Irish Soda Bread

I'd like to start off by announcing that I am aware my recipe is not a "traditional" Irish Soda Bread recipe. I have made a fruited Soda Bread for my blog, because this variety is most commonly found in the United States. Traditional Irish Soda Bread has four ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. This bread would typically be eaten with cheese or maybe some butter. I will make a traditional Soda Bread recipe on an upcoming rainy spring day and post it up on my blog. 

For today, I have a stellar Fruited Soda Bread! It may be ugly (due to the wetness of the dough), but it is truly an easy, yet impressive recipe! By "fruited", I mean that I have added zest, dried fruit, and a bit of sugar to the dough. I also drizzled a little honey over the top of the bread for some added sweetness. This bread didn't last 24 hours in my household. The dough is fairly wet, which creates a dense and moist bread with a crispy golden brown crust. Soda Bread requires NO yeast, which makes it a snap to pull together. I hope you give this recipe a try!

Ingredients:

4 C. AP flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 T. sugar

1/2 stick salted butter cut into .5 inch chunks

1 2/3 C. buttermilk

1 Large egg

All the zest of two large oranges

3/4 cups raisins ( or dried currants or cranberries)

Optional: Honey for drizzling over the warm bread

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 375. Butter a baking sheet or line with parchment.

2)Whisk together all dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar) in a standing mixer or large bowl. 

3) In a small bowl, add a generous pinch of flour to the raisins. Mix the raisins until they are coated evenly with flour. Set aside. 

4) In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, zest, and buttermilk. 

5) Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. If using a standing mixer, mix on low with the paddle attachment until the (wet looking) dough comes together. If mixing by hand, combine the ingredients until you get a very wet, sticky mixture. 

6) Add the floured raisins to the dough and mix just until the raisins are distributed. 

7) Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. Knead just until you can get the dough into a round shape. (Dough will be sticky!) Put round loaf on baking sheet. Using a pair of kitchen scissors or a knife, cut an "X" into the top of the loaf. 

8)Bake for about 50 minutes. Check to see if the bread is done by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it is done. 

9) Let rest for five minutes. Drizzle the top of the loaf with honey. Let cool!

Citrus Strawberry Sunshine Cake

Spring is just around the corner, so I wanted to make a dessert that was reminiscent of a sunny spring day! This cake has the consistency of a decadent pound cake, but still maintains a light, citrus flavor. This would be an excellent dessert to bring to any Easter celebration, or simply to enjoy fresh spring flavors!

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter

1 C. sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup greek yogurt (or any yogurt on hand)

1 t. vanilla extract

2 t. orange extract

zest of large orange

zest of large lemon

2 C. AP flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

1/3 C. strawberry preserves/jelly/jam

handful of blueberries (or however many you like) mixed with a pinch of flour

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350. 

2)Mix together softened butter, sugar, eggs, milk, yogurt, extracts, and zest.

3) In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

4) Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. 

5) Scoop 1/3 of the batter into a separate container, and whisk in strawberry preserves. 

6) In a greased bundt pan, pour in plain batter and level off with a spatula. 

7) Stir a pinch of flour into the blueberries until they are coated. Scatter the blueberries on top of the plain batter. 

8) Pour strawberry batter on top of the plain batter, level off, and swirl with a spoon if you'd like. 

9) Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean, or with moist crumbs attached. 

Look at my beautiful vintage cake plate! So cute and feminine! 

This is a picture of a farm fresh egg. I can't praise fresh eggs enough. Their taste is far superior to regular grocery store eggs, and their yolk is a vivid orange color!

(Note: I didn't use all these blueberries, but this picture displays blueberries that have been tossed with flour. The flour helps them to stay suspended in the cake so they don't sink to the bottom.)

Cobb Salad

I have often strolled through the produce section of my local grocery store, coming across a plastic tub with old hard-boiled eggs, imitation bacon-bits, and watery ham chunks; piled on top of a bed of wilted lettuce. They call it a "Cobb Salad". If my description wasn't off-putting enough, keep in mind that the store often charges WAY more than the salad is worth, and if the salad goes on sale, it's because it is nearing its expiration date. Salad should be fresh- that's why it's so good for us. Fresh ingredients are the star of my version of Cobb Salad. Feel free to change up the proteins and toppings to the salad. 

Ingredients:

Head of Romaine lettuce

1 Avocado

3 Hard-boiled eggs

6-7 mini fresh mozzarella balls (found in the olive bar of your grocery store)

1 C. Cherry tomatoes, halved

3 slices bacon 

1 Tbsp. Olive oil

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 375. Coat bacon in oil and season with black pepper. Bake for 10 minutes. Cut into small pieces. 

2) Slice three hard-boiled eggs neatly with a sharp knife.

3) Neatly slice tomatoes in half. 

4) Neatly slice mini mozzarella balls.

5)Dice avocado into cubes. 

6) Slice romaine lettuce finely. Wash and shake dry in a colander or strainer. 

Arrange:

1) Put romaine lettuce in a serving bowl, and level out the top. 

2) Starting at one end, arrange mozzarella in a column. 

3) Next, arrange tomatoes. 

4) Arrange hard boiled egg slices. You will likely have to overlap or double stack the egg slices. Try to keep the yolk intact for presentation. 

5)Next arrange avocado.

6) Last is the bacon. 

Presentation is key! We eat with our eyes first! As a general rule, put what you have the most of in the middle- it has more room to fit all the ingredients. If you only have a little cheese, or a little bacon, put those on the end!

Serve this salad with the dressing of your choice. I like to use "Good Season's Italian dressing", because my grandmother has been using it for years. The taste is far superior to regular bottled Italian dressing. It can be found in the salad dressing isle, but is sold in a small packet, and you add your own vinegar, oil, and water. I highly recommend using extra virgin olive oil for any homemade salad dressing. 

If you want to go the extra mile...

Coat a few slices of French baguette or Italian bread in the left over oil used to cook the bacon. Then, cook under the broiler for NO MORE THAN ONE MINUTE PER SIDE! Seriously... watch the bread. Mine burnt a little around the edges in a matter of 10 seconds. 

This serves 3 people as a dinner, and four as a lunch. 

I'm using a vintage Pyrex bowl given to me by my wonderful neighbor! The salad tongs were a gift from my best friend Steven!