabbage mixture evenly among the pastry circles, using about 1/2 cup for each. If you aren't using the tart rings, just mound the mixture in the center of the circles of pastry. Divide the corned beef evenly onto the cabbage mixture. Sprinkle with Gruyere cheese cubes and grated Parmesan cheese, and top with remaining cabbage mixture. Fold crust edges over the top of the cabbage mixture, pleating to form a ruffled edge. Bake tarts at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Remove tart rings and serve.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY SOUP

This is from GE Appliances, and begins, “What a tasty home-made potato soup, made with both Idaho and sweet potatoes.” Makes 4 to 6 servings in 20 minutes.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

6 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces

1 large onion, chopped

4 cups chicken broth or bouillon

2 teaspoons thyme

1- 16 oz. container sour cream

1 stick butter or margarine

1/2 cup flour

2 cups milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Place potatoes, onion, broth and thyme into a 5-quart pot. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Melt butter in a medium size saucepan. Stir in flour with a whisk or wooden spoon to make a smooth paste.

Add milk, a little at a time, stirring to make the mixture smooth. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add to the potato mixture.

Stir in sour cream.

Heat thoroughly and serve.