The Gifts of Spring

Spring shows her face in different ways around the world. In the Northern hemisphere it can be cold, windy, rainy, snowy, warm, foggy, or even hot. We started out this spring with duck weather; a good half inch fell today and is greatly appreciated since our weather since January has been drier than normal. I love it that I can go out tomorrow and have an easier time weeding. Since I keep talking about it you probably think that I've weeded acres by now, but the truth is I can only do about an hour of weeding a day (still getting my strength back) so it is ongoing.

One of the gifts of spring is asparagus. We have been eating it almost daily now that the price is reasonable. Usually we just steam it or put the spears on the grill for quick cooking. Today I used two other gifts of spring to make a stunning composed salad. Our across-the-street neighbors gifted us with fresh, pale blue shelled chicken eggs from their own chicken coop. Sweetie could tell you a tale about herding chickens for them and low hanging eaves in the coop, but since he survived to tell the tale, you'll have to ask him what happened. The same neighbors gave us a bag of freshly picked mixed salad greens. All of these combined to make a lovely salad.

A couple of years ago I read a recipe by our excellent local food writer, Michele Anna Jordan, where she used softly cooked eggs to top lightly dressed salad greens. She also combined asparagus and scrambled eggs. I sort of took those and mixed them together and cooked the eggs as over-easy ones. You still get the runny yolks like the soft cooked eggs, but now it is running over both the greens and the cooked and warm asparagus. I threw in some roasted golden beets that were waiting in the fridge and made a very simple vinaigrette. I kept the shaved Parmesan and really liked the interplay of soft with crunchy, warm with cold and the variety of flavors, too. I plated the salad into big, red soup bowls and it make quite an impressive presentation.

I think the trick to making this recipe work is timing...and excellent ingredients. If possible, use farm fresh eggs, high quality salad greens, and fresh asparagus that still have tightly closed tips. Have the asparagus ready to steam or microwave, the salad greens washed and dried, the chunk of Parmesan ready to shave, and the beet slices and dressing ready to go. Have the pan, butter, and eggs ready at the stove. It all goes together quickly after that, so have everyone ready to sit down to this dish as soon as possible after it is plated. I only made two servings. I think one could make four and still get it all plated quickly. Beyond that things that should be warm might get cold.

Spring Salad with Asparagus, Beets and Fried Egg
serves 2

6-8 spears asparagus, ends trimmed
3-4 cups fresh mixed salad greens, washed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
one beet, roasted until tender, skin removed, sliced into at least 6 slices and chilled
2 eggs, farm fresh if possible
a chunk of Parmesan cheese to shave about 1 tablespoon from
vinaigrette - recipe below

Place prepared asparagus in a steamer or microwave steamer. Set aside.

In a medium bowl toss the mixed greens with 2/3 of the vinaigrette to lightly coat. Add the beet slices and toss to coat them with the vinaigrette. Portion half of the dressed greens in each of two large salad plates or bowls. Top with the dressed beet slices, at least 3 per portion.

Fry the two eggs in a skillet or cast iron frying pan, using a bit of melted butter to keep them from sticking. While the eggs are cooking, steam the asparagus until barely tender.

Flip the eggs to cook the tops of the yolk briefly. Place the steamed asparagus on top of the dressed greens in the middle of the plate or bowl, dividing them between the servings. Top the asparagus with the eggs, one egg per serving. Use the tip of the spatula to break the yolk so it runs over the asparagus. Shave some Parmesan over each salad (about 1/2 tablespoon each). Serve at once.

Simple Vinaigrette
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon type mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake to emulsify and combine completely. Taste and adjust to your taste (you might want more lemon juice for instance, or more pepper).

Aye and Begorrah – Corned Beef from Scratch

Welcome, again, Guest Blogger No Handle with a seasonal delight:

Irish Corned Beef

Corned Beef is an iconic Irish dish, and since I am more than half Irish, and have Grandparents who literally came over on “the boat” from Ireland, it is a bit odd that I haven't attempted this before. My (Irish) uncle John made it every year. The recipe I used, and one of the harder-to-find ingredients, comes from a family friend who is more German than anything, and who prepares it for Christmas parties. The Celts passed through German territory on their meandering migration that ended in Ireland, so maybe that's it. She owns the Back Forty bar in Mountain Home, AR where several of my distant relatives also live. Stop by if you are in the area (Branson is just up the road). Thanks Opal!

Aside from obtaining one ingredient, this is not at all a difficult dish to prepare, but it does take some time (about 2 weeks, although another recipe from the Food Channel says it can be done in 10 days). To drop the suspense, the one ingredient is called salt peter, or potassium nitrate. It preserves the color of the meat over its long stay in the corning solution, which is essentially a brine. See my earlier blog on brining a turkey for a shorter brining effort. Where that brine used separate spices, this one calls for Pickling Spices (the salt peter was (inaccurately) labeled Pickling Salt, when I finally found it in a spice store in Boulder, CO had a nice pink color) which includes many of the spices from brining, plus a few more that deliver a wonderful aroma that fills the house when they are being heated. It is a delightful promise of things to come.

There are five ingredients that go into the corning solution, including the Pickling Spices and Salt. While they are heating, chop the garlic cloves into slivers, and insert them at intervals into the beef; puncture the meat with a paring knife to make it easier. I'm not sure that the Irish are that big on garlic, but I am so the recipe suites me fine. Once the solution has cooled somewhat (The Food Channel recipe calls for addition of ice. I am more patient and just let it sit on the counter for a while.) place the beef and solution into a 2-gallon plastic zipper bag or shallow pan.

The recipe calls for weighting down the beef in a shallow container and covering it with muslin, but the plastic bag approach is easier. In either case, the mixture goes into the refrigerator for about two weeks. Since corning is an old method of preserving meat, I suspect it could stay for months with no ill effect.

…. time passes ….

The big day has arrived, so remove the beef from the solution, which you can discard, and rinse it thoroughly. Remove the garlic slivers too. The spices have already been soaked into the meat, and the salt is mostly on the outside. It was needed for osmosis (encouraging the spices to enter the meat tissue), kind of like the way a water softener works. Put the meat in a largish Dutch oven. Le Creuset is nice, but there are good enameled cast iron pots out there for a more reasonable price. Check Macy's and Costco.

Cover it with fresh cold water, and add the vegetables.

I included carrots, even if the recipe doesn't call for them (another did). Put the pot, covered, on the stove on a back burner and bring to a boil, then reducing the heat to medium low to simmer for a few hours. Your patience will be rewarded. After three hours the meat should be falling-apart tender (no bones, so falling-off-the-bone tender doesn't apply), and ready to serve. Slice thinly across the grain and plate.

As the big day approached, I decided to go the distance and cook the full "boiled dinner" of corned beef and cabbage. It meant getting a few more vegetables and adding some pickling spice to the water, to season the vegetables. This requires adding the vegetables in stages, with potatoes, carrots, onion, and celery going in first, followed closely by the cabbage.

I removed the vegetables and cooked the beef a little longer because it didn't seem tender enough. I also transferred the beef and vegetable mixture to a larger pot when the cabbage went in, because my Dutch oven was a bit small (6 quart) and the mixture need a lot more space. Without the cabbage it was just big enough. The end result was delicious, and by adding the pickling spices at the beginning of the boil, the aroma filled the house. Yum! As you can see, adding salt peter did retain a lovely red color throughout the corning and cooking period.  

There seems to be a tradition of rewarding your salt peter provider with a serving, since he or she is a local, and the stuff is so hard to find that you are grateful, and want to show that gratitude. Also, it's just nice to share. So, pass on the green beer and enjoy this Irish (and sometime German) specialty.

Irish Corned Beef - The Recipe

4 quarts water

One half cup kosher salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Tablespoon pickling spice [I used McCormick]

One half ounce salt peter

8 bay leaves

5 lb beef brisket

8 cloves garlic

2 onions

2 stalks celery

Combine first 6 ingredients in saucepan (or large kettle). Bring to boil and cook for 5 minutes. Place brisket (trimmed of as much fat as possible) stuffed with the garlic, in a non-metallic container. Cover with cooked broth, and weigh down to keep covered. Cover with muslin (or plastic wrap) and refrigerate for 2 weeks. An alternative is a two-gallon plastic zipper freezer bag; press the air out.

To cook: Rinse thoroughly to remove brine. Place in kettle with onions [carrots] and celery. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook for about 3 hrs until tender. Drain and slice crosswise.

Salt peter maintains the color, and may be gotten at the pharmacy. [If you have a “corner drug store"], else at your local spice shop, or search for Humco Saltpetre granular on the web (more expensive). The Humco product is white. Farm stores are another possibility.

Additions (Corned Beef and Cabbage)

1 Tablespoon pickling spice

2 lbs. Potatoes (I used reds, peeled and cubed)

2 lb head of cabbage (I used about 3/4ths of it; cole slaw anyone?)

3 medium carrots, sliced

3 bay leaves (I cheated and used the ones from the corning solution)

 

After the beef has cooked about 2 1/2 hours, add the onion, celery, carrots, and potatoes. Bring to a boil again, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the cabbage, return to a boil, and simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and serve immediately.

Thanks No Handle! Will have to try this myself sometime. Dear Reader, it would be so nice if you would comment so that No Handle, our Denver favorite, gets some feedback. I think he did a grand job.

Pesto Green and a Link to St. Pat's Cake

It's instructive to look back over a few years of posts, both to see the rise and fall and rise again of my enthusiasm for blogging, for cooking and baking, for the joys of the seasons and to re-discover old recipes. A few days ago I started looking for my favorite chocolate cake recipe, the 86 Proof Chocolate Bundt Cake, a perfect cake for St. Patrick's Day if made with Irish Whiskey, and ended up spending a pleasant half hour or so looking over contiguous posts. There were reminders of pleasures enjoyed and challenges faced as well as the joy of discovering other bloggers.


A lot can be learned by thinking back on the large and small challenges that life throws at one. At the moment I feel like the water in the eddy behind the rock in the stream...taking a short breather in a quiet place. It's far more pleasant than I'd imagined. While getting on with the seemingly endless weeding as I prepare for the new garden year, I have time to think and to dream and to try out new ideas in my head where they are easily turned over and just as easily discarded if not just what I want. Re-potting the seedlings into larger pots is another task that allows for dreaming time. With the kitchen remodel in the dreaming stages you can imagine where my thoughts are going.

Returning to the many posts that have filled this blog, there have clearly been some dreams, particularly baking dreams, that have been fulfilled. What a lot of recipes have been tried and printed over the years! There are some that have become a regular part of our meals, but many that I tried once and then forgot about. I noticed that there seem to be very few recipes from the Comfort Food cookbook, so it may be time soon to get some of those up. My favorite Guest Blogger, No Handle, will be featured early next week, too. Lately there is less baking and more cooking in my life as I try to change my diet to keep from having those nasty stones. That doesn't mean that no baking will happen, just less frequently.

For today I give you a recipe filled with fresh broccoli and squash and leftovers. I threw it together when the garden was calling my name and every minute in the kitchen seemed one too many. If you have to cook the rice (I used leftovers) it will take longer. If you don't have already cooked chicken, either, then you may as well keep this tucked away for another day when you do have some of those leftovers, too. Prepared pesto is readily available around here in every grocery store. All I really had to do was to lightly cook the broccoli and squash with some parsley. The rest was re-heating and mixing together. It did make a nice, warm, savory one dish meal. I love the mixture of the flavors of pesto, chicken, and broccoli. Next time I might throw in some roasted red pepper strips, too. Sometimes leftovers can be quickly embellished with fresh foods and become a real treat.

Pesto Rice with Chicken and Broccoli and Squash

1 cup cooked rice (I used brown but any kind should be OK)
3 tablespoons prepared pesto
1/2 cup precooked chicken, in large dice
1/2 cup or so fresh broccoli, cut into florets
1/2 medium zucchini squash, cut into coins and halved
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
pepper to taste

1. Heat the rice in a large heatproof bowl in the microwave until heated through. Remove from the microwave and add the pesto. Stir to distribute the pesto evenly. Set aside.

2. While the rice is heating, steam the broccoli, squash and parsley until barely cooked through, about 2 minutes. Drain. Add to the pesto rice. Stir to combine. Cover to keep warm.

3. Once the rice is cooked, re-heat the chicken in the microwave in a small dish. Once hot, add to the warm rice mixture. Taste for seasonings and add pepper (and salt, if necessary). Serve at once. Can be garnished with more parsley, toasted pine nuts, warmed roasted pepper strips, etc. Serves 1-2.

Roasted Sesame Green Beans - More March Green

I've never been a big fan of fresh green beans, unless they are super slim and small. I think that the larger, older beans must develop some taste that the young ones don't have. Even blanching the bigger ones doesn't seem to stop them from tasting really, really beany. It might have been the reason why fresh green beans were always cooked almost to a mush when I was growing up, plus that pot of what my sisters and brothers and I called 'dead beans' usually had a liberal amount of bacon grease added. Almost anything with bacon flavor is easier to work up an appetite for than something without when it comes to vegetables.

As an adult I have tried different things with fresh beans since I actually like my beans to be green and have some body when I eat them. A few days ago a free copy of Cooks Illustrated magazine appeared in my mailbox. If you are not familiar with it, it is a most unusual magazine. There are no ads, many black and white photos, and the recipes have been tested and fiddled with until they are just what the author wants. There are guides for buying ingredients, step-by-step illustrations for technique, tips, buying information and more. The write-up of the recipes often explain in detail why they found that a certain ingredient needed to be added to or subtracted from the recipe, what was the result of baking something a one temperature instead of another and similar finding that can help create the perfect finished product.

On page 20 there is an article about roasting fresh green beans. There is a basic recipe and then variations. One of the variations really appealed to me; roasted sesame green beans. The basic beans are roasted for 10 minutes, then the pan is removed from the oven, a mixture of fresh garlic, ginger, some honey, toasted sesame oil and some hot pepper flakes is added and the beans are tossed with tongs and then roasted another 10 minutes, then sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.

These are great beans! I did have to sub cayenne pepper for the pepper flakes since my spice rack seemed to be free of pepper flakes, but otherwise I followed the recipe...until the end. I forgot to toss the beans in the sesame seeds, so I sprinkled them on top of the plated beans. Worked just fine! The beans were still green, softer than I like but still toothsome, and the topping and sesame seeds added just the right flavor and crunch. I'm going to make these again soon. I love the way the beans caramelized and the flavor that was added by that and by the garlic and ginger. Now even supermarket green beans are delicious.

Roasted Sesame Green Beans
Serves 4

1 lb fresh green beans, stem ends snapped off
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
4 teaspoons sesame seeds, lightly toasted

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 450 degrees F. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Put beans into a produce bag or other food safe plastic bag. Drizzle with the oil. Close bag and shake. Add salt and pepper. Shake again. Spread oiled and seasoned beans on baking sheet in an even layer. Roast 10 minutes.

While beans are roasting, combine garlic, ginger, honey, toasted sesame seed oil and pepper flakes in a small bowl. When beans have finished their 10 minutes of roasting, remove pan from oven. Using tongs, coate beans evenly with the garlic/ginger mixture; redistribute on pan in an even layer. Return to oven and continure roasting until dark golden brown in spots and starting to shrivel, 9 - 12 minutes longer. Transfer to serving dish, sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds and additional salt/pepper if needed. Serve at once.

Green for March

March in Northern California is a season of green. The grass has taken advantage of the winter rains and longer days. It is lush and long. Our neighbor has sheep. Recently, at our invitation, she brought them over to our pasture. They have been avidly cropping the long grass and soon she'll move them into a movable enclosure and they will lunch on the grass on the hillside, too. Pi wants to go play with them and sometimes just heads out to the pasture and looks at them longingly. One of them is pregnant, too, so soon we might have a little lamb or two frolicking down the hill.

The willows are showing the first tender green leaves, the daffodils are peeking out of their strappy green leaves, and (while not green) the plum blossoms, both white and pink, are decorating the neighborhood. My squash and tomato and beet seedlings are becoming larger and stronger. The weeds are burgeoning, too, so tomorrow I hope to get out and pull some of them out in preparation for spring planting.

Tonight I made a very green side dish. It works well as a main dish, too. Just be sure to allow plenty per person because it is hard to stop with one serving. This is a dish I have been making since the mid-90s when the Mediterranean Diet was quite popular. Today's paper talked about recent studies that showed that it is still an excellent way to eat, since it uses season ingredients, plenty of veggies, olive oil and things like fish and cheese. I just like it because it tastes so good.

Along with some spinach fettuccine, this dish uses both the winter staple broccoli and the spring vegetable that is just now on special in all the stores, asparagus. Add a little garlic, olive oil, ricotta cheese and Parmesan cheese and you have a wonderful, warm spring dish. If you prefer, this can also be made with goat cheese. I rarely remember to make sure I have mint or fennel on hand when I make this dish, but those flavors would certainly go well. Don't forget the dash of nutmeg. Somehow it ties all of the other flavors together in a subtle but distinctive way. It may not look like much, but it is a plate of pleasure.

Fettuccine with Ricotta or Chèvre and Asparagus

from the Mediterranean Diet Cookbook
serves 4 - 6

3/4 lb tender young asparagus ( or 1/2 lb asparagus and 1/4 lb broccoli crown)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh mint, minced - optional
2 tablespoons fresh green wild fennel, minced
1 lb fettuccine
6 quarts water
1/2 lb fresh creamy ricotta or mild goat cheese
dash nutmeg
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Trim touch ends off asparagus after rinsing them. Cut tender parts into 2-inch lengths. Cut broccoli crown into small florets.

In a sauté pan, over low heat and covered, gently stew the garlic, asparagus and broccoli in the oil until the vegetables are tender but not brown, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in mint and fennel if using. Set aside.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling water until tender. While pasta cooks, extract 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and mix it in a small saucepan with the ricotta or chèvre. Set saucepan over low heat and gently cream the ricotta and cooking water. When the ricotta is warm, taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Add the nutmeg and 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan cheese and stir to combine.

Drain the cooked pasta and combine immediately with the cheese sauce, tossing to mix well. Arrange over a warm platter and pour asparagus mixture over the top, being sure to scrape all of the cooked garlic onto the pasta and veggies. Sprinkle with the rest of the grated cheese and serve at once.

Warm Blueberries

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I used to have a muffin company. I baked wholesale muffins for a couple of coffee shops, mostly to keep my brain active when my kids were very young. Although my lemon ricotta mega-muffin was my best seller, the next favorite was fresh blueberry muffins. It's been ages since I baked any kind of muffin, but the blueberries in the produce section called to me this week, so on Saturday morning I baked up a batch of fresh blueberry muffins, with some Meyer lemon zest since they go so well with blueberries. When I ate my first bite, the muffins still had warm blueberries...a most delicious and decadent flavor. The muffins were not the airy, overly sweet cakey kind that you often find these days. The texture is delicate but firm, the flavors are of the fruit, lemon and butter, and they were gone in a flash.

One of the keys with muffins is much the same as with most quick breads...delicate care in handling the batter. If you whisk together the dry ingredients, toss in the rinsed blueberries, then toss gently to cover them with flour, all you need to do when you add the mixed wet ingredients is to barely combine the ingredients. Do have your pans prepared and your oven hot. In no time you will have delectable warm blueberries in a lightly lemon, buttery muffin. What a lovely way to start the day.

Blueberry Muffins

based on Basic Muffins in Marion Cunningham's The Fannie Farmer Baking Book

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1 cup firm fresh blueberries, rinsed
2 eggs, slightly beaten, at room temperature
1 cup milk, at room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick or 1/2 cup) butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons white sanding sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin pans or line with paper baking cups.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest and whisk to combine. Add the fresh blueberries and toss to coat lightly with the dry ingredients. Set aside.

In another bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredient/blueberry mixture. Pour in the egg mixture and stir to combine, just long enough to blend. Batter will not be smooth.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each cup about two-thirds full. If desired, sprinkle sanding sugar on the tops of each muffin.

Bake muffins for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the pans and serve warm.

Makes 12 muffins

With the unseasonable weather we have been having the seedlings in the sunspace are growing very rapidly. All of the squash seedlings are now in larger peat pots, having outgrown the cell they started in. Some of the squash seeds wrapped in damp paper towels didn't germinate in time to be put into the cells, but are now large enough to go right into the pots! That is vigorous sprouting! I expect great things of these squash plants once they are settled into the garden once the soil warms enough. That might be a while...we have been having frost most nights, even if the days are warm and sunny. Some peopel are yammering on about not enough rain, but we had far more than needed in the fall and early winter, so this is just balancing things out. Bet that March is rainy again.

Salmon for Lunch

Our local market had wild salmon at a very good price this week. I do love salmon and enjoyed some for dinner, but the piece was too large for one meal, so I found a way to use up the leftovers at lunchtime yesterday.

This is one of those recipes that don't really have precise amounts, especially since I was using up leftover rice, too. Amounts given are close to what I used. I decided to reheat the rice and add the parsley, tomato, and lemon juice so that all were not only warm, but mixed, when added to the wrap. I re-heated the salmon first, then the rice mixture, then added them to the warm tortilla that had the cheese already melted on it. I probably should have left out the smidgen of sour cream but it really added to the finished wrap's rich flavor.

Tortilla Wrap with Salmon, Rice, Tomato, and Jack Cheese
Serves 1

1 large flour tortilla
about 2-3 tablespoons shredded Monterey Jack cheese
leftover grilled salmon...about 1/2 cup flaked
1/2 cup brown rice, already cooked
1/4 cup diced fresh tomato
1 tablespoon finely chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon sour cream (optional)

In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, warm the tortilla for 1 minute. Add the shredded cheese in a thick ribbon down the middle of the tortilla. Cover with a lid and turn off the heat.

In a small bowl, re-heat the salmon in the microwave. I usually use half power to reheat things and this is important with the salmon since you don't want to overcook it. Depending on your microwave, try about 1 minute at half power.

Remove the heated fish to a small plate and use the same bowl to heat the rice, tomato, parsley and lemon juice. Once warmed through, stir the mixture.

Remove the lid from over the cheesy tortilla, turn the heat to medium, and add the salmon, placing it over the cheese and a bit to each side, leaving sections on both sides of the tortilla uncovered. Repeat with the rice mixture. Add little dollops of the sour cream over the center of the rice strip if using. Replace the lid and let the whole concoction heat for 1/2 minute. Turn off the heat, remove the lid and fold in the uncovered sections of the tortilla. Remove to a plate and serve, garnished with a wedge of lemon, if desired.

A Twist on Irish Soda Bread

It was rainy day before yesterday, the perfect weather for winter in Northern California. It's also good weather for baking. I have been trying to bake less because I'm reducing my caloric intake and Sweetie finds that when I bake less he weighs less, too. Tuesday all those thoughts went out the window because it was the perfect afternoon for tea and something baked. The questions was, what to bake? I have some new baking related cookbooks with recipes begging to be made...and I will. But sometimes the best thing to do is just to put a twist on an old familiar recipe. I discovered a few strips of bacon in the fridge, some pecans in the depths of the bottom shelf of the fridge and a nice jug of maple syrup from Costco that isn't getting any younger. Best of all I had a quart of buttermilk...more than enough for a nice loaf of Irish Soda Bread.

I love making Irish Soda Bread. It doesn't need any eggs, it goes together quickly, it is free form and looks very artisanal without trying, and it is delicious warm or cold. Fresh out of the oven (and cooled only slightly), it is heavenly.

So the twist this time was to make Pecan Bacon Maple Irish Soda Bread. Perhaps that makes it more Southern than Irish, but the original recipe is from my very Irish Aunt May, so I'm calling it that even with the additions.

The bacon was the star here, followed by the pecans. Who can hate bacon combined with pecans? The maple flavor was a harmonious background flavor, less assertive than I had thought it would be given that I used a full 1/2 cup! The buttermilk gave it moistness and a bit of a tang. I had to hide 3/4 of the loaf so that Sweetie wouldn't gobble it all up, it was that good! You don't need any additional butter, but it is hard to resist slathering on some. If you made up some maple butter that would be a grand addition.

The key to success with this recipe is to handle things gently, especially the dough once the liquid has been added. The mass of dough going into the oven looks like it barely holds together, but it bakes up as a nice craggy loaf with a tender interior. Too much or too firm handling will give you something more akin to a brick, so resist making a nice, neat loaf, OK?

Maple Pecan Bacon Soda Bread
Makes one large loaf

4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
8 oz. (2 sticks) cold butter, in thin slices
½ cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup cooked, crumbled bacon
½ cup maple syrup
2 cups buttermilk

Sift the dry ingredients over the butter and cut in well with a fork or pastry blender. Add nuts and bacon; mix in gently but well. Add the maple syrup to the buttermilk and make a well in the dry ingredients. Pour in the buttermilk mixture, then mix just until moist - don’t over handle.

Some dry stuff is OK but the dough should be sticky.

Pat into a round on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Cut a cross on top. Bake 45 minutes at 350 F. Cool a bit before slicing.

Good with a spread made of softened butter and maple syrup, whipped together.
 

Another Kind of Pie

This month the Bread Baking Babes' Kitchen of the Month is Tanna's My Kitchen in Half Cups. She has gathered us around her virtual table with a delicious recipe to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of the Bread Baking Babes. The official Syrian name is syrian sabanrhiyat and they are delightful spinach pies, but with bread dough, instead of pastry, holding the spinach filling together. The combination of mahlab, pomegranate arils and feta cheese certainly give them a Syrian flavor. Unfortunately I neglected to purchase the mahlab, and the arils, plus my spinach was frozen, chopped, instead of fresh. The good news is that they were wonderful little pies even without those goodies!

My dough was really sticky, so it was a bit of a challenge to roll out. If you read the directions, you'll see that we were not supposed to roll it all out as a sheet of dough, but roll out 24 pieces of it, each to about 6 inches in diameter. In my defense, the video that showed how to shape them used a rolled out sheet of dough. A large round cutter was used to cut the dough into circles. I liked that the circles were then, mostly, even. That should make the shaping easier, right? So that's what I did. I had a nice 4-inch in diameter cutter, which made for smaller pies, but they were also easy to handle.

I cupped each dough circle in one palm, added about a tablespoon of filling, then smooshed the edges of three places on the outer diameter (about even from each other) into the middle and together. That left three openings, which I pinched together, one by one, in a more-or-less straight line. That gave me the 'Y' shaped closure. My dough was so soft that it didn't hold any shape very well, so the pies were a bit rounded 'Y's after they baked as you can see in the photo at the top of the post.

The filling included the sautéed onion, the feta cheese, the chopped walnuts, the lemon juice, and spinach from the freezer (which I thawed and then put in a wire mesh strainer, which allowed me to push out a lot of excess liquid. Since the finished filling was plenty moist, I'm glad I did.) I added some freshly ground nutmeg to the dough since I know that spinach and nutmeg are great together. I also cut the recipe in half. Even then I had more little pies than I wanted, so I did a crescent with the leftovers, kind of like the Yule Wreath that the Babes did a few years ago.

I highly recommend that you make these yummy pies. I'll bet that the ones with the pomegranate and mahlab are even better, and with fresh spinach the absolute best. Do be sure to check out the other Babes' sites since some of them have come up with different fillings!

Check out Tanna's site for the recipe and tips and gorgeous photos. If you want to be a Buddy (of course you do!) e-mail her with your story about baking these beauties and a photo.

I'm sending this along to Susan at Wild Yeast for her weekly wonderland of bread baking links, Yeastspotting. Check it out, too, to be inspired and to find great recipes.

Now, I'm going to go eat a couple of the spinach pies that I saved. I noticed that when I do my write-up that I really, really want to have a taste by the time I'm done. Don't you? Well, get baking!

Here is Elizabeth's version of the recipe (for mine, omit the mahlab but add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg for it, also omit the pomegranate seeds and use frozen, thawed, drained spinach...and cut amounts in recipe by half since I only made half the recipe - see notes in italic for my changes) :

Assyrian Spinach Pies

DOUGH
1 tablespoon active dry yeast, (2 1/4 teaspoons) = 1 package
2 cups warm water (105° to 115°)
1/2 teaspoon ground mahlab, I'll use 3/4 to a full teaspoon next time
5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for kneading, use some white whole wheat next time
1 tablespoons granulated sugar, I cut this back from 2 tablespoons
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup olive oil

FILLING

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, cut this from 1/2 cut
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 pound cleaned baby spinach, coarsely chopped
160 grams chopped walnuts, I increased this from 4 oz.
1 cup pomegranate seeds, increase these from 1/2 cup
2 cup crumbled feta cheese, increased from 1 cup
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt
1/2 - 1 cup lentils, optional but this was nice
Olive oil cooking spray
Plain yogurt for serving

Directions:
1. Whisk together the dry ingredients: yeast, flax, mahlab (or nutmeg for Elle), flours, sugar, salt.

Mix together water (I usually "warm" it by microwaving it about 15 seconds, it's just above room temp then) and olive oil.

2. Pour water, olive oil into dry ingredients and mix together until the dough gathers into a rough ball. Let rest 5 to 10 minutes letting the flour absorb some of the water.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured counter until the dough becomes smooth, elastic, soft and slightly sticky dough ball - mine took about 6 minutes.

3. WASH AND DRY THE BOWL - now ain't that a kick in the pants, how many Babes are going to follow that directive. We know Elizabeth will. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! and rub it lightly with olive oil Elizabeth won't do that part (but Elle will!).

Place the dough ball into a rising container … I have a wonderful straight side clear 4 qt container with lid: I can easily see when the dough has doubled in volume. The lid means I don't have to use plastic or even a shower cap.
Allow the dough to double in volume - mine took about 90 minutes: if you press a finger into the dough and release it, a depression should remain.

4. If you follow the recipe directions and divide the dough into 24 pieces (about 2 oz each) you'll get what I consider a reasonable portion size hand pie although we were all eating at least one and a half each. I actually weighted the balls and they ranged from 50 to 60 grams each. I might have enjoyed them more made slightly smaller say weighting closer to 40 grams.

When the balls are formed, allow to rest so they will be easier to roll out.
If you've made the full recipe and don't want to make them all at one go, my suggestion here would be to immediately cover however many you want to bake tomorrow or the next day and retort the balls in the fridge.
Allow the dough balls you plan on baking to rest for the 30 minutes before rolling them out.
Elle: I didn't make balls, but did let the dough rest before rolling it out.

5. Saute the onion in the olive oil, they should be nicely caramelized. Allow to cool.

6. Chop the spinach and mix with chopped walnuts, pomegranate seeds, feta, lemon juice and the olive oil. Mix all with the sautéed onions.
Elle: I left out the pomegranate seeds.
Good ideas for alternatives: pine nuts, dried cranberry, dried cherry, goat cheese, small cubes or large grating of any cheese you like, lentils I added one night to some of the filling was a real winner.

7. Preheat the oven.
Elle: I lined the cookie sheet with a Silpat but parchment paper would equally as well.

8. With a light to good dusting of flour on your counter, roll the dough ball into a thin 6-inch circle. I tried to really fill these and used at least 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the filling for each one.
Elle: I rolled out the dough and cut 4-inch circles with a round cutter, then filled them and sealed, pretty much like the recipe description below.

Pile 1/2 cup of the filling, loosely measured, onto the center of the circle, leaving about 1 inch of dough exposed all around. Brush the exposed dough lightly with water. Imagining the circle to be a clock, lift up the edges of dough at the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions to cover the top part of the filling and pinch firmly to seal, going all the way to 12 o’clock. Lift the 6 o’clock position of dough to meet in the center and pinch the two edges firmly to seal. The seams will look like an inverted Y. Set the pie on one of the prepared sheets.

9. Before putting into the oven, rush the pies with olive oil before baking.
Elle: I forgot to brush mine with anything.
10. Preheat oven.
11. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 375° to 380° depending on your oven.

Storing
Leftover pies can be frozen. When cool, arrange them on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Transfer them to heavy-duty re-sealable plastic bags and freeze for up to 1 month. To reheat, thaw the pies in their wrapping, then set them on a baking sheet and pop into a preheated 350°F oven for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Pie in Petaluma

As you might have guessed, I have a weakness for baked goods. I can drive by a bakery I'm familiar with and there is a tug drawing me to turn in and park and go buy one of their delicious goodies...even if I just ate and have no room for such a goody. My solution has been to avoid going in the first time. If I have no idea if anything delicious is inside there is no tug...or not much of one.

I've been to downtown Petaluma a few times since Petaluma Pie Company opened their doors, but I kept telling myself to not go in. Today Sweetie and I were at Copperfields on Kentucky St. in Petaluma and as we left the store I saw a round sign that said, 'Pie' and there was an arrow pointing toward the shop where they sell their pies. It was lunch time. We followed the arrow, went down a couple short flights of stairs to a nice pocket park and found the Pie Company open for business. Now I'll be getting tugs every time I'm in Petaluma.

It's a small shop and I suspect that a large portion of their business is take-out. We decided to go with two different types of hand pies; a mushroom with goat cheese and a spinach with feta cheese.

Both were delicious, especially the pie crust, which is very flaky and delicate with just the right amount of flavor. The mushroom filling was  a little smoother than the spinach and it had a wonderful earthy taste from lots of quality mushrooms. I had the spinach one and it was just perfect with lots of spinach and feta cheese and probably some onion.

Sweetie finished his and still looked a bit hungry. We could have had some lovely side salad but chose to try another pie instead. We shared one of the 6-inch coconut cream pies which again had a high quality and delicious crust. The filling had a nice hit of vanilla and coconut and meringue on top in a decorative pattern, plus a bit more coconut. I prefer a filling that is creamier but this was like a firm pudding and it was quite good.

We both had hot chocolate with the pie and you should consider having it, too. A full mug is served of piping hot chocolate that tastes like it is made from scratch with excellent quality cocoa or maybe even chocolate. It isn't as rich as French hot chocolate, but is much richer than what is usually served in most places around here when I order hot chocolate. UPDATE: The nice folks at the Pie Company let me know via Facebook a little more about the hot chocolate:  "FYI our hot chocolate is made with Tcho drinking chocolate and organic Straus milk. See you soon!"



There were many other pies on offer, including the day's special which was pear, ginger and cardamom pie with a double crust. A full size Shaker lemon pie looked good. There were smaller sizes of chocolate cream, banana cream, apple, lemon meringue, sweet potato and an Elvis pie which I think had chocolate, peanut butter and, maybe, banana. The savory offerings included a chicken empanada handpie, one with potato and peas, a chicken pot pie and more.

All in all, I encourage you to visit if you are ever in downtown Petaluma, CA. They do take orders online, but only for pick-up, not to mail to you. Guess I'm going to have to drive a bit away from downtown when I'm in Petaluma to avoid that tug, or else just enjoy the calories and eat pie first!

Petaluma Pie Company
125 Petaluma Blvd. N. Suite B, Petaluma, CA 94952

(Inside of Helen Putnam Plaza behind Starbucks)
707-766-6743
Mon - Thr 11am - 7pm
Fri - Sat 11am - 9pm
Sun 10am - 6pm

Fantan Round-Up

I really enjoyed the Jam Fantans I made, but when I saw the beautiful and drool worthy ones made by this month's Bread Baking Buddies, I wanted at least one of each to enjoy with some hot tea. These women are clearly excellent bakers since they were able to figure out my slightly wonky recipe and to make rolls with a variety of fillings. My hat is off to each of you! Thanks for baking with the Bread Baking Babes this January. The year is off to a good start! Don't miss our Anniversary recipe which will be posted on Feb. 16th.

In alpha order by first name:

Carola of Sweet and That's It
Carola baked gorgeous fantans which included maple syrup, apricot jam and mixed toasted chopped nuts. The nuts made these look even more delicious than ones without, but maybe that's because I love nuts.    

Cathy of Bread Experience
Cathy filled her delicious looking fantans with lemon jelly and strawberry vanilla jam She also used her own sourdough starter.

Connie of My Discovery of Bread
Connie created stunning fantans with lychee jam and marmalade for a friend. Wish I had a friend like that!  

Gilad of Especially Sweet
Gilad's stunning fantans were made with beautiful handmade strawberry jam giving bright red spot to the rolls. I can imagine the wonderful flavor, too.

Kate of FoodBabbles

Imagine how delicious Kate's fantans were since she filled them with either cinnamon sugar or peach lavender jam. Lovely to look at, too, almost like flowers.

Sandie of Crumbs of Love
Sandie made speculaa flavored fantans for a wonderful spicy treat. I have a huge sweet tooth, so I also love the icing.

Again, thank you all for being Bread Baking Buddies this month! Hope you'll bake with us next month, too.
XO Elle