St. Patrick's Day Recipe: Irish Soda Bread

From Kayla: Irish Soda Bread is a delicious Irish staple, and it is so easy to make! ? It's perfect for St. Patrick's Day because it's not your typical green recipe, but it is a very quick, fun recipe that you can make right now, plus it is rustic, hearty, and relatively healthy. This recipe can be personalized by using different fruits and flavorings, too. I used orange zest and raisins, but you can try any kind of citrus or extract in addition to any dried fruit, including cherries, cranberries, or currants. The fruit adds flavor and texture to the crumbly bread. Originally, Irish Soda Bread only contained flour, buttermilk, baking soda, and salt. I wanted a sweeter, richer bread that could be eaten for breakfast, snack, or dessert, so I added sugar, dried fruit, orange zest, an egg, and some butter. The trick to getting the right texture is to (1) handle the dough minimally, and (2) keep everything cold. Kneading the dough develops the protein (gluten) in the flour, which leads to toughness. Also, use lukewarm butter so that no steam is released when baking and you create a more dense bread. I used a stand mixer, but a food processor could work as well. As soon as everything was incorporated and just cohesive, I flipped the dough onto the cookie tray and patted it into a ball instead of kneading and rolling it. It may not be as pretty, but this is supposed to be a rustic bread!

Irish Soda Bread,? Makes 1 Loaf,? Recipe Adapted from Ina Garten 2 Cups Flour 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour 1/3 Cup Sugar 1 tsp Baking Soda 1 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt 1/2 Stick Butter, Chilled & Cubed 1 3/4 Cups Buttermilk 1 Egg 1 tsp Orange Zest or Other Flavoring 1 Cup Dried Fruit

Heat oven to 375F. Line a cookie tray with parchment paper (sold next to waxed paper at the grocery store). Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the butter and mix until just incorporated. Combine the buttermilk, egg, and flavoring. Slowly add to the flour mixture and fold in the dried fruit.

Gently form the dough into a round shape and transfer to the prepared sheet. Cut an "x" in the top and bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through.

Check out Kayla’s blog for more ideas! Just click? here! ? Thanks Kayla, for contributing such wonderful recipes!

Bananas Foster Pudding Pie

Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday) is the day on which the goal is to indulge in as much rich, unhealthy food as possible before the 40 days of Lent. Some of the most famous celebrations are in Louisiana, and? Bananas Foster is an iconic Louisiana dessert. The flambéing of the bananas in the rum is very impressive, and the brown sugar, rum, and vanilla combine in a sticky, gooey, yummy mess. Igniting fruit can be a daunting task, so I decided to make mine in a pie.

My pie is banana pudding meets bananas foster, and it tastes SO good! It has a vanilla wafer crust that you can make yourself or buy, vanilla pudding, caramel-coated bananas with a touch of rum if you want to add some, more vanilla wafers, and whipped cream. The pudding and bananas melt together, and the vanilla wafers absorb some of the liquid to become cakey and soft. Of course, nothing beats homemade whipped cream, so I pile on as much as I can! As for the rum, it is a key flavor in bananas foster, but you can omit it if you want to. To make a complete Mardi Gras meal, be sure check out our main dish recipe for Jambalaya.

Bananas Foster Pudding Pie, serves 8, adapted from Ann Thornton

1 Vanilla Wafer Pie Crust 3 Brown Bananas, Sliced 1 3/4 Cups Cream 3 T Butter 2 1/2 tsp Vanilla Rum, Optional 2 T Powdered Sugar 3/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar 3/4 Cup Sugar 1/3 Cup Flour 2 Eggs 4 Egg Yolks 2 Cups Milk 25 Vanilla Wafers

Combine the dark brown sugar, 3/4 cup cream, and butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until sugar dissolves. Boil until thick enough to coat a spoon, whisking often, about 10 minutes. Add rum to taste, if desired.

Combine the sugar and the flour until lump-free. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolks. Continue whisking until it forms a smooth paste. Slowly whisk in a cup of milk, then whisk in another when combined. Transfer to a saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it reaches the thickness of chilled pudding, about 10-15 minutes. The mixture will just begin to bubble and will hold soft peaks. Remove from heat and stir in 2 tsp vanilla.

Slice the bananas and fold gently into the caramel. Arrange half of the slices on the crust and top with half of the pudding. Repeat, then spread the vanilla wafers on top.

Whip the cream until it holds medium-stiff peaks. Add the remaining vanilla and powdered sugar. Spread over the pie, and serve.

Check out Kayla’s blog for more ideas! Just click here!

Jambalaya

On Mardi Gras, thoughts turn to ? New Orleans, which is famous for its Cajun and Creole food, but do you know the difference between the two? Cajun food focuses on stews while Creole food can be quite complex. Jambalaya is a hearty stew full of rice and an assortment of meats, seafood, and vegetables. Jambalaya may also be confused with Gumbo, another Louisiana stew, but Gumbo contains a roux, or a thickening agent composed of fat and flour. My recipe for Jambalaya is full of a variety of delicious ingredients such as sausage, chicken, tomatoes, rice, bell peppers, celery, onions, and shrimp. There are a lot of big flavors, but none of them overpower the others. It is actually very simple to make and is ready within an hour or two. To shorten the prep time, I use my food processor to chop all of the vegetables. It can take a while to cut them up, but the food processor is easier and much faster. I use Andouille sausage, a classic Cajun ingredient that is packed with flavor. It can be difficult to find, but it is worth looking for. And if you want to complete your meal, be sure to check out our Mardi Gras dessert, Bananas Foster Pudding Pie!!

Jambalaya, Serves 4-6, Recipe Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

1 Onion, Peeled & Quartered 1 Rib Celery, Quartered 1 Red Bell Pepper, Seeded & Quartered 5 Cloves Garlic, Peeled 2 tsp Oil 4 Bone-In, Skin-On Chicken Thighs 1/2 lb Andouille Sausage, in 1/4" Cubes 1 1/2 Cups Long Grain White Rice 1 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Thyme 1/4 tsp Cayenne 1 14oz Can Diced Tomatoes 1 Cup Clam Juice 1 1/2 Cups Low-Sodium Chicken Broth 2 Bay Leaves 1 lb Medium Shrimp

Drain the tomatoes and keep 1/4 cup juice.

Pulse the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor until fine but not pureed.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and add the chicken, skin-side down. Cook until golden, about 5 minutes, flip, and cook until golden on the other side. Remove from the pot, reduce heat to medium, and add the sausage. Cook, stirring frequently, until browned, about 3 minutes. Set aside. Reduce heat to medium low, add the vegetables, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes.

Add the rice, salt, thyme, and cayenne. Stir frequently until the rice is coated with fat, about a mint. Add the tomatoes, tomato juice, clam juice, chicken broth, bay leaves, and sausage.

Remove the skin from the chicken and put on top of the rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir and replace the cover; continue to simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes more. Remove the chicken. Scatter the shrimp over the rice, cover, and continue to cook until the rice is tender and the shrimp are cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, shred the chicken. Discard the bay leaves and turn off the heat. Stir in the chicken, and serve.

Check out Kayla’s blog for more ideas! Just click? here!